APPLE PICKIN' TIME IN MICHIGAN..THESE ARE FUJI'S

APPLE PICKIN' TIME IN MICHIGAN..THESE ARE FUJI'S
Originally uploaded by Louise001

APPLE PICKIN' TIME IN MICHIGAN..THESE ARE FUJI'S

APPLE PICKIN' & MEMORIES

The apples grown in Michigan are the best I have ever eaten, especially when picked and eaten right off the tree as I did yesterday. Actually, I waited until I got home to eat one so that I could wash and eat it.
The family and I went to a farm here that has been turned into quite an attraction. They grow fruit and vegetables for the public to pick for themselves. Of course they sell things already picked, but where's the fun in that?
They also feature FRESH HOMEMADE APPLE CIDER & DOUGHNUTS & PUMPKIN PIES made on the spot!!

First of all, we came to the Corn Maze, and as I looked at all the corn stalks, already browned by the season and still with the corn on them, it brought back many memories.
In my childhood we raised a lot of hogs and other livestock on the farm, and dairy. We had a corn ''crib'' to store the corn on the cob once it was dried. Our corn crib was simply a little building that looked like a house. It was about six feet wide and ten feet long, as I recall. The door was made in two parts so we could open the top half and reach in to get the corn, like a ''Dutch door''.
I remember hours spent picking the corn in a hot and scratchy and therefore itchy corn field. Then there was the shucking , removing the husks to prepare it for drying on the cob. Once it was dried it was put in the corn crib to store.
Sometimes the hogs were given the whole cob with the corn left on, and they were adept at getting it off. Often we had to remove the dried kernels so that they could be ground and mixed with other grains for a more nourishing livestock feed.
We raised all registered purebred animals and my dad was an exhibitor and judge at many Fairs in California and also the National Livestock Exposition at the ''Cow Palace'' in San Francisco. He fed special formulas he devised of mixed grain to fatten our animals and keep them healthy.
Removing the kernels of corn by hand was painful. My hands would become quite sore. Sometimes rubbing two corn cobs together could get most of the kernels off, but there were always some that needed my hands.
I remember this as an October memory, because it was usually in this month that this was done. I
remember myself as a young girl around my early teenage years, sitting near the corn crib under the old Oak trees on the side of the hill, working at rubbing the kernels off, and I especially remember the light of the October day.
Yesterday as we walked around the orchard and the farm, I especially remembered the autumn light, and pictured that scene, almost forgotten, again. Even as we drove along roads lined with brilliant orange, red, and golden trees the light reflecting off of them was magnificent. I wanted to permanently imprint the memory on my mind forever. A camera, no matter how expensive and professional can never quite capture it.
I am realizing now, another reason I love Autumn. I always thought it was the color of the trees, but it is also the light. The light of day is different in the fall. There truly is more of a glow to it.
Yesterday my almost 4 year old granddaughter picked her first apple from a real apple tree in a real apple orchard. It was such an experience of delight to see the joy of her examining it as she pulled it from the tree. ''I did it, I picked an apple!'' she said with such animation and excitement in her voice. She was thrilled and picked many more before our big bag was full. She was so joyful, darting in and out between the trees.
There were many pumpkins of many sizes for her to chose from also, and she went home with several of the smaller ones, ''just her size''.
I saw a basket of Quince's and planned to go back and get some, but by the time we were finished with all of our activities, ''going back'' didn't feel like an option....:) I love Quinces! I even like them raw, eaten like an apple. But maybe the best way to eat them is as Quince Preserves in my opinion. On our farm we had Quince's and I remember their beautiful fragrant blossoms delighting the bees, and the sweet tart flavor of them on toast and biscuits. There is an aroma around a Quince tree also, even when it is not in bloom, and I loved it.
The setting was so magnificent, because the farmyard area was surrounded with gigantic ancient Maple trees all decked out in their full fall color and splendor. I ''eyeball'' measured some of them and and their trunks were probably up to 50-60 inches across and through.
The farmyard was planted with many other interesting plants and trees. There was even a huge bed of lovely, very healthy Datura, often called Jimson Weed, in bloom, that is poison to animals, but it was planted out near a reception area where there were no animals except for us humans. In fact I saw no animals on this farm.
I would have loved to go inside the huge old farmhouse nearby. From the outside it looked to be maybe about 75 years old. It was probably one of the nicest of it's day and still.
At the end of our visit, a visit to the homemade fresh Apple cider and homemade Doughnut and Pumpkin Pie area was in order, and a gift shop tour.
All in all it was a magnificent Fall Adventure, filled with goodness and memories.

Uploaded by Louise001 on 11 Oct 10, 1.48PM EDT.