Annual Newsletter 1999
Dear Friends,
Standing quietly just east of the family home is a lone apple tree. A Northern Spy. Planted for Bill’s grandmother many years past. It is the oldest remaining tree on the farm. And it has become our giving tree. Over the past 60 years it has come witness to the ever-changing cycles that are family and farm. It has seen the coming and going of many who have meant so much to it, yet it keeps giving. I can remember peering out our dining room window with Nana (Bill’s mother, my grandmother) at a winter landscape as birds ate seed scattered under its bows. in reality, closely paralleled to the rigors of farming, the tree is unpredictable in its production. Yet, is it not the history and emotion that bring meaning to that which is important to us? The tree is far more provoking than the scant peck of apples gathered from its branches. And so it is with farming. It is not the hot July days spent thinning that will matter, but a reflective fall evening on the porch surrounded by the land and people that give meaning. I have found little more pleasing than cresting the Mason Road hill on a fall weekend, home from college. Because home is best. And don’t we all return to our giving tree for life’s lessons and that which it can provide? So much more than apples.
But those trips home for me will be sparse this fall. My pursuits will take me to Glasgow, Scotland where I will be studying for a semester (apples via mail?). The rest of the family has become internationally cultured as well. Adrianne and Mom just returned from a trip to Paris with a school group. While Dad’s adventures have taken him to the far reaches of Berlin Township. I have yet to match his time and effort devoted here. Maybe someday? In the meantime, Mom is hard at work on more graduate classes, while Adrianne is attempting to complete a redecorating project in her room. I know an end for me may be in sight, but have ~ kept the spirit for one more summer.
The crop this season is about on schedule and looks fair despite mother natures lack of cooperation. A dilemma far to familiar to Ohio fruit growers. Here is what to look forward to …
July 5-25 Early Peaches (cling type)
July 30-Aug. 15 Redhaven Season (1st freestone)
Aug 15-20 Nectarines Begin
Aug 20 First White Peaches
Aug 25-30 Gala Apples Begin
Aug 20-Sept 15 Plums
Sept l-5 Pears Begin
Sept 20-30 Last of the Peaches
Sept 15-20 Fall Apples & pick your own begin
Oct 20-30 Fuji Apples Begin
Hope to see you this season,
The Gammies
