Orchard

=Pears= We inherited a pear tree that produces these wonderful, sweet, red pears. The flowers of the tree are gorgeous and have a light scent when they arrive in the spring. The fruit comes on the tree slowly and ripens in the fall. They are quite yummy to eat. My brother-in-law makes wine out of them. Although we are supposed to spray the tree for pests and diseases we haven't done that. So far I've not seen any damage or uninvited visitors save for the birds that help themselves to the fruit when it ripens. Fortunately for us and for the birds that the tree produces plenty for all parties to be satisfied.



=Apples= A green apple tree is also at SOHA. It had a sibling that was lost to a lightning strike just before we moved in. The green apple tree deserves more attention than it receives. In the spring apple trees are suppose to be sprayed with an oil that stops insects from residing there. Unfortunately the window of time to spray the tree this past spring coincided with a particularly busy time in my life. The tree did not get sprayed. Now our poor apples have worms and scabs. Yuck! Hopefully next season I will have the opportunity to take care of the green apple tree as it so deserves.

=Cherries= When we moved in a sour cherry tree was already well established. The tree has beautiful blossoms in the spring and tart shiny red fruit in the early summer. After the birds ate their fill, my brother-in-law made wine and cherry preserves out of what remained of this past year's crop. Earlier this year next to the sour cherry tree we planted a sweet cherry tree named Stella. The new tree makes for some bad Marlon Brando impressions but if you can't have humor in the garden where can you? I don't know how many years it will take for Stella to bear a crop of cherries for us.

Authored by Ms. Mosby * Any School * Published July 2010 * Last Edited July 27, 2010