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Today’s Photo of the Day is courtesy of these Johnson Farms apples on a parcel of land we call “The 40.” I believe these particular apples might be the much-beloved Honeycrisps (jump in here, farmers), and my brothers say they’ll start picking in the next week or two.
You can already find Cortland apples on the farm stand just north of Mapleton about a half-mile on the right (where the cherry cooling pad is located).
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When my parents, Walter and Mary Johnson, got married in 1946 and moved into the old farmhouse across from the home barn (again, just north of Mapleton), my grandparents, Lester and Stella Johnson, moved into a house on the corner of Peninsula Drive and Kroupa Road, across from the Peninsula Fruit Exchange (now owned by Seneca Foods).
That house and property are still in the family, and they grow a variety of apples there. I’m still getting used to the newer way of growing apples – “close plantings” – because when I was a kid, the apple trees grew to a massive size, and we’d have to haul out the “peekaboo” ladders to pick them.
I’m sure the pickers are thankful for this new way of growing apples, where the trees are planted close together, bolstered by poles and wires, and don’t grow to a ridiculous size.
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Cuz’, Did you know that Grandpa & Grandma built that house? They moved the original house off the basement foundation to the backyard. Through the years, it was simply called “the old house.” While the new one was being built, they rented in Old Town. Just a bit of family history 🙂
I didn’t know that! I remember the old house in the back, but never knew the origins of the house that’s there now. Do you know where they stayed in Old Town?
Dad pointed it out to me. Near Thompson Pharmacy. On 7th & Union.
[…] The orchard past the barn is Johnson Farms land – what we call “The 40,” and where I took yesterday’s apple photo. […]
[…] orchard on what we call “The 40” (corner of Peninsula Drive and Kroupa Road – still in the family) with my Grandma Stella Johnson (dad’s mom) and my brother Dean’s German Shepherd, […]
[…] Mom picking apples at “The 40,” an apple orchard on the corner of Kroupa Road and Peninsula Drive that’s still part […]