Low hanging fruit

Now I understand the expression ‘low hanging fruit’. After a week in the orchard picking apples with ladder, picking bag and hook, I can appreciate the pleasure gained from low hanging fruit. However, it should be recognized that the best apples are found in the top branches of the tree. The low hanging fruit tends to be found on the side branches; smaller apples, more of them, but easily available for hand picking. There is no need for the combination of technology: ladder, picking bag and hook.

How does the metaphor translate into our day to day lives? Some things are easy to achieve, with relatively minimal effort however it does not necessarily give the high quality that can be found at the upper extremities of the tree.

Talking about trees, this was the subject for this week’s Brain Pickings . Maria Popova describes the contemplation by Walt Whitman on the wisdom of trees.

At the end of the week, we were able to celebrate ten bins shipped to Brian Boates for juice that will be a component of IronWorks Distilleries, apple brandy. The brandy will be named after Raymond Hunter who planted over one hundred trees in his organic orchard in 1993.

Next week, we shall pick the remaining apples, primarily Mac Free variety. They too will go to Brian Boates, to be converted into cider vinegar.

The apple orchard teaches us many lessons. It shows the impact of microclimate on our landscape. It engages us in agricultural production and the associated risks. It offers us a metaphor for a rural living: the seasons, climate, the engagement with others in the community, living close to the land. It gives us a relationship to the trees around us.

Acknowledgements

Edward Wedler for his graphics. Heather Stewart is a partner of the apple picking team.

References

Brain Pickings September 16, 2018. Consider the tree: Philosopher Martin Buber on the discipline of not objectifying and the difficult art of seeing others as they are, not as they are to us. It also includes Walt Whitman on Creativity.