The apples on Argilla Road

On a bike ride to one of Massachusetts' finer beaches, I stopped to pay tribute to the old Crockett orchard, which failed tragically in 1934. ¶ 

The original farmhouse still stands (though the road has shifted a good bit closer to it in the last century), but I found myself drawn to a neighboring property that, I assume, was part of the original orchard. ¶ 

There stand two old apple trees, bent but well tended, both bearing many apples.

I like to think these are rescued from the Crockett days (which seems at least possible), or at any rate homages to the original orchard.

Wormy and abandoned no more.

My photograph does not, alas, capture every detail, but the tree in the foreground at right bears red fruit, while the apples ripening on the background tree are yellow.

The orchard on Argilla Road

Kitty Crockett wrote a compelling memoir of her struggle to save the orchard in the pit of the Depression. My trip was in part a pilgrimage to the scenes of that history.

Down the road, another orchard from that period prospers. It is Russell Orchards, which was called Goodale back in the days of the Crocketts.

They grow a wide variety of fruit and are worth a visit. However, it is my sad duty to report that Russell sells no early apples.

Further Reading: The orchard on Argilla Road (book review).