Thanks, Patty

If you see this, did you ever find any apples?

I thought of you the other day when I read a news story saying that the wholesale apple growers were leaving tons of apples on their trees/dropping to the ground in states like NY and Michigan that had bumper crops this year. Appararently, these growers have contracts with produce companies to deliver XXX number of tons. Once they've fulfilled their contracts, there is no market there for the excess apples. I was really irritated....thinking how thrilled a bunch of us would be if we lived close enough to go to those orchards and pick our own since bulk apples at good prices are so hard to find here.

I just don't understand that kind of waste. You'd think if they cannot sell all those apples, they'd invite people to come in and glean their own....or maybe pick them and send them to food banks!

Dawn

Farmers and ranchers can't win for losing....because if they are highly productive and produce a bumper crop, the law of supply and demand means they stand to make less money overall due to lower prices per unit. There ought to be a better way.

My grandad used to tell me in the 1960s and 1970s that farmers and ranchers were the only businesses in the country that had to buy at retail and sell at wholesale. I didn't understand what he meant until I was older though.

People always tell me I ought to sell my 'excess' at the local Farmer's Market. Truthfully, though, if I priced my produce to ensure I'd receive minimum wage for the time spent in the garden and the costs involved, the produce would be so high that no one would buy it because they can get it cheaper at Wal-Mart. I've noticed many people expect the cheapest possible price at local Farmer's Markets. I'm the opposite--I expect to pay a higher price at the Farmer's Market for high-quality local produce because I understand all the work that goes into producing it.

Last week we had a $610 repair bill on my husband's truck for replacing wiring and labor. The mechanic said that it looked like squirrels had been working on it for a while.

I think we have fewer than we did for awhile, but we still have too many. My neighbor told me just to give up on the fruit tree idea because "the squirrels love'um".

Ouch! What a repair bill. Those darn squirrels.

Patty,

I remember trucks with bags of apples but I didn't see any this year, or maybe not the last few years either.

At least you got a few apples and had your pie!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away (but I don't know if that's true if they're baked into a pie).

Dawn

There is a truck that is always parked in the same spot every fall near Bellavista, Arkansas. Last year I bought apples from him twice and they were wonderful. He was there again this year but I only bought a few. I was glad that I hadn't stocked up because they weren't nearly as good as they had been before. I think he brings them in from Oregon.

In our town the Kawanis club sells big boxes of apples every year. I think they have a couple of different kinds, but the only ones I have seen are red delicious. Our District Attorney buys a box for each of his offices every year and just leaves them there for the employees to eat. We never seemed to make it through the whole box, so one year when I was still working there, I brought the remainder home and make applesauce. It's a good way to help a charity if you like that kind of apple.