My Orchard

Apples in my yard

Twelve years ago when we moved to our present home, we were blessed to have eight apple trees lining the edge of our property forming a natural fence between us and the next door neighbor. Come spring time they are a beautiful sight with their white and pinkish hued blossoms. When I drive down the road towards my yard it almost looks as if the trees are covered in snow.



Theresa Weir's memoir
The Orchard

We have never tried to cultivate these apples, they are strictly ornamental. We allow the animals to feast on them. The deer that populate the woods surrounding our home have been seen nibbling away as dusk falls. Unfortunately, a couple of the trees have fallen prey to fungal infections and have died. In the fall of 2011, we had an unexpected heavy snowfall at the end of October before the leaves and fruit had completely fallen and two more of the trees fell over from the snow's weight. The roots were pulled right out of our sandy soil.

Now we may all be familiar with Rachel Carson and her ground breaking environmental work in exposing the dangers of pervasive use of the pesticide DDT. Silent Spring informed the nation about the risks that were being taken by using these harmful chemicals and it led to the eventual ban here in the United States of DDT. I can remember my Dad using the stuff  around the foundation of our home in order to rid us of ants. I picked up Theresa Weir's memoir The Orchard in which she describes her married life as the wife of a farmer in the mid-West thinking it would be an interesting read. Throughout her narrative she drops hints about the use of chemicals in the war against pests which can ruin the quality of the fruit her husband was trying to produce. It was heartbreaking to read of the destruction of a section of apple trees after their infestation with codling moth. All the effort to hybridize a new variety of apple went up in smoke when the contaminated trees were burned.

Then I saw it coming. Theresa's father-in-law was the first to fall ill with cancer. Then four years later her husband was diagnosed with cancer and succumbed when treatment failed. For some reason in the past eighteen months I have read many memoirs describing the death of a loved one from cancer. In February of 2012 I lost my father to lung cancer. Granted he had smoked for 50 of his 73 years, but did exposure to DDT in his youth, or other chemicals that his father used in his gas station also contribute to his development of this dreaded disease? Once again I am challenged to think about and act upon what I learn about the environment. I have chosen not to treat my apple trees or much of my yard for that matter with pesticides. I know that the rest of my trees might be in danger of dying from fungal infections, but that is part of nature and I would rather not interfere. The more research I do will hopefully help me to uncover more organic methods to treat and maintain the health of my yard and family.