Apricots, apples, mulberries, pears: it surprised us to find these trees on the farm, little signs of the care that once went into this place, before the vegetation fell into neglect. All have produced edible fruit. Mulberries and apricots earlier this summer; pears and apples coming on now.
Every day when I’m done riding, I pick a couple of pears and eat them as I walk home. I take the route through Grappa and Otter’s pasture and feed the boys the cores. The pears are small and crisp, like the ones the Fontaine family fed my mares by the bucket-full in France last summer. (My mares Lapeti and Labelle, who live near Lille, in the north of France, and have produced these young offspring we’re now starting to bring home.)
The pear and apricot trees are by the farmhouse—conveniently located for post-ride snacking. The apples and mulberries are on the hill. Partway through our last design meeting, we stopped at the mulberry tree on our way down from the hilltop meadow. The berries were silky-black and sweet and revived us after all that hard thinking, crouched down over drawings in the grass.
Soon I’ll try those apples in a Tarte Tatin…
Apple trees on the hill
Mulberry tree by the north meadow
Snacking on mulberries at our last design meeting
Apricots by the farmhouse
Farmhouse and pear tree
