apples are such a wonderful sign of september, like warm sunny days giving way to evenings that have you reaching for a jacket. i have such fond memories of picking apples as a kid with my family. and i have tried to make it a tradition with our family as well. this year we are picking our own apples!
when we first bought our country property, before the barn was even built, my dad bought us some fruit trees: 2 apple trees, macintosh and red delicious, and 1 cherry tree. what a thoughtful gift! it was hard to know where to plant them then. we didn't have everything mapped out quite yet. but we ended up putting them on the back hill. the only problem is, it was just far enough away from the house to put them out of sight and out of mind, as the saying goes. but the little trees held their own against the tall grass that surrounded them and despite the neglect, they kept on growing.
after a few years we got a few apples. then we had a late spring frost when the apples trees were blossoming and so missed another year of apples. i am ashamed to say that we have not paid much attention to them.
but this year we have a wonderful harvest of apples! look at this bushel of macintosh apples! they are beautiful. the other night mark and B when out to pick, if only i had known, you know i would have been ready with my camera! but that's okay. i do love it that mark will spontaneously take one of the kids and have a special time with them.
i was so surprised when they came in with several large buckets full of apples! B was beaming! and i felt as though i had just received the gift all over again from my dad.
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
***
everyday gift: september apples from dad
would ya look at those keeper girls?! they are the best! they sure worked hard making and canning applesauce on saturday. a big BIG 'thank you' goes to mr. and mrs. w and sarah who planned, organized, and executed this ambitious project. we learned a lot about the importance and history of safe food preservation and about the process of canning. we also got to take home some yummy applesauce, some to eat and some to share with a shut-in or neighbor.
peeling the apples
mrs. w stirring the apples
oh, yum!
mr. w and daughter sarah helping the keepers with applesauce
putting our hot cooked apples through the food mill
