Apple Harvest

The northern end of the Beaver Valley is the largest apple-growing area in Ontario, and it's apple harvest time this year.  It seems to have been a good year, and I've passed or dropped in to several orchards recently.

These apples are in a small, less-than-intensively-managed orchard owned by a friend.  The trees are small and don't get any special treatment, but I like it because I can drop in and pick a few apples any time I like.  And I know they don't get sprayed.

He was really worried this year after winter damage last year, but the damage wasn't as bad as he expected, and most trees have survived, even if his crop is light.

The setting of the orchard is spectacular, nestled in the bottom of the valley, near the Beaver River. Orchards are usually planted on slopes further up the valley, because the cold air drainage down the slopes  reduces the risk of last spring frost catching the blossoms just a little.  But the soil type here is really too heavy for what apples really  like.

 But apples are big business here too.  This is the largest 'intensively' planted orchard in the valley, the trees planted close together, trained to grow up fences (espaliered), and kept very small.  But the crop per acre is amazing. The tall fence around it is to keep out deer.

I'm fascinated with how apple trees get pruned so they end up growing down rather than straight up (pruning depends on the variety).  Early spring for pruning and fall for the harvest are the busy times in the orchards. As well as the right soil type (well drained gravels), the moderating influence of Georgian Bay is a big reason for so many orchards around here.  The colder waters of the bay hold back spring blossoms, lessening the risk that they will get hit by frost.

I dropped in to one orchard that has a pick-your-own operation, and found the owner wasn't busy, so I got to ask a few questions.  This farm grows 4.5 million pounds of apples on 125 acres, and has a team of 17 Mexican workers in for the season to pick them.  Most of the apples go for commercial pie filling or applesauce.  Their 'pick-your-own' operation and store is 'just for fun' - the apples above are MacIntosh.

I heard disembodied voices coming from the middle of this orchard when I stopped to take a picture, but then I realized, the apple pickers were hard at work.  A terrible picture (I've been having a lot of problems with my auto-focus recently), but can you see the tops of at least 5 ladders where the pickers are?

Since we've moved up here I've also learned about all the different varieties of apples available, from early softer Melbas through winter storing hard Red and Yellow Delicious.  This half-bushel is Spartans, quite a tasty apple.  We no longer buy 'apples', but buy 'Honeycrisp, Amrosia, or Galas' and my wife likes 'Russets'.

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Monarchs on the Butterfly Bush

I was much encouraged to see my first Monarch butterfly in two years on the last day of summer, but over the next two weeks it stayed around, and at least one more arrived.  They particularly liked our Butterfly Bush, the Buddleia.  I was very glad to get a few more pictures, and hope that next year we have even more.

It simply kept fluttering from blossom to blossom, and I was able to get several good pictures like this one.

But it didn't want to sit with its wings open much, so this was my vest shot showing the deep orange of the upper wings.

And at least for a while there were two Monarchs fluttering around, but they would not pose nicely together.  This was the best I could do to prove there were two!

The plight of the Monarchs leaves me with a lot more questions than answers, but I was very glad to see these ones at least before summer ended.

Meanwhile, an early first frosty that killed off the tender squash leaves two nights ago means that fall has definitely arrived, just as the calendar suggests.

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Acorns, Apples and Berries

First frost yesterday, and all our squash and tomato plants are gone.  The leaves are turning, and fall is definitely here!  Wild apples are falling, squirrels are chasing acorns, and there are berries on lots of shrubs.

The squirrels don't always seem to be successful in eating the acorns they chase, but they chew them off and they fall on the ground.

There are two mid-size red oaks the squirrels seem to like the most.  When I walk past with the dogs we hear the acorns and small branches falling to the ground.

The ground ends up littered with leaves ....

... and acorns.


There's a wild apple tree across the street; apples have been accumulating on the ground for 2 or 3 weeks now.

There are berries around too - these are Highbush Cransberry,

and these are a small cherry tree.  All among the accumulating signs of fall.

P.S.  Over the past week I've seen an astonishing increase in pageviews on my blog, but almost all of them are apparently coming from viewers in the Netherlands, a country from which I've had very few visitors before.  They now represent 75% of my blog visitors!  Can anyone suggest what's going on here?  Is this just a glitch in Blogger statistics?  Has anyone else experienced such unusual changes in viewers?

