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Thursday, July 22, 2010

Cheery Cherry Cherubs - An Orchard Adventure

3One Can always Count on Art Dog to Make Everything Humorous..... Super Catman is not far behind......
Neither is "Twinkle Winkle"!

Mist and Sock Fashion Expert Sorting...











Tonnie and Elasta Woman Sort Cherries.....





How Generous Georgia hauls her cherries around


Generous Georgia's Dog Rudy - The kids tried putting flip flops on him.........


Moonbeam








"Twinkle Winkle"


The kids pretending to shoot at a coyote....


Archer was up on high ladders a lot



Tonnie Elasta Woman's Tuckered Kids.....




Back from a FUN but Exhausting 2 days of laboring in the cherry orchard. After working 2-12 hour night shifts, we got groceries and then had to get home to begin packing. The next morning we were up before dawn to embark on the big adventure. Soon I'd picked up Mist, met up with Tonnie and Elasta Woman and, along with a whole pack of kids, we headed for the low country.
Soon we were in farm land and a paradise of cherry trees beckoned to us with their bright, cheery fruits and foliage flapping in the stormy breeze. Generous Georgia had built a beautiful structure to house her fruity endeavors including a certified commercial kitchen, pitter area, bathroom with shower and sorting area. Wow - this was getting to be high tech!
We were all eager to get to work and soon we were up on ladders, climbing trees and reaching high to pick the luscious fruit. Besides stuffing our buckets, we stuffed our mouths happily. Before we knew it, the day was over and we were sorting cherries and running them through the giant mechanical pitter. After that, we harvested strawberries and raspberries for her. She has a huge, beautiful property with luscious soil. Besides an orchard and large garden area, she owns alfalfa fields, mazes of forest property with groomed trails and one or more lakes over run with pan fish. Wild flowers bloom every where. Its almost as if she lives in a modern day Garden of Eden.
Not only is her place home to all manner of plant life, but animals flock there for refuge. Does with even triplets wandered in the alfalfa fields. Coyotes could visibly be seen running through the fields. Archer chased one away that was nipping at the heels of a fawn. I tried to keep the kids close as they saw coyotes in broad day light several times. Bear and Elk also inhabit her forests.
I never sleep so good camping as i do when i'm there. Probably because i'm exhausted. Of course after harvesting, I have to head down to the lake for a swim. After that getting the kids cleaned up and bedding ready, dinner too. Oh and trying to get the sticky bug deterrent out of my hair is another big job. I seem to always some how get my hair full of it. By the time evening arrives, we're all ready to sleep.
The next day, we started harvesting at 4:45 am and didn't finish processing till some time around 5 or 6 pm. The kids had done admirably and amazingly. They worked hard, the little ones played hard. The hot sun had caused them to become a bit droopy and excessive cherry consumption made them gassy. Flatulent humor began to arise from the exhausted crowd. Elasta Woman amazed us all with her ability to pick almost half as much as our families 4 hard workers. Our group had harvested about 1/3 of her orchard in that time. Our family took home 158 lbs of organic cherries, most of which were pitted, bagged and ready for the freezer. I felt proud of my kids, grateful for a healthy supply of winter fruit, and was ready for some R and R at home......

Last Years Cherry Orchard Links : Including more pics, stories





2 comments:

Heather said...

Jacob pointed out that's more cherries than some of us weigh!

God provides! And, of course, many times our elbow grease is part of it, too. :)

Love you guys!

Simple Home said...

Your kids are pretending to shoot coyotes and a few days later, they're running into wolves! Your life is full of wonder. I can remember when we first moved here to to the desert, laying in bed at night and hearing the coyotes howl. I thought we'd moved to the middle of nowhere. Now, 20 years later, it's the middle of suburbia :-)
Blessings,
Marcia