The Day I went Apple Picking

I went apple picking. Well ..... at least I went and others picked. It was a drizzly morning with a promise of better weather later. So we got picked up about 10 am and driven to this orchard. There were 4 of us in the back of the van and three in the front. Well I have seen the same scene in the TV when they take fun on the ethnic sweatshop transport system. No it is different in this situation, as we knew each other ha ha hee hee. Got to this orchard and stopped on the grass curb and we 'ad to cl.i..i...i....i.....i......mb over the fence. Mmmmmmmmm.
Away we went and 'ad a cup of tea with muffins. Then Greg and Sharon went around shaking trees with this big pole with a hook at the end of it (Got some photos). If I 'ad my way - yep I would of stayed at 'ome init- I would of put a sheet or something underneath to catch the apples and then pick the rest. But it is not done like that here. You have a bucket and squat down and pick. It is fast and furious to start with and slows down later. I like picking with both hands. It is bloody backbreaking work mate. I ‘ad better things to do than that. So I took some more photos. I went around looking and observing.
You see this orchard is quite big, say, about 18 acres I think. I got thinking who is this person who is looking after this orchard? Asked questions to find out that he is not rich. The whole orchard with the machinery – tractor, apple harvester which works only on the flat areas, a little motorised 4 wheeler cart- is for sale for £ 150,000. And an Imperial Ton of Apples on the trees will give the farmer about a 100 quid. If the price is wrong email me?
Their record harvest is over 150 ton. So that means the harvest must be averaging about 100 ton which will bring ‘ome £ 10,000. Well you reckon that is been rich I do not know. Every other year they do not pick. That halves it init?
Then again he could not have that much of expenses. It is a organic orchard. That means it has been registered as an organic orchard. The farmer has to register and after tree years without any chemicals been put in there he gets a certificate. I heard that orchard has not seen any chemicals for the last 23 years. It was first planted on the year 1951. And the runts removed and replanted in 1961. There is a nice map with the rows of apple trees been numbered and with their respective names.
We saw a buzzard. According to Guru net:
buzzard, common name for hawks of the genus Buteo and the genus Pernis, or honey buzzard, of the Old World family Accipitridae. Honey buzzards feed on insects, wasp and bumblebee larvae, and small reptiles. The name buzzard is also incorrectly applied to various hawks and New World vultures, such as the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) and the black vulture (Coragyps atratus) of the family Cathartidae. Buzzards are classified in the phylum Chordata subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Falconiformes, family Accipitridae.
It must have been a baby having a bit of practice on flying; as it got into a gust of wind and had a flutter and recovered from it. Then it flew away.
Across the road in a field about a ¼ mile away we saw two deer. I took a photo but I am not sure what type they were. I been told they are the local variety, but there is a quiet discussion going on, about it, inside me head.
Does the deer have an identity? I mean who that individual deer is? The name and the nationality etc. The Parent deer goes like ”Your name is Christopher; your father’s name is dad; you have this surname called Willudear. That makes you Christopher Willudear. And your nationality is Dear” I wonder how confusing that will be to the Christopher Willudear? If he ran away and met lots of other deer called this and that Deer; that will be more confusing or what? So the moral of the story is “Thou shalt not judge others when thou has no intention of understanding the said situation, in which the accused has been” Taken out of an Old Tatement (yes not testament mate).
I am not sure what that deer was; so I will not try to bullshit my way of explaining the ancestry of the said deer. Oh dear!
We had lunch of course the lunch is always sarnies init? But this is king sarnie. Lots of different types of fillings example the Dolmades and Stuffed Cabbage Rolls were a few of them. This dolmades which comes from the Northern Greece. Let us see what this Greek food is all about. I know a place I visited regular fashion in the early years of me life in Bristol. In Cotham Hill there was a place called Orthello Kebab House. A Greek guy by the name of Phillip owned and ran the place. His real name is not Phillip but some thing like Pordias. He was a great guy. Looked after us. Fed us when we did not have any money and advised us when we got into trouble. Leant us a shoulder to weep on. I still know his daughter Flora and she visits me often. There were lots of Greek restaurants them days. One by one they were bought by Indians and Pakistanis. There is a big argument about the authenticity of the Greek foods. Are they Greek or are they Turkish. Turks who migrated from Mongolia over the years did not have any such authority until the Ottoman Empire. That is 1400 AD or so. So the Greek empire lasted until the Constantinople fell to the Sulayman mob in 1453 AD. So most of the food which was in the Mediterranean was given Turkish names and absorbed into the Turkish cuisine
So according to the boffins (Early Period, issue #5, written and published by Rebecca and David Wendelken, original date unknown (circa late 1970s - early 1980s), Dolmades started in the 5th century. So that was well before the Turks took over Greece. And you bet even the bloody tinned variety is Ummy.
After food everyone went picking again and I had a wee chat with Greg about the orchard and the owner. Then we saw this little thing running about on the road. Greg ran up and caught it. It was a Field Mouse. This is what I found about the creature.
Apodemus sylvaticus L.1758 (wood mouse, long-tailed field-mouse)
The wood mouse can easily be distinguished from the house mouse by its larger ears and eyes. Its warm brown coat cannot generally be confused with the dull greyish coat of the house mouse, although unusual colour variations and the grey fur of the young of both species may make identification more difficult. The wood mouse does not have the distinctive odour associated with the house mouse.
Wood mice have soft, smooth fur which is sandy or orange brown on the head and back, yellowish on the flanks and white on the belly. There is usually a small streak of yellow pigmentation in the otherwise white fur of the chest. The tail is almost as long as the body and has a sparse covering of black hairs. The tops of the feet are covered by short white hairs and each toe - four on the fore feet and five on the hind - ends in a sharp claw.
Some biology:
Size: This varies according to season and locality. On mainland Britain in the spring: Male is 25g and the female is 20g (unless she is in an advanced stage of pregnancy).
Colour: Sandy or orange brown on head and back, yellow on flanks, white on belly. Young: greyish brown.
Breeding season: March/April to October/November.
Gestation: 25 - 26 days.
No of young: Usually 2 - 9 with an average of 5.
Lifespan: This averages 2 - 3 months, may survive 18 - 20 months in the wild, 2 years or more in captivity.
Food: Mostly seeds, but eats a wide range of plant and animal food.
Predators: Cat, weasel, tawny owl, long - eared owl.
Distribution: Widespread in Britain and Ireland and also on many of the surrounding islands.
Wood mice are primarily seed eaters (granivores), relying to a great extent on the seeds of trees such as oak, beech, ash, lime, hawthorn and sycamore. Every year they eat a high proportion of the annual seed crop and it seems likely that only small quantities of seed therefore, survive to germinate the following spring. The mice are efficient seed gatherers and when there is a plentiful supply on the ground, they carry them back to the nest for storage. Small invertebrates, particularly small snails and insects, may be eaten throughout the year, but are particularly important sources of food in late spring and early summer. This is the time of year when seeds are least available and larval and adult insects are abundant. Moth caterpillars which fall from the upper canopy of trees to pupate in the soil, are a common food in summer.

We were told that the Greg wanted only 2 tons of the apples collected. So when he saw it was done we stopped. And we drank some cider. Well I started while we were ‘aving lunch. That was a wicked strong cider only to be drunk by the crew. That stuff do not get sold as it is more potent than allowed by the government. It is like this; if the cider is under 8.5% alcohol then it is cider. Anything more it is wine. Stupid law init? So we ‘ad Apple Wine. Of course one of us did not drink as some one ‘ad to drive us back. Was not me huh?
That was a great day out. Let there be more I say.

Any queries please address to alwaysshariff@Nospamyahoo.co.uk