Sunset Shoot and Barbecue

We gathered for our local Photo Group's annual barbecue and sunset shoot 10 days ago.  The barbecue was fabulous (with great deserts), but the sunset shoot was less than spectacular.  Never-the-less, I did manage two good reflection shots.

This was my favourite reflection shot, a pair of deckchairs on the dock overlooking Lake Eugenia.

When we first arrived, there were some scattered clouds in the western sky, and a nice sunset looked at least possible.  The east shore of the lake provides a great viewpoint.

And as dusk neared, the clouds looked promising (you need some clouds for a good sunset shot).

I did really like this shot of the canoe tied to the dock, with the lamp post in front, as the sun got closer to setting.

But in the end, this was the only shot I got that was anything like a sunset - not much to speak of!

On the other hand, this shot of the canoe and reflection appealed to me.  And in the meantime, the barbecue had been delicious, and we sat around the campfire and swapped travel and photography stories for another hour or two.  'A good time was had by all'.

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First Fall Sunrise!

As the sun moves steadily south at this time of year, and the time of sunrise gets steadily later, we reach a time when I'm actually up (and awake enough) to see the sunrise.  The days have gotten a lot shorter, the temperatures lower (4° this morning - 38°F) and early fall is definitely here.

This wasn't a very colourful sunrise, but the cloud pattern was very interesting, and it didn't happen til nearly 7.45, in contrast to summer's much earlier sunrises.

I always take my sunrise pictures from the same place, our upstairs balcony (which never gets used for anything else), and I mark the sunrises over the next 6 months by the pattern of  trees on the horizon.  So you may see a number of sunrise pictures in the future that feature the trees along our fencerow, as the sunrise location on the horizon moves further south.

We also had the first sunset I've seen in many months a few weeks ago.  There's a hill to our west, so we miss the actual sun setting by a good hour here, but every now and then we get a nice sunset if it spreads across the sky.

I may have missed a few over the summer of course; the bugs have stayed around all summer, so I'm not outside much in late evening this year, but this one was great.

The highlight was when the sun-lit clouds reached the moon in the southern sky in a nice juxtaposition for a photo.

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Stone Skipping Beach in Big Bay

On Labour Day weekend, with our daughter, her husband and our grandson, we headed up to Big Bay to check out the stone skipping beach on Georgian Bay.  We had a great time, with both our grandson and his dad enjoying trying to skip rocks for an hour.

It was a grey day this time; the clouds or sun make all the difference in the water of Georgian Bay.

This beach is pretty unique around here, entirely made up of flat stones, almost all just the right size for stone skipping.  The beach proudly proclaims itself the 'Stone Skipping Capital of Canada'.

Take a look at the endless supply of perfect stone skipping rocks!

Took dozens of pictures of course; here I managed to catch Jaxson with a stone still in mid-air.

Self-portrait on the beach in front of Georgian Bay.

Down at the end of the beach was a flock of seagulls, mostly sitting in the breeze and watching the bay.

And of course we walked out on the pier to see the crazy teenagers jump into that cold water.  You wouldn't catch me doing it!

But I thought the pattern of bumpers hanging from the pier was interesting.  It ended up being a great day outdoors in the fresh air, just what junior needed to wear off a little 4 year old energy!

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New Markdale Hospital Announced!!

The Minister of Health for Ontario, Dr. Eric Hoskins, visited our small rural town today, for a very long-awaited announcement - that the government will build a new hospital here in Markdale.

This has been a long time coming, and will be VERY welcome news to the many local people who have worked on the campaign to get a new hospital, and on fund-raising for it.  The fund-raising work began 12 years ago, and the local community (of about 10,000 spread through two small towns and 3 rural townships), raised $12 million quite quickly.  That's over $1000.00 for every man, woman and child in the area!

An article in the Owen Sound Sun Times provides more information.  You can rest assured that a lot of local people will be celebrating tonight.

For readers from other countries, including the United States, our health care system here is paid for through tax dollars.  Our taxes may be higher than other places, but once you've paid them, health care is free to everyone.  Our hospitals are all public, and are organized in a hierarchy from small local hospitals in communities like this, to major medical centres in large cities.  Rural residents have to travel to larger centres for any specialized tests or care, but basic care is available throughout the province.

Deepest thanks to all local residents who have worked over the years to make this possible.