I have never had a child, and yet I suddenly feel as though I have had a taste of the wonder of creation. The feeling of having brought about something amazing, something that you can rightfully brag about... while at the same time knowing that, really, it happened in spite of rather than because of you. You have no idea how it really happened, you just sowed the seed and gave it the right conditions in which to grow.
Behold my very first apple harvest. This huge beauty fell off into my hand while I was inspecting it this evening. I can't even bring myself to take a bite out of it yet, but that's okay. It's pretty enough to admire for a while, and after several hours of gardenwork my hands need a good scrubbing before they touch anything on its way into my mouth.
Besides, it will be easier to take a bite when I'm not grinning from ear to ear.
Behold my very first apple harvest. This huge beauty fell off into my hand while I was inspecting it this evening. I can't even bring myself to take a bite out of it yet, but that's okay. It's pretty enough to admire for a while, and after several hours of gardenwork my hands need a good scrubbing before they touch anything on its way into my mouth.
Besides, it will be easier to take a bite when I'm not grinning from ear to ear.
25 comments:
Oo, that's so exciting!
Your picture just says "Autumn" to me.
I'd be admiring it too, if it were my apple. It is a beauty. Great pic too. Does Coco eat apples? Give him a pat for me and enjoy your apples!
Fantastic! I understand the pride you feel. Producing things to eat is just incredible to me. I live for it.
Congrats!
Congrats! Good analogy to having kids. What kind of apple? It's a beauty. I bet it tasted wonderful.
Waydago, Kim.
Wish I were there with a box of cigars!
Julie
Nothing better than the taste of your own, freshly picked!
I'm so proud of YOU!
(yum!)
Good job! Picture perfect, too!
That looks like a golden delicious to me, Kim. How many more are there ?
It's easier to grow apples than kids, and a lot less painful.
For the record... this apple was pretty much as advertised: crisp and sweet/tart (emphasis on tart, but then this was a drought year) with a little lemony flavor to it and very tight flesh. I have two more tiny ones on the tree, but not enough to bake--I bet they will someday make a wonderful pie!
Dharma, thanks for stopping by! It's funny you say that--I felt like that urn planting was very bright and summery for most of the season, but last night when I took the picture I thought the same thing you said. Very autumnal!
kate, Coco does indeed eat apples but only if I cut them up or just give her a chunk. (Unlike tomatoes, which she finds easy to fit completely in her mouth.)
Greeny, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! I greatly enjoy my first tomato, strawberry, etc., of the season... but this is my very first apple, ever, so it got me a little moreso than usual. :)
kris, it's a 'Sundance' apple that I bought from Gurney's during a spring sale a few years back. It was bred at Purdue University so I figured climatically I had a fighting chance with this one. And it was good... but of course I was going to think it was good one way or another!
Julie, you made me LOL! Cigars would be perfect given my analogy. teehee.
topveg, thank you! By the username, I'm guessing that you've grown a few apples and other garden beauties in your day. :)
el, thanks! Now if only I could move to an established grape farm... *grin*
iowa gardening woman, isn't it a beauty? It almost looks too perfect to have grown on a tree in my backyard, truth be told! lol.
carolyn gail, that's true... like I said, it fell off into my hand. No panting necessary--okay, so maybe I did pant a few times while waiting for the last two weeks for it to be ready! *grin*
This is a 'Sundance' apple that I bought from Gurney's a few years back. It's a grafted tree so it will stay small but I'm not sure how I will espalier it... I had started it with some formal training (horizontal lines) but then a few neighborhood kids cutting through my yard knocked it to a 30 degree angle last year. I was afraid to move it much, so this may be a rather wild free-form espalier instead! :)
A beautiful apple! Hope it tasted as good as it looks. I love TART in an apple.
That is a beaut! The apples from my tree don't look anywhere near as pretty as yours does, and the squirrels and birds inevitably nibble them before they get to a decent size. Maybe someday I'll get something as tasty-looking as that from my tree.
