"It is remarkable how closely the history of the Apple-tree is connected with that of man." -- Henry David Thoreau
In the fall 1941 my grandparents who had been share croppers got enough money together to put a down payment on their very own piece of dirt. 40 acres of Montcalm County swamp land. To be fair it isn’t all swamp there is a good chunk of farmable land- probably 15 to 20 acres depending on how you slice it and there is also a good chunk of woods but I don’t think I would call it high end prime realestate. It is okay that it wasn’t top drawer crop land they weren’t looking to get rich they were just looking to keep themselves and their 6 kids alive and fed and and be able to do it on their own terms you could do that with this piece of property in 1941. Their primary farm was a dairy farm. My dad tells me they tried to keep 20 milking all the time. This doesn’t sound like much by modern dairy farm standards but they were milking by hand. This meant they had to grow enough feed to feed the cows and then enough vegetables to feed themselves. You could do that on this piece of dirt- swamps and all. And they did this sending sons off to war and later off to college from this piece of dirt. My Uncle Ronny who holds advanced degrees in astronomy and physics and helped to build the atomic clock said he helped to pay for undergrad at Central Michigan by farming beans on this piece of property. Food is a great equalizer. No matter how educated, powerful, or wealthy you are at the end of the day every one has to eat. If you own the means to make that happen at least for yourself and your family there is a certain power and freedom in that. I will never be a fulltime farmer. My kids will never be fulltime farmers- at least not on this piece of dirt in today’s age of mega farms but we still own it- swamps and all and we still grow food on it for us to eat. In 1941 my grandparents knew if they liked apples they should plant apple trees and they did that next spring. Those trees are still going and producing apples. In the late 1970’s I want to say 1978 my dad and I planted more apple trees- and one made it and is producing. I follow the saying that ‘the two most important things we give our children are roots and wings’ so I figured it was my turn to plant some apple trees. These are part of my kid’s roots. It was a warm Saturday in early June- a bit late for planting trees but it was the time I had so off we went my super helper and I while my dad watched. We planted 5 trees near the 2 my grandparents planted and up the hill towards the road from the one my dad and I planted. If we are lucky and these grow at least we will have apples to eat.
Did I mention there are swamps on the property? This is one that my grandfather planted timothy grass in. The grass is taller than even my husband’s head by mid summer. This is Caelun adventuring in. I went down to the edge of the swamp and dug out black dirt to use to plant the apple trees.
Now for the apple trees. There is much commentary that could be made about snakes and trees but I am not going to go there.Let’s just say that snake has been around.
In the background to the left of the truck is one of my grandparents apple trees.
Fingers crossed lets hope they grow.
