The Gatherer

I just so happened to be talking about my grammie when she calls me this last Sunday afternoon. I was talking about her because I had gone to church earlier in the day, and I wanted to tell her in order to receive some sort of praise that I can't usually attain from such a lady. She had called me because she thought her apple trees were going to fall over if someone didn't pick some of the apples off soon. I hadn't picked apples for juice or cider for a couple of years, and even though I remember it being so much work that I swore I would never do it again, the thought of making my own cider and maybe some jam overtook me and I became so excited that I told her that I would be out the very next day to pick all of her excess apples. She seemed pleased.....

Logsden is a rainbow of fall colors! Despite all of the clutter in her front yard, I had to capture the beauty of this bright red tree, with the golden yellow one in the background. I was wasting precious time snapping shots while it was still daylight. Since Jered was still busy with the deer, I dragged mom and Steven out with me and put them to work helping me gather apples. They were unloading the boxes out of my car as I was running about, attempting to capture the many colors in the yard that my camera couldn't handle.

Steven looks as if he is already enjoying himself, even though the box isn't even half full yet! He started on the shortest tree, but it still looks as if it is hung!
No, she didn't have any drinks to get a smile like that! That is my mom, always willing and ready to help. It is after 7Pm, and she has been working since 6AM, and will do it again the next day, and will still wear that smile. She had two boxes filled by the time I had one. At first, I was trying not to get any spiders in my hair. After being passed up by my mom, I figured I had to pick up my pace, I was being the gatherer, not her.

We filled up all four boxes in under twenty minutes, and the trees were still hanging like they were about to split. The sun was now gone behind the coastal fog hovering in the "west" but it did leave behind a little pink to enjoy for a minute or two.


I had then decided that four boxes weren't enough to satisfy my intense cider making party plan, so I began brainstorming about what I was going to do next. We unloaded the boxes into the element, and began to fill the blue cart. Grammie was out scrounging up some other boxes, but I knew how much they meant to her, so I knew that I was not going to take even one of them away from her. We filled up the blue cart, around the same time that it got so dark the apples could no longer be seen. I think we almost got them all, but until the sun shone again on the fruit trees, it will be left a mystery. I think we got enough to keep me busy.
Grammie came up with a garbage can that "had never been used" for garbage. She seemed more than willing to part with it for a time while it becomes an apple storage. At the time it was being used as bird food storage. The cart almost filled the whole thing up! I know I have very poor spacial skills, but I was still very surprised for the successful gathering.

Looks like everyone is happy!!!

The apples were sweet, with a bite of sourness. I love cameo apples, and the choice ones of these are comparable. It is going to make super good cider. I am going to try out some cider jam too, it sounds really good. Maybe an apple crisp............

I thought that I should rinse out the garbage can before we put the apples in it....Even though it had never been used for garbage. Grammie still had to show me how to turn the water on. So her punishment for showing me up was me taking a picture of her. That outta teach her!

I have a huge amount of work ahead of me, but I think it is all going to work out good. I have access to an apple press for free this year, I just need to get something to grind up the apples. I should be able to figure something out, I do have access to the internet!