Russell Orchards

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1. Picking Apples

   by Maisie Goodale Crowther

   “I’ll pay you 10 cents a bushel,” Grandpa told me. It was 1944 and I was 8 – old enough to learn how to pick apples. “You pick them like this: twist them above the stem, but leave the leaves on the tree where next year’s buds will form.” I staggered under the weight of the canvas bucket on my shoulders, but learned to loosen the leather straps slowly, and let the fruit down easily into the slatted wood box. In 1920 Dr. Joseph L. Goodale started the orchard with Geoffrey, one of his three sons. My parents, Robert and Susan Goodale, owned the 17th C. “Isaac Goodale House” on the edge of this orchard. For a long time, the head of a dog which Edward Goodale brought back from the 1929 Byrd Expedition to Antarctica was mounted on the wall of this Apple Barn. As children, we became familiar with the challenges that nature provided each season, including pests like the plum curculio moth larvae. On still nights, we fell asleep to the whine of the sprayer! Grandpa transplanted fruit trees from his own nursery next to the pond near Fox Creek. He secured shiny red balls on several trees to attract the bees, or encourage the color and ripeness of the fruit, (I’m not sure which). Each fall, as the bushel boxes rattled down the rollers, and the fruit was sorted by size, we wondered at the varieties: their shapes, their sizes, coloring, and above all, the heady aromas. We were told that “salt air adds to the flavor.” Grandpa invited us to cider tastings. We sipped from several tumblers containing tantalizing mixtures. Some were mighty spicy! Grandpa and Geoff worked closely with the MacLeod family who pressed cider at their mill on Northgate Road. Kenneth and Gladys MacLeod (whose applesauce was supreme!), eventually took over when Grandpa Goodale retired. When the MacLeods retired, “Friends of the Goodale Orchard” bought the property and sought a new owner who would carry on the fruit growing business. Max and Meredith Russell and family have owned this orchard since 1979 and have replaced many of the “old standard” apple trees and added other types of fruit to lengthen the season of pick-your-own. They expanded the barn to include a bakery, winery, and local crafts as well as honey and jams. I am grateful to Doug and Miranda Russell for the opportunity to share this story.

   Perhaps I should mention that during WWII, the orchard was short of apple-pickers! My older siblings were of age to be wage-earning pickers. I wanted to work too. Grandpa’s lesson was important: pick apples properly and learn the value of labor. I think I made 40 cents.

   Maisie Goodale Crowther maintains a home in Ipswich and is a regular exhibitor at the Essex County Greenbelt “Art in the Barn” Annual Show.
   submitted by Cynthia Kennedy Sam

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