I have to brag a little. Tonight I looked out and saw our crop of peach-plums were ready. This is a variety of plum I have never found anywhere, it’s flavor is delicate, and the skins are this lovely shade of dusky rose. I always assumed, since the tree is old that it was a variety that fell out of vogue as the decades passed. But in an offhanded conversation with my mother-in-law, she let slip that my husband’s great-grandfather bred the tree himself. WOW! You know what that means, right? That means he hand-pollinated the blooms over and over, getting fruit, planting the seeds, and when the seeds germinated and grew, repeating the entire process again and again until he had the fruit types he wanted.
Can you imagine??
We hardly have the patience to wait for a Youtube video to load these days, and this man bred trees. From scratch.
The amount of patience astounds me.
BUT, that’s not why I said I wanted to brag... I wanted to brag a little because I looked out, was the fruit was ripe to pick, made a marketplace post on Facebook, and SOLD the entire crop in about an hour. ❤️ This is huge. This gives me hope that a future as orchardists is possible. This gives me hope that my prayers early this spring about the future of our little farm — and the answers to diversify, that orchards will be the next legacy — are true, and practical, and possible, and Good, beyond even my optimistic fervor.
One of my buyers also wants to buy some zucchini, and tomatos (when they ripen). Another wanted a dozen farm eggs. It’s a good day, and will be a busy afternoon tomorrow, delivering all the goods.
The barn kittens we had this spring have developed peculiar habits, I noticed. They have taken to “showering” under our sprinkler in the morning when I turn it on our fruit trees. Several months ago they had an accident that resulted in them getting coated with sticky chainsaw oil, and I immediately gathered them all into my basement sink for a good scrubbing... I wonder if they now “shower” because I taught them it was an acceptable thing to do?? At any rate, it’s adorable watching them...
This evening (while gathering tools to harvest the plums) I also noticed that the start from the old trumpet vine we used to have has finally decided to bloom! The original had been planted back when the house was newly built in 1917, but almost 6 or so years ago now became a hazard (too close to the house, and started to die off creating a fire risk) and so we cut it down. It was a sad day for my husband, but that plant surprised us: that very next spring we noticed it had seeded a start a little ways out in our yard. I’ve been diligently mowing around it all this time and it has decided to take off! The hummingbirds will be happy.
With all this newness and resurrection of things old, I am feeling deeply hopeful. So many things in my life as of late have experienced significant upheaval, and it’s a little challenging at times to remain optimistic in the face of perpetual change. But seeing the promises begin to unfold.... that is a beautiful, beautiful thing.