pear trees | Life on a Colorado Farm

Here is the loud, roaring (we can hear it two fields away), scary (to me) headgate.

See all the trash the comes down Terry takes it out several times a day!

Here Terry is opening the chute so we can get water onto our place. It’s measured in holes. Only so many feet of water (holes) goes with our place. I don’t like walking across the little board (which you can not see) to get to the little chute — I get dizzy and want to topple over into the roaring mass of water. It takes lots of concentration for me to get there, clean the trash out, adjust the boards (the boards are laying across the cross over board from one cement wall to another, and get back. Terry just walks over like it’s dry land.

My pear trees are just stunning.

Today the plum trees burst into bloom even though it terribly cold, with a nasty wind. And a freeze warning for tonight and tomorrow night. I guess I won’t have to worry about thinning the fruit again this year. A mixed blessing.

Terry and I were working on setting water when we saw five fire trucks speed past our place so we jumped on our four-wheelers and headed off to the Rocky Point…sure enough. The neighbor, who almost burned us out a few years back, had set another fire that got away from him. Thank heavens for quick response…the fence line you see is our property. Scary! But they got it out so all is well.

We have to check the water around mid-night or one, because of all the trash coming down the canal. Trash backs up the water and causes floods, or breaks through or over dams or ditches. This time of year the trash is the worst…wind, opening up of farm ground up above us, and opening canals that feed into ours. By the first of May or so, we should be okay. (No mid-night walks for Boomer and I, but mid-night rides and water checks instead. 🙂 )

In spite of how all this must read. Please believe me this is a very good life! I can’t imagine any other.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

The apricot tree in the yard burst into bloom over night, Monday night. This tree is a different variety than the other tree…the old apricot tree.

This one is only 40 years old. I planted it when we moved here 40 years ago. It, too, is a heritage apricot, but it produces a lighted apricot colored fruit. The fruit is sweet and make wonderful jams.

Yes you can tell the difference between the two jams if you don’t mix the fruit while canning.

Now for having fruit trees in your yard, I have a couple of prune trees, four pear trees, several sour cherry trees and two standard delicious trees. You see I was raised on an orchard. My grandfather had 60 acres of all sorts of different fruit and my Dad had 180 acres of all types of different fruit.

I missed the trees when I moved to here, their lovely blooms, the deep shade under their branches and climbing into the trees and finding bird nests, and I missed the humming of the honey bees.

(We have lots of bees because we do NOT spray for bad bugs, but allow the good bugs to do their thing.)

So I planted fruit trees in my yard.

I would never ever in a million years do that again.

NEVER!

While it works well to live in the middle of an orchard, the house is usually in a ‘space’ of it’s own. Having the trees right with you in the house space is very different. The problem occurs when the fruit comes on —- the fruit drops and turns to mush if you don’t get out there immediately and pick it up. The birds get most of the fruit because you work and can’t get out there the second the fruit even thinks about turning ripe, the trees grow BIG and BIGGER and BIGGEST and of course the best fruit is UP THERE! (So you must and have to prune…you can’t NOT prune, which is a winter job.)

Since the best fruit is UP THERE the birds get it first and they only peck on one side or they only peck on one spot. After all it is a bird buffet and there is so much to choose from, so that fruit is gone, even after you pick it. If you don’t get it picked ON TIME, then the fruit drops onto the grass or the flower bed or the side walk, whereby YOU MUST GET OUT THERE AND GET IT CLEANED UP NOW!

If you have little kids its a great job for them, but little kids grow up and leave so the job becomes yours.

Still I have all of the same fruit trees I planted when we moved here, I put up with the mess. I enjoy the bees who are very happy to have delightful food the first thing in spring, and the birds who feast on the fruit. I can, I bake, I freeze and yes….
I pick up fruit by the wheel barrow loads before the mush turns into an ant feast.

Come spring, I fall in love with each and everyone of my fruit trees all over again.

And this is why!