Posted 09/12/2024

Apple picking, organic, local, and free plums too.

“Give me spots on my apples and leave me the birds and the bees” lyrics by Joni Mitchell, from her song Big Yellow Taxi

Gerald, a very generous neighbor offered his organic apples and plums to the community. Come and pick for free. He posted in our neighborhood list serve.

And on a sunny warm perfect September day, I went to his home with baskets for picking fresh organic apples and plums.

When I got there, there were a few other local ladies. We all teamed up to help each other harvest the organic fruit.

One woman quickly climbed up high in the green apple tree and picked apples for all of us.

I suggested she toss them onto the bed of leaves under the tree to avoid bruising the fruit, which she did.

Gerald also left a long pole with a basket on it to harvest the plums. Fern, one of the women, was happily pulling plums down for all of us with this tool. Sometimes shaking branches full of plums, which gently fell onto the grass for us to pick up.

Gerald also left us a sturdy aluminum ladder to climb and reach the red apples at the top of that tree.

Our tree climber happily climbed up that ladder, and handed the red apples to me. I placed some in my basket and some in her basket.

We were strangers when we got there and friends when we left.

There was a steady trickle of folks coming and going.

Happy to be out on a sunny warm day picking apples and plums, enjoying each other’s company, and getting to know each other.

And what are the odds, that when I was there, we, 3 women had roots in growing up in NYC. Now happily living in the country, in the woods of Western MA for decades. Also, excited to cook, bake and eat all the apples and plums we gathered.