Tree Fruit

    When we bought our hobby farm in McBride, way back in 1977, there were no fruit trees on the place except for a cherry tree.  We wanted to have apple trees and plum trees as well, so we bought young fruit trees and planted them.  When they didn’t make it, we bought some more to replace them.  This story repeated itself over and over and over again.

    The deer, the bears, and the angora goats I had, all contributed to our fruit tree failings.  Like fools, who never learn, we kept on planting and replacing trees.  I am happy to report that after the gloriously sunny and warm summer that we have just experience, we finally are getting some rewards for all of our past struggles.

    I was especially hoping that we would see some plums on our two plum trees.  When I planted them, I finally wised up a bit, and put them behind the high fence that protects our garden.  That has made a big difference they are protected and they get more sunlight.

    I only saw about 5 blossoms on our smallest plum tree in the spring, and didn’t hold out to much hope for them.  During the summer I looked several times at the tree and didn’t see any fruit.  A couple of weeks ago, I was surprised when I did see 5 small purple plums on it.  They are not yet ready to eat.

    The  older tree had a bad infestation of aphids in the spring, that was causing all the leaves to curl and drop.  I blasted branches a couple of times with water from a hose, and that seemed to get rid of the aphids.  There were about 5 plums on that tree also.  A couple of days ago, I looked for the plums, and didn’t see them, then noticed them on the ground.

    They were reddish and soft.  I picked one up put it into my mouth, and crushed it--Ambrosia.  The juicy honey-sweet liquid that exploded over my tastebuds was the best tasting plum sensation that I have ever had the pleasure to taste.  It was truly a delicious plum.  I found a few more on the ground and shared the pleasure with Joan.

    The time and effort it took us to end up with 10 plums does not make economic sense, when it is so much easier just to buy fruit at the grocery,  but now that I have seen that the trees can bear fruit, I have hope that next year there will be even more plums on the trees.  It seems that my “farmer” gene always makes me fantasize that next year things will be better.