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Feelin' Fresh and Fruity
Sep. 27th, 2023 11:53 pmOur backyard has a bit of a produce problem: There's too dang much of it! The secondary problem is that I can't possibly reach all of it to pick it, even if there were enough people to give it to.
Right now we've got two fruiting pear trees next to each other and a fruiting apple tree, as well as several fruiting pawpaw trees scattered around the yard. The apples are almost all either at the very top of the tree, where they're up too high for me to reach even if I had an apple-picker stick thing, or too close to the power lines for me to want to try hitting them off the tree. The pears are so plentiful that they've broken at least one branch, and it was a sturdy fucker, too. (Possibly it's broken because it was so sturdy, rather than being flexible, but I digress.) The pawpaws are at least fewer in number, but Mom is the real fan of those in the household, and she's in Texas staying with Grandma right now while Grandma recovers from being Quite Ill Indeed.
(These are not counting the two apple trees that are no longer fruiting, the apple tree that is fruiting but fruited earlier in the year and has since stopped, the peach tree that is no longer fruiting, the cherry tree that we largely let the birds and squirrels have their fill of rather than trying to fight them off, the Juneberry/serviceberry/saskatoon trees, or the random mulberry trees. ...We have a lot of fruity options, is what I'm saying.)
Then, last week, there was a banquet whose patrons specifically wanted local apples incorporated. I made an off-hand offer to my coworkers that if any of them wanted local apples, I would be happy to set them up! Also pears. This lead to me bringing in a sizeable box of produce to a meeting last Saturday for really anyone to partake of, and offering again on Monday to a coworker who hadn't made it to the meeting. Would she like some apples or perhaps pears? (Preferably pears, because the apples are harder to get to, but the rain has slowed down, so maybe a ladder is slightly less of a terrible idea...)
She would love some pears, actually! Her entire family adores pears! Especially more firm pears. Also, neither she nor another coworker have ever tried pawpaws, what are they like? (Banana crossed with mango with a few other tropical notes. Very interesting flavor for North America's largest native fruit!)
So right now, I've got a new box in my car for tomorrow, with upwards of two dozen pears, and probably at least seven pawpaws, five of which I'm fairly sure are ripe and two of which might need a few days. My car smells very fruity at the moment, and if the scent lasts more than a few days, I can't say I'd complain!
Right now we've got two fruiting pear trees next to each other and a fruiting apple tree, as well as several fruiting pawpaw trees scattered around the yard. The apples are almost all either at the very top of the tree, where they're up too high for me to reach even if I had an apple-picker stick thing, or too close to the power lines for me to want to try hitting them off the tree. The pears are so plentiful that they've broken at least one branch, and it was a sturdy fucker, too. (Possibly it's broken because it was so sturdy, rather than being flexible, but I digress.) The pawpaws are at least fewer in number, but Mom is the real fan of those in the household, and she's in Texas staying with Grandma right now while Grandma recovers from being Quite Ill Indeed.
(These are not counting the two apple trees that are no longer fruiting, the apple tree that is fruiting but fruited earlier in the year and has since stopped, the peach tree that is no longer fruiting, the cherry tree that we largely let the birds and squirrels have their fill of rather than trying to fight them off, the Juneberry/serviceberry/saskatoon trees, or the random mulberry trees. ...We have a lot of fruity options, is what I'm saying.)
Then, last week, there was a banquet whose patrons specifically wanted local apples incorporated. I made an off-hand offer to my coworkers that if any of them wanted local apples, I would be happy to set them up! Also pears. This lead to me bringing in a sizeable box of produce to a meeting last Saturday for really anyone to partake of, and offering again on Monday to a coworker who hadn't made it to the meeting. Would she like some apples or perhaps pears? (Preferably pears, because the apples are harder to get to, but the rain has slowed down, so maybe a ladder is slightly less of a terrible idea...)
She would love some pears, actually! Her entire family adores pears! Especially more firm pears. Also, neither she nor another coworker have ever tried pawpaws, what are they like? (Banana crossed with mango with a few other tropical notes. Very interesting flavor for North America's largest native fruit!)
So right now, I've got a new box in my car for tomorrow, with upwards of two dozen pears, and probably at least seven pawpaws, five of which I'm fairly sure are ripe and two of which might need a few days. My car smells very fruity at the moment, and if the scent lasts more than a few days, I can't say I'd complain!
