The Red Hen: Fall 2009

My parents have apples - - LOTS of apples. Over 500 trees, the majority of which my sister Norma and I planted one year while in High School during our "Spring Break".

While we all still lived at home the Fall season meant picking and selling apples. If you have never picked apples, let me tell you this is HUGE amounts of work!

First you have to pick them, then sort them as you put them into the boxes to make sure you don't get any bad ones. Then you top off the boxes and get them ready to load onto the tractor to be put in the barn and then onto trucks to take around town to sell.

Now, selling is it's own kind of work. Loading the apples from the barn to the truck, constantly shifting and rearranging the boxes to make your display look nice, lifting the boxes into your customer's cars. You get the idea - lots of lifting = one bad back!

This year my neice Katherine, who is almost 16, was telling my sister Julie how she hoped that she didn't see anyone she knew while selling. Julie said "Well, how do you think I feel? I'm 32, pregnant and STILL selling apples!" Good Times - Good Times!!

Since we have all grown up, moved away, and have our own families it is harder and harder to get back to help like we used to, but we all still try to do as much as we can.

This year I took Jack and Madeline with me since it is a family affair.

Madeline started out strong - look at those picking skills!

Then she got distracted by the dog - Rocky. I think she is either trying to give him some sort of command or offer him an apple. I'm pretty sure he's not interested in either option.

So she just settles for petting him.

Next, we needed some boxes moved to a better location in the orchard so we could fill them. I knew just the two people who could fill the position.

Apparently Jack is trying the "No Look" approach.

After all that hard work Jack and his cousin Hans decide to pose for a photo op. Neither one looks thrilled - I think they are waiting for Grandpa to come back with the tractor so they can try to catch a ride!

Here's my neice Katherine. She's laughing because I just caught her texting instead of picking. Ohhh, BUSTED!! Notice that her basket around her neck is empty. . . . hmmmm. Actually, she really is a hard worker.

Speaking of hard workers - - This is my nephew Drake. His job is to load the full boxes onto the tractor, ride around to the barn with my Dad and then unload them.