It Never Rains But It Pours

This has been an excellent growing season, due in part to the almost continuous rain that we have had. For the past week, it seems to rain almost every day. We wake up to a darker dawn, and it keeps raining throughout the morning. Then it clears up for a while in the afternoon, then rains again toward night.

The darkness keeps us very sleepy in the morning, but the abundant supply of rainwater has made our fruit trees very fruitful indeed.

Some years we have no fruit at all. One year a late frost killed off all the blossoms before they had a chance to grow into fruit. But that did not happen this year.

This year, even though we had snow in April, we still ended up with an abundance of fruit.

 Our peach trees are laden with fruit. Absolutely no work went into producing this bounty. I did not spray, fertilize, water or otherwise tend to these trees. I never water. In fact, last year, when there was a severe drought, we lost two peach trees in the front yard and one in the back. Since it didn't rain, they got no water, and they did not survive. You can catch a glimpse of the dead trees in this video from yesterday, when I was picking up pears from the ground during a short lull in the rain.

Even though we have more peach trees than pear trees, it is the quantity of pears that is currently overwhelming. How can we possibly eat all of them? Even after we give some away to friends and neighbors, how will we preserve the rest?

The storm broke off a branch from the pear tree, so we are picking those pears off the branch and bringing them home when they are still green, though they turn yellow when they ripen.

There are bunches and bunches of pears crowded together on every branch.

 Many fall to the ground before they are ripe.

Some are already a little overripe by the time I pick them up. Because of this, I have been serving pear slices to my family for dessert, cutting out the rotten bits and saving what is good.

Just because this pear is partly overripe does not mean we throw it away.

I cut out and discard all the brown bits, but there is still enough to make a nice snack of pear slices.

Bow appreciates every slice of pear I serve him.

Nature is all feast and famine, drought then flood. It is the way of life. It is how we are tested. Those who don't survive the famine have no place at the table for the feast. Next year, that might be us. There is no telling what the future will bring. But while we still may, we enjoy the feast before us.

Anticipating the Feast to Come

The feast before us is not just about eating. There is the feast for the eyes and the mind and the heart. And the greatest feast of all is having something to look forward to.

 From his perch on top of the bench in the outer pens, Bow surveys our property. He sees when the neighbors are mowing or when the cattle are grazing in an adjoining field. And he can smell the honeysuckle in the air and the blossoms on the trees, as flowers turn to fruit.

This spring has been full of strange weather, with snow that would not seem to leave, and torrential rain that flooded our ditches. But it has led to gigantic, unusually potent blossoms on all our fruit trees, and now the trees are laden with unripe yet ripening fruit.

We don't usually have this many pears

We have two different kinds of pear trees that bear two different kinds of pears.

the first pear tree is small and bent and bears purple pears

they are not ripe yet, but we anticipate the abundance

The second pear tree is taller and has greener fruit

We have two different types of cherry trees that bear two different kinds of cherries.

Some of the cherries are ripe already, though most have not yet ripened. You can compare and contrast the two types of cherries in the photos below:

The cherries on the left are from the larger cherry tree, but the small cherries on the right are from a tree that gives more fruit. Bit types of cherry are tart.

We also have several peach trees. Last year, there were no peaches on the trees, and a few peach trees died. There had been an unusually dry season. But this year the peach trees that remain are giving plenty of fruit.

In addition to these cultivated trees, which were planted in our orchard long before I bought the property, we are also anticipating the enjoyment of wild berries. The mulberry tree that sprang up in our ditch is giving fruit this year.

And, of course, there are always blackberries in our unmown pasture.

All flowers are beautiful, even the wild ones that spring up unbidden.

But the best flowers of all are those that become fruit. And when the fruit is free for the picking, then we are  living in a paradise meant just for us. Money may or may not grow on trees, but some of the best things in life definitely do. They grow on trees and vines and bushes.  And the less you have to work to make it grow, the sweeter the harvest.