Apples

Yesterday afternoon, the little guys went out to play. We have some very old (70+ years) apple trees in our backyard, and the guys found some nice apples on one of the trees, within their reach. Being boys, and always hungry, they picked and ate them. Later, my 11 year old asked, "Mom, why do our apples taste so much better than the ones in the store?" This, of course, launched a discussion along the lines of is this why Dad always says chickens today taste like cardboard, and not like chicken. I tried, maybe successfully, to explain so-called "heirloom plants" to my boys, and even went so far as to point out that when our old lilac trees are in bloom, the whole place smells like flowers. I'm still distraught that my peach trees (there were only 2) were killed by the deer last winter, and I believe my plum tree is dead, also. But, by far, my favorite apple tree is the golden delicious tree which has one limb, about 1/4 of the tree, of a red variety. It's a reminder that 80 years ago, there were great gardeners everywhere, including, evidently, one working here who could graft trees together. Besides that, it looks really cool when the fruit has color. This afternoon, they climbed into the treehouse, and one of the boys rigged the pole clipper so they could get to the apples out of reach from them. Here's the little guy with one of his treasures. Looks like baked apples or cobbler tonight.