I can dream ;-)
That's a great apple! I can't bring myself to plant an apple tree because that would attract the hornets, & my daughter has a phobia of them (she refuses to play in the yard as it is come mid-August). I also can't get enthused because of bad memories of my grandma's apple tree. We always had to help pick the apples for her (which I didn't mind), but the apples were small, half were rotten, & the other half had worms in them. And we were expected to eat them! Yuck. I have since learned about ways to get larger apples & prevent worms, but the memory has tainted me for life I fear. Enjoy your yummy apple!
Connie, it was definitely good! I have two other (smaller) ones on this tree that aren't quite ready yet, so it will be interesting to see if they're as tart as this one. (They're not only smaller but on a different branch.) I'll let you know!
Colleen, I was actually surprised that this has been left alone for so long. I had to net my blackberries (because I got NONE of my blueberries this year!) and I didn't even try to get the grapes--I have to net those next year. :)
mr mcgregor's daughter, you just took me on a little trip down memory lane. My grandparents' neighbors had a row of crabapple trees on the property line between their lot and my grandparents' back acre. We were allowed to pick as many as we wanted as they produced way too much for the neighbors to process (and the trees were wonderful for climbing!)... but I never noticed any hornets on the fallen fruit. Just wasps, and they didn't bother us at all--too busy gorging themselves, no doubt! The smell is what I remember most, though. The rotten-sweet, wine-ish flavor of the fallen fruit. Terrible and lovely at the same time.
I don't remember any worms in those, though... worms might very well have turned my good memories into bad ones like you have.
That is a great looking apple! How do you take care of your trees because mine never, ever look like that. Hopefully it tastes just as awesome as it looks.
Nice apple! Hey, I finally posted a size comparison on that big bluestem grass, but I'd put the pictures in a couple days earlier, so it's below my bloom day post!
:( So here's the link:http://mrimomma.blogspot.com/2007/09/big-bluestem-for-blackswamp-girl.html
meresy_g, I wish I had some secrets to share... but frankly this tree must just like my version of loving neglect. It really needs to be fed, and watered once in a while, and actually pruned correctly. But now that you mention the way it's responded to my NOT taking care of it, maybe I shouldn't? (yikes)
lisa, thanks--for both the comment and the big bluestem grass! I can't wait to go see it...
When I took my master gardeners class they carted in a fruit expert who insisted that you couldn't grow fruit without a regular spraying ritual. He also condemned the local garden centers for selling fruit trees that he claimed would never bear fruit. I was so disgusted that I uprooted a couple of Granny Smith apple trees.
Please tell me your secrets. I hope I didn't pull out perfectly good trees because some ag guy likes to spray chemicals.
--Robin (Bumblebee)
Robin, I was dead serious when I told Meresy_g that the fruit tree was given "loving neglect!" In fact, I had inadvertantly killed the tree that I had purchased to be its pollinator so I was surprised to get anything from it this year at all. And I haven't sprayed yet. That said, I don't know what to tell you about the Granny Smiths--maybe he's right and they don't grow well in your area?
Fantastic! COngratulations!
My big plan for spring is to plant two heirloom semidwarf apple trees and pear trees to espalier around the front and side of my house.
I'll be diving in with no experience, just what I've read. Fingers crossed.
As the owner of an overgrown out of control apple tree that grows nothing but pest infested apples, I think your one apple harvest is awesome!
And I think it looks like the perfect size to make an apple turnover. Yum!
I'm totally with you on the overwhelming excitement of harvesting one's very own CROP. You are now a farmer, truly. Personally, I think it's a reason to throw a party with close friends, and have the apple on a simple tray somewhere - perhaps the center of the table, or on the mantel - a place of owner. Then, slice it into tons of little pieces and serve it to everyone on your finest tableware. (Hmmm...this sounds like it might be something I have had experience doing...like, maybe that time when I harvested my first orange in Florida? Or my first pomegranate here in Charleston...).
Celebrate!
A reason to celebrate indeed, Kim! I'm grinning from ear to ear just looking at this perfect pomme. I hope it tasted every bit as good as it looked.
Wow, that's a gorgeous looking apple! How did you manage to keep it from being stung by insects or eaten by birds? Unfortunately we had to get rid of our remaining apple tree and 'Opalescent' because of fire blight. Luckily the local farmer' market is full of apples this time of year.
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