The apple gatherers

Apple gathering and making applesauce has become our symbol of autumn. The Dreamer and I take off about ten in the morning with the Bear, the Bug, and little John-boy in their van, rain coming down in sheets. But, today is the appointed day so, rain or shine, we go gather.

The parents of one of the Dreamer’s friends have a smallish, well-tended orchard about ten miles north of us. We are invited yearly to gather fallen apples at no cost. Because they tend their orchard so dutifully, the drops tend to be perfectly beautiful apples but can’t be used in the cider mill or sold in their store.

Arriving at the orchard we navigate a muddy drive past the barn and make it to the rise without getting stuck in the deep mud. First conquest of the day! The Bug has fallen asleep in her seat beside John-boy so just Bear, the Dreamer, and I hop out, clad in slickers and mud boots. The rain is still coming down hard. The Dreamer and I fan out into the long rows, looking for the trees that have nicely dropped dozens of apples in the tall grass at their feet. Bear decides that dancing in the mud with her bright green smiley boots is far more fun than picking up wet, slippery apples.

In less than an hour we’ve picked up six bushels. Bug wakes up about halfway through and joins us gatherers, grumping and whining the whole time that she is WET! Duh! Nobody else is, of course. John-boy continues to sleep like a baby on a rainy dark day. We load the boxes into the van, make it back through the mud slide past the barn, and head for home. Opening the garage, we stow the boxes for tomorrow’s applesauce party, strip off our wet clothes in the laundry, and make hot soup.

Apple gathering brings sweet memories, each year different. One other rainy day my husband, the Dragon, and I did a similar one hour pick-up. Another time I took just Bear, a toddler, with me on a glorious warm day. The grass was so tall between the rows of trees that she kept falling into it, only to hop up laughing. Eventually she sat in her stroller watching me gather. One bright, warm September we just had Keren with us, a memory we’ll never repeat.

Last year the Dreamer, her sister-in-law, the Driver, a random Chinese student from Macau, and six pre-schoolers spent a lingering late October morning in the sunny orchard. It was so lovely that we gathered ten bushels and then had to process far more apples than we actually needed. Lesson learned: if the weather is lovely, watch out how many apples you gather!

In the rain today, there was no temptation to linger.

The applesauce somehow manages to last till the next autumn, a sweet reminder that it is till possible to make some things from scratch, simply and with little expense except our time. Tomorrow will be a long day of hard work, but the camaraderie in the kitchen simply adds value to the product.

There are so few opportunities in suburban American for this kind of experience. We’re already planning next year.