Inspired by nature and human nature…
In 2002 we planted five apple trees (Granny Smith, Greening, Red Rome, Cortland and Macoun) forming an apple tree crescent between the house and barn here at The Farmstead in central Maine. This year we’ve harvested six bushels from the trees, and our ‘neighborhood’ deer have cleaned up all the drops. No need to bend, rake and set out the fallen fruit for the wildlife, they’ve already harvested their seasonal snacks. No need to travel to the local orchard or market to pick and purchase apples.
Wishing you a bountiful and beautiful fall!
~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author
Time to Get the Apples In
Poem by Bette A. Stevens
Pies, cobblers, jellies, cider, applesauce and more…
To make and bake
To eat and partake
From our garden
Not the store
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Comments on: "“Time to get the apples in” (POEM) by Bette A Stevens" (83)
I really must stop by to see you again ❤
I went to an orchard with a garden club member and friend but it was their last day so I just grabbed 3 of each of their varieties. From old time apples to ones that were new to me all so different as a child in New England I just ate what mom bought. I have one each day sliced with a drizzle of honey which helped my throat from the coughing.
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We’re blessed to be able to eat a variety of apple slices each day. Today was Mac and Granny Smith. Must try some honey dipping… 🍎 Hope you are feeling better each day, Eunice! Sending lots of love your way! ❤ Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit here and look forward to another in person one of these days. Take good care of you! xo
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How wonderful. Enjoy those lovely apples. xo
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Thanks so much, Darlene! 🍎 xo
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Reblogged this on Bette A. Stevens, Maine Author and commented:
Have an awesome autumn… ~ Bette A. Stevens https://www.4writersandreaders.com
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I love this! Bravo, Betty! ❤️
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Thanks so much, Colleen! 🍎 xo
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Just been to a farmland area this past week, and picked up some fresh apples and juice. Just love it. Thank you for your post and for sharing your link at Blogger’s Influence. RT your post
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Thanks so much for your visit and RT, Esme! 🍎Nothing like the home grown goodies… Have an awesome autumn! ❤ xo
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❤❤❤❤
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Thank you. ❤
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Love your poem! Love your apples, but they don’t like my tummy! ♥
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That’s sad… Hope you’re feeling better, Billy Ray and can enjoy a crunchy apple another day! ❤ xo
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A lovely poem Bette. It has been a bumper apple harvest here too. 😊
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Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit, Brigid.. ❤ Delighted to discover that you're enjoying an abundant apple harvest too… 🍎🍎🍎 Blessings and love! xo
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A lovely poem Bette. It has been a bumper harvest here too. 😊
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I love your poem, Bette. There is nothing better than freshly picked apples! They beat the ones you buy at the store, hands down. Apples are my favorite fruit. I often make applesauce and occasionally a pie. Since my husband prefers everything made of cherries, while I am an apple person, I don’t make many. I just can’t eat the whole thing myself. Right now my favorite is the Honeycrisp or Crispy apple. Love and hugs, dear friend. ❤️🍎
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I love apples too, Michelle! 🍎🍎🍎 We have so many that I chop them, mix with a bit lemon juice, brown sugar and cinnamon and a bit of flour–and microwave a big batch for about 9 minutes (stirring half way through)–then I freeze them in small portions, so I can have apples for breakfast any day of the year! Mmmm… We have cherries, plums and pears too, but apples are my faves! Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit, my friend. Wishing you and yours a blessed and beautiful autumn. ❤ xoxoxo
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What a bounty! I’m now craving hot apple cider and apple tart.
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Thanks for stopping by to check it out! 🍎 Wishing you an applicious autumn… xo
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Aww man.. now I want apple pie! 😉
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Think I’ll make an apple tart tomorrow. Decisions, decisions..nothing beats good old apple pie! 🍎 May your apple days be abundant! 🍎Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit. xo
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And your too 🙂
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I’ve come to realize there’s an amazing difference in taste between store-bought and fresh-grown. My sister grows a lot of fresh veges and fruit and shared them with me this past summer. What a joy!
