It happens in Pa. too,not just NJ.

larry@stinescorner

Well-known Member
Driving by the big industrial buildings I had a flashback memory to share,
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at this old farm,,was a nice fruit orchard,we all used to stop there,my mom and dad did later on,then I used to stop with my mom after my dad passed away
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the orchard is no longer there,big industrial buildings everywhere
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this memory popped in my mind,I would like to share it, My mom got diagnosed with M,S. in her fiftys.So the two people at the orchard saw her from a tough woman that started out with a cane,then couldnt walk at all when I used to stop with her.Towards the end I used to stop with her every fall weekend,get a basket of apples,She had moved to a handicapped apartment in nj by then,where she had a electric ride on scooter.She spent all week riding in her scooter to each room passing out the apples. One morning we headed to pa,I get the apples,,the man and woman say to me ,your mom is still baking pies for you all? I explained how she passes out the apples each week.The man grabbed the basket out of my hands,,,gave me my money back,,,and said,,I want you to drive across the street,we are done picking over there,,there are plenty of apples left,and lots of beautiful ones that dropped(this is before the law that you cant pick them off the ground)He hande me a bunch of baskets ,said bring them back empty nexy week,and fill them again.I said ,Moms not gonna take them for free,. Now,,I still remember like it was yesterday,,that man,,and his wife,,who was older now and used a cane,,,walking down to see my mom,and telling her to ride over to the orchard and help herself.My mom gave apples away,until the orchard was sold a few years later.
 
Hard to find people like that anymore.

The field where I had my first job. Picking cotton is now an industrial park. Most of the buildings are empty and have been for years.Sad to see good
farmland ruined.
 
Larry we had a lot of orchard around here in this county that I live in in northern Indiana. Today they are subdivisions, bulldozed out and grain farmed or just standing idle.As far as I know you can still pick up what we call windfalls off the ground. I miss the good old days!
 
There was a real nice orchard near me, the family ripped out all the trees and put it into row crops. I guess a lot less labor involved.
 
I noticed 20 years ago, all the industrial development along Rt 78 when heading over to Bethlehem and Lehigh Valley/Easton. There is an Easton 15 miles north of here, all farm country too. It was amazing to see the size of some of these industrial sites, hate to see that nice land end up like that. Its been 20 year since walmart was built in this town, right in an old corn field, adjacent to the farmstead, barns and farmhouse, which were all in good repair too, silos included. All of it was demolished and it was the scene out of my kitchen window, used to like when they hung a big illuminated wreath on the silo every year during the holidays. Now I see strip malls and parking lot ! Hate to live in the past, but this area was rich in agriculture and supported a nearby city, which is now spreading and taking over like a rampant noxious weed LOL ! One good thing though, the terrain here is not friendly to development, so it costs a fortune to develop a site, that has stopped and slowed many of them that have been presented for approval.
 
Good story about your Mom, and also the folks at the orchard, Larry. Your Mother instilled those same qualities in you. As they say - The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.
 
I've learned once semi-dwarf and full dwarf trees get older they need to be replaced with new rootstock and whatever top part of the tree is going to be. It costs something like 20,000$ per acre to replant and you lose production for 2-5 years. These are not the full sized trees of long ago that live a long time.

Most folks getting old won't invest that kind of money into the orchard as it won't have a return in short order.
 
Great story about your mother, few people care that much anymore.
Larry, this kind of development is everywhere. I grew up near Greensboro, NC, and on the west side of town were several large dairies. When they combined the airport from another nearby town with the Greensboro airport, the area started to become industrialized and one by one the dairies were swallowed by developers. Along about a ten mile stretch of highway, one can see two old barns still standing. About twenty years ago, in the business park across from the airport, one could see the remnants of an old silo and a small building that had been used ( I guess), to cool and store the milk. Both were removed shortly thereafter. In the same area a man had built what looked like an antebellum plantation house for his offices. My company was doing some remodeling there and one morning I arrived with some materials before anyone else was there. I was just looking around and noticed in the grove of small pines behind the building, one could still see small ridges where rows of some crop (likely tobacco or corn) had been grown. In the past forty or fifty years, roughly two thirds of the county has been swallowed by either commercial or residential development.
 

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