Not to brag, but this weekend we had our first big apple harvest! For eight years now, Dad has been planting two apple trees a year. The first two he planted died by the end of that summer due to insects. Subsequent trees, which all started out as approximately 2 to 3 feet tall saplings, each had their own struggles. From having branches snapped off by nibbling deer, to being crushed when a bigger tree fell on them in an ice storm, we never gave up hope that someday they would bear fruit! Today we finally reap the harvest of Dad’s hard work – three big apples!

Now by “big” I am referring to the number of apples we’ve picked. It’s our biggest harvest to date! Three apples are the most apples we’ve ever had grow in eight years. It could have been five, but optimistic they’d grow a bit bigger, Dad left them on the tree too long. One gave up and fell off the tree and was later carried away by a chipmunk. And the other, we presume, a deer ate due to the damage done to the branch. But we did pick THREE apples!

I admit they are a lot smaller than we envisioned. Dad can’t remember what type of apple tree this one is that he planted. The more recent ones are William’s Pride Apple Trees, planted in honor of me. We call them “Chuck Billy’s Pride!” And yes, despite their current small stature, I am proud of them, and hope they will grow big and strong, with a lot of apples. This tree was one of the early ones we planted, and it appears it only grows small apples…

However, Dad, who couldn’t resist eating the first one fresh off the tree, said it is really sweet and crunchy! I hope Mom isn’t too disappointed that a chipmunk carried away her apple.