The Apple Grower
Old
timey apples are one of my oldest loves. The first June apples,
translucent against the sun, are far too tender to sell in the grocery
store. We used to gather them from abandoned roadside trees, then
Mom turned them into the world's best applesauce and pies.
In the winter, Daddy
would buy us Stayman Winesaps by the bushel.
We kept them in the basement with a bowl of sweet, tangy fruit always
at hand in the house. Since I was raised without sugared treats,
that crunchy fruit was like nectar.
When I grew up and left
the nest, I realized that most folks don't eat
real apples. They subsist on tasteless Red Delicious, insipidly
sweet Golden Delicious, or blandly sour Granny Smith.
Which is all to say that
I could see myself --- in another life ---
running an organic apple orchard full of unique varieties, just like
the one Michael Phillips documents in The
Apple Grower.
I've critiqued
his apple orchard microbusiness
over on our microbusiness blog, but over here I'm going to pull out the
gems that we small-time growers can learn from a master.
| This post is part of our Growing Organic Apples lunchtime series.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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My parents were hippies, and they believed in the evils of sugar. So we just had desserts made from honey until I left home and went to college. Then, unfortunately, I got hooked on the wonderful world of sugar (and, especially, chocolate.) I wish I could go back --- I'm sure I'd be healthier --- but that doesn't seem possible once you get a taste of sweets.
We were pretty isolated, but I was also a really goodie-goodie kid --- if told not to eat sugar, I didn't. My little sister didn't hold out nearly as long before caving in. On the other hand, my brother has the willpower of a saint and still doesn't eat sugar!