On Barroilhet we had a beautiful apple tree.  In my memory, it had five different varieties grafted on to it.  We never sprayed it and it never had worms.  But you know how memories are.  I could be wrong about the worms.  I do remember that, as a new housewife, I would not let a single apple go to waste.  I made apple jelly, apple butter, apple sauce, apple pies, dried apples, and caramel apples for all the children in the neighborhood for trick-or-treat.

There was an ancient apple tree here at 1880 when we moved in.  It had to be sprayed three times a year for about $200 a pop to keep the worms out of the fruit.  In recent years I have just cut around the wormy bits to make a few apple pies.  Then, a big branch fell down and we could see that the old tree had a disease going on inside.  Today, John is taking it down.  It will make him some excellent firewood.  I will miss the blossoms in April but I’m sure I will still get a few windfall apples from Elizabeth and Fritz’s tree next door. Enough to make a pie or two.