Our kids really loved peanut butter and honey sandwiches when they were young. Loved them. However they were kind of a treat and not to be had just any old day.
At our small farmstead in Ham Lake during the '70's and '80's I had planted a small orchard with 4 rows of 7 apple trees each, and 2 apricot trees on the edge; 1 Moongold and 1 Sungold Apricot. The 28 apple trees were mostly Haralson and Fireside (Honey Crisp Apple Trees had yet to be developed). The soil was very sandy so I added an irrigation system to the orchard to ensure a good crop of apples each year and to keep the grass green. The orchard was very healthy, looked great and caught the eye of many travelers as they passed by our little homestead.
The kids and I would watch each year as the trees grew, and in time we got to know each tree individually. Some grew faster than others, all were unique and looked different and a couple eventually tilted off to one side or the other - maybe from the weight of all the apples. Well maintained fruit trees all develop their own 'character' as they weep from the weight of their annual bounty. As a young man, these are the trees on which I learned to prune ornamental trees because I could see the results of each late winter’s pruning throughout the seasons.
Every 10 days or so I'd get out the trusty pump-up sprayer and spray the trees to prevent worms from infesting our valuable crop of apples. When the trees began to bear fruit, the kids and I would worry about breaking branches, and many times we would brace some branches to prevent them from breaking. When our two oldest daughters, Heather and Maegen were 10 years old or so they put up a sign by the side of the road advertising, 'Mickman Sisters Apples' and would sell them to the passers-by; their introduction to the wily world of business.
I use to love walking through our little orchard with the kids talking about these trees and our hope for a good crop of apples each year. We loved apples. Can you tell?
Early one fine Spring day, my daughter Maegen and I were walking through the orchard and all the trees were in full bloom. Tens of thousands of pink flowers surrounded us as we ambled amongst these trees. The morning was warm with just a hint of a breeze as little Cottonwood 'snowflakes' wafted down around us, the sun glinting through these delicate little parachutes. A magical day.
As we examined the apple blossoms, Maegen noticed the honey bees which were flitting from bloom to bloom, crawling into each individual flower for just a couple of seconds, before going to the next beautiful pink blossom. "Are those bees trying to eat the flowers dad?", she asked as we watched all the action.
"Oh no Mae", I replied. "Those bees are going from flower to flower to get the honey out. See how they crawl inside to get the honey, then crawl out and flit to the next flower." There were bees all over the place, but they were all very busy and didn't bother with us at all.
"And do you know what else Maegen?", I continued. "When they go inside the flowers, they get little seeds on their legs and spread them to other flowers in the trees. After these little seeds get spread around we'll get apples. Without the bees we won't have any apples at all".
"Good thing for the bees, huh dad?" Maegen said getting some understanding of the concept. "But how does the honey get into the flowers dad?", she asked.
This is one of those hard questions kids ask and you wonder how best to answer. "Well" I began, "it is just part of the big plan Mae. Without the honey, the bees won't go into the flowers and there wouldn't be any trees. All this stuff in nature kind of works together. Without one thing, there wouldn't be another thing. This is a good example of how it all works. Do you know what I mean?", I asked, wondering if she would get a grip on the concept.
"Maybe I do dad", she said in a tentative, thoughtful manner. "So where does peanut butter come from", she asked me. I smiled and concluded that she didn't really get the idea - having trouble separating the peanut butter from the honey - both of which came together on her favorite sandwiches. "Well", I explained. "Peanut butter comes from peanuts and peanuts don't grow around here. Remember how your mom gets peanut butter from one jar and honey from another jar...". This conversation continued for some time.
Later that afternoon, our little family all piled into our VW bus and headed to grandma's house for dinner. As we rolled past our little orchard, Maegen walked to the front of the VW (this was way before car seats were required) and pointed to the beautiful, pink blossomed apple trees and asked, "Mom, do you know what all the bees are getting out of those flowers on the apple trees?". Mom replied that she did not know what they were getting. With a great big grin on her face, proud of knowing something as important as this, Maegen announced, "Well mom, they're out there getting the peanut butter!"
My eyes welled up with tears as I gave Maegen one of the biggest 'one armed hugs' she had ever gotten as I drove the van to gramma’s house.
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