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How awesome to get to enjoy some fresh goodies from your sister’s garden and trees, Jacqui! ❤ We're just plain spoiled and grateful we have plenty to share too… So glad you stopped by for a visit. xo
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What a blessing to have an apple tree in your yard, Bette. I envy you. Apples are not my favorite fruit (so un-American, I know), but a fresh apple off the tree, or a freshly made apple pie, who could resist that. Never cared for plums either, but oh that pear tree. Had one in my own yard years ago and loved the harvest there, although the tree was old and didn’t put out a lot of fruit.
In Florida, I had wild berries all over the yard in the spring. Picked and froze them for the rest of the year. Now, all we have is a Kumquat Tree and I have no idea what to do with it. The squirrels and birds love it though. 🙂
Did I miss where you mentioned what kinds of apples you have? My favorites are Gala and McIntosh, with Jonathan coming up next.
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Thanks so much for dropping in to enjoy the apples, Sharon! ❤ Wishing you a blessed and beautiful autumn! xo
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Short, sweet, and to the point. Anyone spare a nice hot slice of apple pie? (Honey crisps are my favorites.) 🙂
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Thanks, Joe. 🙂 Those honey crisps sound mighty tempting… Have a great weekend.
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Can’t go wrong with some juicy apples!!
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Mmmmmmm… Thanks for stopping by for a taste, Kally! xo
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How lovely Bette! I love your Haiku too! 😀
We are harvesting a punnet of lovely sweet strawberries each day from our strawberry patch at the moment…
♥ Jennifer
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Thank you, Jennifer. 🙂 Delighted to hear that you’re enjoying fresh berries today…and such a delight they are! We’ve just blanketed ours with leaves for their winter slumber. Thankful for the jams and frozen berries we’ll be blessed to enjoy ’til next year’s harvest. Wishing you a beautiful and bountiful spring and summer, my friend! xo
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Thank you Bette… 😀
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Love this, Bette! ❤
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Thanks so much, Carol! ❤ xo
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Oh my gosh, Bette, I can only imagine how beautiful the blossoms must be. And such a lovely poem and picture to share. Thank you! 🙂
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Thanks so much, Natalie! ❤ Blessings and love… xo
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Lovely poem, Bette. Your apples look delicious. We have fresh apples this year also. The plum trees didn’t do too well, hope for a better year next year.
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Thank you, Miriam! ❤ Our fruit blooms depend on a frost-free early spring…harvests are slim when that old frost sneaks in… Grateful for an abundant harvest of apples, plums and pears this year. Blessings and love! xo
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That’s exactly what happened to my plum trees. We had a late spring. ❤
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Thank you, for blessing us with your poetry. I can taste the deliciousness of your garden!
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Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment, Annette. ❤ May your blessings abound, dear friend! xo
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I love apples and I love your poem even more. Congrats on your harvest.
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Thanks for your sweet note, Eugenia! ❤ It made my day… xo
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Sounds like you’ve got a great system going there, Bette! Congrats on the harvest.
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Thanks, Cynthia. ❤ Hugs & Happy October! xx
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Bette, I love this! How wonderful to step outside and pick your own apples and so many bushels! That’s great, and your poem is perfect. I wish we had planted apple trees years ago on our property, but never got to it. At least we have blueberries to enjoy in the summer. 🙂 Blessings to you!
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Thanks so much, Gayl. Love our apples…our pears, plums and berries too. It’s such a treat to harvest God’s bounty whether from the garden or the store. Wondrous when we’re blessed to be able to grow your own and watch them at every miraculous stage of development. God is so good! Feeling blessed and sending blessings and love to you and yours.<3 xo
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Love the poetry, Bette. We had an apple tree in our backyard in Evanston – I always knew it was time to harvest the apples when I saw a squirrel running by with an apple in its mouth. They are so many of the apples, taking a bite and dropping them, that I gathered the bitten ones and chopped off the half that wasn’t bitten and made applesauce!
