RECIPES

Friday 13 May 2022

Farewell To The Orchard

 

It makes me sad to think that these gorgeous trees, photographed when I visited there on a drizzly day in 2012, are now gone or soon to be gone.

I have a cousin who owns an apple and pear orchard and he is currently busy removing all his trees.  This orchard has been here for over one hundred years and used to be surrounded by other orchards and farmland.

Now it is an island amidst sprawling urban development.  People complain bitterly when the hail cannon is used all night, and spray drift is a major problem (and remember that orchardists must spray if they wish to export).

Add to this the issue of continual low prices and rising overheads, the difficulty of obtaining casual labour, my cousin’s increasing age and the fact that no-one else in the family wishes to take on the business, and I can sympathize with the hard decision my cousin and wife have had to make.

The land will be put down in grassland first, and it will no doubt not be long before subdivision begins.

Progress and change are a continual process and I must not complain.  When my grandfather established this orchard, he had to break in the land first.  That was progress and a huge change in the way the land was used and was really very little different to what is happening today.




It is Black Friday today, the 13 May.  I’m so glad I am not superstitious or I might blame it for not letting me comment on anybody’s blog at the moment!

Hope you have a great day 😊

Margaret.

 

10 comments:

  1. It's always sad when trees are cut down and it's doubly sad that these fruit trees that were planted by your grandfather are now going to be removed.
    I hope whatever the problem is as far as being unable to comment on blogs, I hope will fix itself. Blogger can be frustrating.

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  2. So sad for your cousin to see that century of hard work destroyed! Progress…right!

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  3. Oh how terrible to have all those lovely fruit trees removed.

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  4. How sad that this orchard, with its long history, has to go, but I hear what you are saying with the lack of interest in taking it over, and the urban development now causing issues in the farming of it.
    That is one beautiful photo Margaret
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  5. It makes me supremely annoyed that urban development usually gobbles up the best food producing land, rather than occupy the infertile areas. It is really sad to see generations of work and land guardianship disappear that way.

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  6. I agree with what Tigger said. Why not build on the land that can't produce crops, the people will still manage to get to work and school.

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  7. Progress is a misnomer. Progress would be to reforest the land.

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  8. Very sad, it looks so beautiful. But again you have a good approach, staying positive. Have a great day on my Mum´s fav Fridays :-)

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  9. I feel your pain....or maybe that is too strong of a word. But I just hate seeing change...I always tell roger, I hate to think of all the good ground under pavement. How many acres was the orchard? I worked at a very small one for 19 years. Loved it. I did not do the spraying, but did about everything else.

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  10. Aww so sad about the Orchard, we all need trees and fruit!

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Thank-you for visiting my blog. I love it when you leave a comment so please feel free to have your say. Have a great day! Margaret xx