The Guru and Humble Pie

I met with the premier expert in apple cultivation and propagation this past week.  His name is Robert (Bob) Norton and he happened to retire right here to Vashon.  Now, if you never heard of Dr. Norton, then you don't know your apples!  Even before we agreed on a final price for the farm the Glebs (previous owners) made us promise to track this man down, and join his "fruit club".  We smiled and agreed not understanding the half of what we were getting into!

So the fruit club is quite a thing in itself, and I think by Toby and I joining it we reduced the average age to 65; oh yes, we are the newbies.  But the age thing did not discourage us one bit!  We happily attended the annual Vashon Island Fruit Club (VIFC) potluck with homemade jams to share at the tasting table and a berry salad straight from the garden.  We did not blink when only one other parent showed up with kids (and she wasn't even a member of the club, she just came for the food), and Toby even signed up to be the clubs new treasurer.

With our foot in the door of such an austere and somewhat aloof organization we thought it was about time that we invited Dr. Norton to the orchard for a "walk".  Bob showed up right on time and proceeded to lead me down to my own orchard. (he apparently had been there many times before)  He drilled me on many of the varieties and struggled to keep up reading my "orchard map".  He deemed our orchard "starving" and lacking any significant growth.  I shied to tell him about our triumphant pruning fearing he would point to it as the culprit.  He said we had two improperly labeled trees and took samples home to try and correctly identify for us as well as a couple unknown trees.  And he showed me how many of the beautiful nearly ripe apples were actually "ruined" by cottling moth damage.  He gave a few other pointers, that I wrote down, but after about the fifth criticism I had a hard time listening.  When our hour was up I wrote him a check and he lead me out of the orchard back to his car and on his way to his next "appointment".

As he drove out of site I frantically wrote down everything I could remember from our meeting and then took a deep breath.  Not since research science in college had I been dealt so much "constructive" criticism in so little time.  It is hard to hear that something you are working so hard on is imperfect, and still needs work.  And I guess I feel better about paying him for giving me advice instead of a pat on the back for a job well done and glowing compliments.  But it is very hard to see your farm as something not totally under your control.  I certainly could not monitor each apple and shoo off any moth that came near it, or know exactly how far back on a branch to make a pruning cut.

Farming is a giant lesson in letting go, I know this, and I also know that I am a control freak.  It must be comical for some people to watch me try and do this.  However, my spirits were lifted today when I sold some berries at the Saturday market.  People were happy to see me, kids in tow, and asked about what we will be bringing to market next week.  They don't see my "office", and they don't care.  They just care about what I bring to the table to share, and I think that is really all that matters.