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Thanks so much, Noelle. 🙂 These days, I make applesauce and apples for the freezer in the microwave. It’s so easy and tastes so awesome… Love watching all of our wildlife friends enjoy them too. Hugs & Happy Week! xx
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You’re so talented, Bette. Planting a mini orchard and creating fabulous poetry. Keep it up.
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Thanks for your encouraging words, dear Tracy! ❤ Sending lots of love your way… xo
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Ahh ..Bette, your poem is so positive and full of sharing. I feel warm.
Partaking in food harvested from your garden and not the store.
Love it.
Miriam
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Thank you, Miriam… I love the scent of apples in every form–they fill house and heart with the beauty of the season. ❤ Blessings and love… xo
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This is a lovely poem, Bette. How lovely to have five different apple trees.
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Thanks you, Robbie! ❤ xo
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So lovely, Bette! Enjoy the beautiful gifts of nature! 😄 xoxo ❤🍎🍏
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Enjoying them to the fullest and hope you are too! ❤ Blessings and love… xo
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How wonderful to have all those hand-picked apples—and to share with the local wildlife! 🙂
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Feeling abundantly blessed and sending love and blessings back to you, Mae! ❤ xo
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Such a delight, Bette. Thanks for sharing it here. Or as “Pip” would say… Applesauce! I love it. Hugs.
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Thanks so much for your thoughtful note, Teagan. Wishing you an Absolutely Applesauce Autumn! ❤ xo
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Bette, I love the idea of an apple tree crescent, your own mini orchard! 😀 The apples on the photo look delicious, wonderful rich colour. Happy baking, cooking, saucing, … wish I could try some!
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Thanks for stopping by to enjoy our Apple Time! ❤ Withing you an absolutely awesome autumn, dear Annika! xo
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Ha! I love this one, Bette. Perfect and yummy.
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Mmmmm…plenty of rewards for us to enjoy and share! ❤ Thanks so much for stopping by to check out our little orchard, Diana. Wishing you a blessed and beautiful autumn! xo
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Some tasty looking apples
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Enjoying bountiful blessings and hope you’re enjoying a bushel full too! 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.
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Of course. Life is looking up
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Love the poem, thank you for sharing! I’m envious of you and the surplus of apples, all my favorites! I’m drooling at the pic just imagining all the recipes lol.
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Granny Smith is my favorite for pies. Macoun for eating out of hand. I love mixing the five together for applesauce and for microwaving for the freezer, and for cider too! 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by to check out our little orchard, Kester! May you be blessed with an awesome autumn filled with plenty of apple delights.
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I loved this poem, Bette! You’re lucky I’m not your neighbor…I’d be sneaking some of those apples. I eat two a day. 🙂
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Thanks, Jill! 🙂 We love our apples too. By late November, I’ll start microwaving and freezing them for winter eating and baking. xo
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Yum!
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts and fall adventures!… a lovely poem and I am sure your apples are more delicious than any in the stores!… 🙂 had two trees on the farm where I grew up (1940’s, ’50’s and early ’60’s) and being the oldest I helped Mom collect apples and make pies, etc… had to keep a wary eye out for the yellow jackets and other bees though.. 🙂
You and yours have a wonderful fall and it is all that you hoped it would be!..
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Thanks so much, Larry. Those buzzing bees sure do love our apples too… 🙂 Fortunately, the deer have been a great help warding of the stingers this year. We toss all of our peels and cores onto the compost heap. Sending lots of love your way and wishing you an awesome autumn!
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Your apples are looking as resplendent as your words Bette…enjoy them! Happy Autumn. 🙂
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Thanks so much for your thoughtful note, Balroop. ❤ You brightened this rainy autumn day! Blessings and love, dear friend. xo
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😊💕
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Nothing like a fresh picked apple Bette:) Then all the baking! I enjoyed your poem.
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Thanks, Denise! 🙂 Never a dull moment…life is good! xo
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It is:)
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