Lisa Thorpe

The life cycle of an apple tree

Yesterday I attended an apple tasting held here, were I live, at The Bishop’s Ranch.  The tables were filled with a vast array of apple varieties to taste, from “Arkansas Black” to “Winesap”. The tasting was set amidst Gina’s Orchard, surrounded by apple trees planted in the 1870s.  The old Gravensteins though twisted and ancient, still strive towards their purpose… to bear fruit. Each year they go through the natural order of things: they bloom, they burst from bloom to tender leaf, they bear fruit, they give fruit to whomever and whatever finds sustenance in it, they drop their leaves and lay themselves bare to wait out the winter, ready, waiting to bloom again.  Imagine these stalwart trees for 130 years fulfilling their destiny! What’s to be learned from a life cycle fulfilled, what does it mean to bear fruit? I’m not sure where this will take me, check back Friday.