The great American poet, Robert Frost may not have known much about apple orchards in Ohio because he came from New Hampshire, some distance to the East. He did know about the labor of picking the fruit and his poem about it captures the pain and the pleasure of hard work.
Although various cultivars ripen at slightly different times during the summer months the crop really comes to fruition during Autumn. Then when must be brought in to avoid wastage. Machines are not easily used and so this is traditionally a task for human hands, eyes and mental attention.
If the fruits are harvested in good order they can be kept in many ways. Not one need go to waste. More than sixty percent are eaten fresh and about thirty percent are canned or turned into juice. Those that are not eaten immediately can be stored right through Winter or turned into juice, cider or the pulp that is famous in pies or crumbles. All these various uses are incentives for getting the harvest in as branches bend under their loads.
Although various cultivars ripen at slightly different times during the summer months the crop really comes to fruition during Autumn. Then when must be brought in to avoid wastage. Machines are not easily used and so this is traditionally a task for human hands, eyes and mental attention.
If the fruits are harvested in good order they can be kept in many ways. Not one need go to waste. More than sixty percent are eaten fresh and about thirty percent are canned or turned into juice. Those that are not eaten immediately can be stored right through Winter or turned into juice, cider or the pulp that is famous in pies or crumbles. All these various uses are incentives for getting the harvest in as branches bend under their loads.
It is estimated that about seventy million tonnes are harvested annually, mostly in China. The USA is the second largest producer. Ohio is among the top ten of the thirty-two states that have commercial producers. A directory of producers suggests that there are hundreds of orchards dotted across the whole state.
There are more than seven thousand cultivars and more are being developed all the time. Heirloom apples breeds like the famous Orange Pippins are remembered with affection but new varieties are carefully bred for the qualities that people want such as tartness, sweetness and crispness. Many growers plant many different varieties that bear at different times so that the harvest is spread over as any many months as possible.
Trees can grow wide and tall. This allows them to bear heavy loads but it can be difficult to pick them. If trees are pruned down to mall sizes the fruit can be more easily accessible. In some case machines can harvest tress the have been planted in hedgerows. However, as Robert Frost pointed out, part of the enjoyment at harvest time is being up a ladder, feeling the rung beneath one's foot and reaching out for a perfectly ripe fruit that yields gently into the palm of your hand.
If one consider the implications of many orchards all coming into fruit around the same time of year Robert Frost's weariness falls into perspective. Harvesting is hard, urgent work. To manage the problem a tradition of apple picking has been an aspect of culture fondly remembered in the form of childhood memories by many people.
The public are invited to visit farms, pick the fruit for themselves and have fun. The work of a farm can be viewed, parties and fun events enjoyed and rides around the orchards on horse drawn wagons. Such events make hum drum labor fun. Many hands make light work of the enormous task that faces farmers every year. From
There are more than seven thousand cultivars and more are being developed all the time. Heirloom apples breeds like the famous Orange Pippins are remembered with affection but new varieties are carefully bred for the qualities that people want such as tartness, sweetness and crispness. Many growers plant many different varieties that bear at different times so that the harvest is spread over as any many months as possible.
Trees can grow wide and tall. This allows them to bear heavy loads but it can be difficult to pick them. If trees are pruned down to mall sizes the fruit can be more easily accessible. In some case machines can harvest tress the have been planted in hedgerows. However, as Robert Frost pointed out, part of the enjoyment at harvest time is being up a ladder, feeling the rung beneath one's foot and reaching out for a perfectly ripe fruit that yields gently into the palm of your hand.
If one consider the implications of many orchards all coming into fruit around the same time of year Robert Frost's weariness falls into perspective. Harvesting is hard, urgent work. To manage the problem a tradition of apple picking has been an aspect of culture fondly remembered in the form of childhood memories by many people.
The public are invited to visit farms, pick the fruit for themselves and have fun. The work of a farm can be viewed, parties and fun events enjoyed and rides around the orchards on horse drawn wagons. Such events make hum drum labor fun. Many hands make light work of the enormous task that faces farmers every year. From
Trees can grow wide and tall. This allows them to bear heavy loads but it can be difficult to pick them. If trees are pruned down to mall sizes the fruit can be more easily accessible. In some case machines can harvest tress the have been planted in hedgerows. However, as Robert Frost pointed out, part of the enjoyment at harvest time is being up a ladder, feeling the rung beneath one's foot and reaching out for a perfectly ripe fruit that yields gently into the palm of your hand.
If one consider the implications of many orchards all coming into fruit around the same time of year Robert Frost's weariness falls into perspective. Harvesting is hard, urgent work. To manage the problem a tradition of apple picking has been an aspect of culture fondly remembered in the form of childhood memories by many people.
The public are invited to visit farms, pick the fruit for themselves and have fun. The work of a farm can be viewed, parties and fun events enjoyed and rides around the orchards on horse drawn wagons. Such events make hum drum labor fun. Many hands make light work of the enormous task that faces farmers every year. From apple orchards in Ohio visors can drive back into cities, weary, satisfied, educated and laden with sweet scented fruit after a day of old fashioned farm labor.
About the Author:
If one consider the implications of many orchards all coming into fruit around the same time of year Robert Frost's weariness falls into perspective. Harvesting is hard, urgent work. To manage the problem a tradition of apple picking has been an aspect of culture fondly remembered in the form of childhood memories by many people.
The public are invited to visit farms, pick the fruit for themselves and have fun. The work of a farm can be viewed, parties and fun events enjoyed and rides around the orchards on horse drawn wagons. Such events make hum drum labor fun. Many hands make light work of the enormous task that faces farmers every year. From apple orchards in Ohio visors can drive back into cities, weary, satisfied, educated and laden with sweet scented fruit after a day of old fashioned farm labor.
About the Author:
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