Tart Cherry Blossoms on Dean and Laura Johnson's farm on Center Road, Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Dean and Laura Johnson's farm on Center Road, Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
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You just never know what you’re going to get when it comes to blossoms every year.

The timing of blossoms on the Old Mission Peninsula usually goes something like this: sweet cherries, followed by tart cherries, followed by apples. But this is one of those years when everything seemed to blossom all at once, and they were here and gone within about a week’s time.

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You might still find a few blossoms here and there, maybe tarts and apples, but they’re mostly finished as I write this on May 28. Below are a few photos of blossoms around the Old Mission Peninsula in the past few weeks.

The photo at the top is my brother and sis-in-law’s farm, Dean and Laura Johnson, on the corner of Center Road and Kroupa Road. The quilt on their barn is part of Evelyn Johnson’s barn quilt project; she wrote the book, “Barns of Old Mission Peninsula,” an extensive tome about the history and details of all the barns on the OMP.

Everyone always asks me about Dean and Laura’s horses, especially the one with the swayed back (just due to a long life)! That’s Sugar. The other one is named Summer.

There have been horses in that pasture since the Rudes owned it previous to Dean and Laura. The Rudes had Tennessee Walking Horses, and people who’ve been around these parts a while will remember Asher, the man with the beard who used to help out on the farm.

On the photos below, see captions for farms and locations.

Don and Millie Shea's barn with East Bay in the background, looking east from Wilson Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Don and Millie Shea’s barn with East Bay in the background, looking east from Wilson Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms on Carroll Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms on Carroll Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms on Carroll Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms on Carroll Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Nyblad's farm; Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula (north of Old Mission Tavern) | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Bern and Cheryl Kroupa’s farm; Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula (north of Old Mission Tavern) | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms with Kane's barn (previously Herkner's) and East Bay in the background; Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms with Kane’s barn (previously Herkner’s) and East Bay in the background; Carpenter Hill on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms, looking southeast from Old Mission Peninsula United Methodist Church | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms, looking southeast from Old Mission Peninsula United Methodist Church | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Ward Johnson's farm on Center Road, Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Ward Johnson’s farm on Center Road, Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Ward Johnson's farm on Center Road, Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Ward Johnson’s farm on Center Road, Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Ward Johnson's farm on Center Road, Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photoalong Center Road near the Smokey Hollow Road intersection on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Ward Johnson’s farm on Center Road, Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Blossoms along Center Road near the Smokey Hollow Road intersection on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Blossoms along Center Road near the Smokey Hollow Road intersection on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Sweet Cherry Blossoms on Nancy Heller's farm, corner of Blue Water Road and Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms on Nancy Heller’s farm, corner of Blue Water Road and Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Sweet Cherry Blossoms on Nancy Heller's farm, corner of Blue Water Road and Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms on Nancy Heller’s farm, corner of Blue Water Road and Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Walter Johnson barn on Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Walter and Mary Johnson barn on Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Apple blossoms on Johnson Farms on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Apple blossoms on Johnson Farms on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Johnson Farms on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Tart Cherry Blossoms on Johnson Farms on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Apricot blossoms on Jo Westphal's farm on Blue Water Road, Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Apricot blossoms on Jo Westphal’s farm on Blue Water Road, Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Sweet Cherry Blossoms on Nancy Heller's farm, corner of Blue Water Road and Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo
Cherry Blossoms on Nancy Heller’s farm, corner of Blue Water Road and Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula | Jane Boursaw Photo

SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper.

Because Old Mission Gazette is a "Reader Supported Newspaper" -- meaning it exists because of your financial support -- I hope you'll consider tossing a few bucks our way if I mention your event, your business, your organization or your news item, or if you simply love reading about what's happening on the OMP. In a time when local news is becoming a thing of the past, supporting an independent community newspaper is more important now than ever. Thank you so much for your support! -Jane Boursaw, Editor/Publisher, Old Mission Gazette

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10 COMMENTS

  1. Oh my! The photo’s are so gorgeous. We are blessed to be surrounded by such beauty. Do slow down folks and enjoy all we have here.

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