I may be over-saturating the group with pics, but here are a few more from Alan very kindly allowing me to tag along with him in one of the nicest orchards I’ve been in. It is extremely low density, almost like a park. I counted ~35 trees in approximately 3/4 of an acre (measured with a ruler from Google’s terrain view). I told my daughter about it and she correctly noted that they have less than half the trees as me in more than twice the space. I want to cram everything in, but doing it that way is certainly aesthetically pleasing. It also leads to lots of dawn to dusk sun. I should have brought a better camera to get a wide angle shot.
I kept Alan entertained by running away from a fly (thinking it was a yellow jacket), explosively grabbing an old Sweet Sixteen apple (a rotten ball of liquid with a deceptively solid looking skin), and asking him why he didn’t like the taste of Anise (evidently slightly slurring it to sound like something you sit on).
Here we are in front of a Braeburn tree. One of the harder apples to grow- even with extra fungicide and good sun exposure it has some scab.
This was the first time I got to sample a Espous Spitzenburg (aside from a soft one years ago). A nice mix of sweet (17-19 brix on the ones I’ve had so far and Alan had a 22) and tart, with moderately juice and lots of aromatics. I liked it so much that I had trouble stopping eating it and brought the half eaten apple home to finish later. I also brought a few other back…
I’ll probably eat the Spitzenburgs first, as while they are very good now, I can see that they may not keep their texture. One that should is Goldrush. Here I am in front of one of the Goldrush trees. They have large, beautiful fruit.
This orchard was one of two situated on a massive, beautiful estate. In this pic, I’m following Alan out, driving between a wildflower meadow and a soccer field.
I can’t thank Alan enough for his generosity!