Travels of THB: Day 2: Tieton (tye-uh-tun)

Day 2: Yakima and Tieton

This 18 month old knows right where to go to pick the low hanging fruit; he carried the bucket across a road and into the orchard on his own

Quote of the Day: What did she say? Ashby? Ashmeal? Who’s the Colonel?

Weather: High 40s in early morning, 50s mid-day, low 60s to high 60s in the sun in the afternoon, cooling quickly in the evening

A former Masonic Temple

The view from our room in morning

THB gets a good night’s sleep, up early to visit the fitness center and check out the continental breakfast included with the room charge. Nothing special so we bundle up and walk a few block’s to an artisan bakery, Essencia. Beehive and Almond Kouign Amann (say what? Maybe kweege ah mahn), two Americanos, $15.

We’re not due in CC and SC’s Tieton orchards until 10:30 so back the room to relax and discuss how many layers to take with us. Last year we heard it was very cold (THB and DB couldn’t make it last year, something to do with imminent multiple deliveries). Hah!! Times have changed. When we show up and the rest of the 50 pickers are assembled, we’ve opted for warm undershirts and fuzzies, hat and cap. By the end of the picking at 1ish, we’re down to our warm undershirts.

Cool and clear

DB modeling the latest in apple-picking fashion (Josh doesn't look like he'll be picking today; turns out he is a twin, his bro lives in NY, he's in Seattle)

We're loaded onto 3 flatbeds and tractored hither and yon

Six or seven varietals to pick from, with Ambrosia (the first) and Ashmead’s Kernel (the last) are THB’s favorites. THB and DB are shipping apples back to E-ville and in between gathering enough for ourselves we do some picking for folks that weren’t able to make it today.

More pics from the picking:

Pollinator trees are spread throughout

Ambrosia - excellent eating

Pinovas

A small set of non-commercial blueberry bushes

Lady apples: more for decoration than eating

How you know you're in the right place

This kid ain't goin' nowhere

Synchronized picking

Red Delicious looks almost purple while still on the tree

Tony our flatbed driver and 38 year employee showing DB the hidden horde of Nashi

DB and THB fill two bags, most of which will arrive later next week via truck

We’re back at the assembly point, time to pack up our pickings and head to the Tieton Cider Works for weighings, cider and tacos. Now we’re getting hot in the sun and a bit tipsy. The Ashmead’s Kernel draft cider tastes so much like the apples it’s scary (and scary good).

On our walk this morning we passed Gilbert Cellars and since we get to take advantage of CC’s shipping of apples, we’re going to add some cider and wine. A quick taste of Gilbert’s Allobroges Red to reconfirm our taste of the wine with dinner last night (the 2014 is yummy) and we opt for a few bottles to go with the apples.

Nothing like sun, picking and alcohol to make an afternoon nap appealing. And to really encourage nodding off, there’s playoff baseball on TV. Yep, Indians at Astros.

{ed note: non-baseball fans can skip this brief paragraph}

For those of you who already think baseball is dreadfully dull, THB has some words of consolation for you…it’s more dull than you remember. How so? For the first time ever, there were more strikeouts this year than hits.

We’re back in Tieton for dinner at SC’s and CC’s architectural marvel in the midst of the orchards. They’ve also included J, a Seattle neighbor of SC’s and CC’s in Seattle who is celebrating her 75^th birthday today and P and S, friends that we’ve met before.

Art in common

A tour of the property below the house complete with a mandala of poplars and a sheltered orchard with apple trees over 70 years old and still yielding excellent fruit, followed by S’s fine cooking, gifts for all, and a lot of very lively conversation…accompanied by Ashmead's Kernel cider, Gilbert’s Allobroges and champagne.