150 Year Old Apple Tree

Apple season is one of my favorite times!  A few days ago, our good "family friends" stopped by with a jug of their home-pressed apple cider. The Miller's have a family gathering each fall, working hard and having fun at the same time, making cider.  I stopped in once while they were pressing the apples and was amazed at the process... and the results!


Our Amish neighbors a couple of miles up the road sell apples, garden produce, eggs and a whole bunch of other things.  My wife and I stopped in a while back to buy some garden produce.  We spent about a half an hour there because the elderly matron of the farm was, in my wife's words, an excellent sales person. My wife's mother bought produce from this lady for years and now my wife stops in and gets even more than she went to buy.  It's all worth every penny!

I stood outside while the ladies were haggling prices and watched a group of little Amish children playing near the barn.  I wanted to take pictures, but thought maybe I shouldn't.


Before we left, I asked the kind, older lady, "Do you still have that old apple tree that leans on boards to keep it off the ground?"  She was obviously pleased that I asked about her special tree and encouraged me to walk around her produce shop and go see it.  I didn't know she was following me so, I snapped this picture.

"The last time I visited this farm, this tree was propped up on boards," I said.  She grinned and didn't say anything right away.  I've found that if you stand quietly for a few moments, a person is often rewarded for having patience.  She began to tell me more about her tree.  "We think this tree is about 150 years old." And then she proceeded to tell me that her husband put props under the tree in the 1970's and then her son re-propped it in the 1990's and just a few years ago they abandoned the props and let the old tree lay on its side.  She smiled and looked at her tree affectionately, saying, "We still get apples from this tree every year."  You can see apples in its boughs in this picture.

I couldn't help but feel that I was witnessing something extraordinary!  There has to be some type of moral lesson or fable connected with this tree. (Don't be surprised if it makes an appearance in one of the Amish Horses Series books)  In the meantime, you all need to see this picture, it is too wonderful to keep to myself. 

My picture isn't very clear but because the Amish woman was standing there I didn't want to take any more shots.

I included this picture because it was taken in front of the farm with the 150 year old apple tree.