Journal

21 Aug 2026

Great-grandfather, Stokes, and the first Red Delicious

Satyanand Stokes brought the apple to these hills in 1916 and gave the saplings away. My great-grandfather took some. Everything on this slope, and most of...

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09 Aug 2026

What actually happens in an orchard, month by month

People think apples are an October business. Pruning is January, blossom is April, thinning is June, and October is only the part with the crates. A year i...

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28 Jul 2026

Grading, and why the room is called that

The Grading Room is where the crop was sorted by hand for sixty years, by size and blemish, into three grades and a reject pile. The bench is still there....

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