Last year was the first I can remember that our apples trees yielded just enough for picking and eating. Typically my mom wrangles together an assembly line that manages to pick, sauce, and can close to 100 quarts of apple sauce. After taking a year off, mom was chomping at the bit to replenish our pantry’s for the winter. And so it was on Monday that Dad, Kate and I washed, boiled, and sauced while Tracy and Mom worked in the kitchen. Our efforts began at 7:30 am and concluded around 5:30 pm.  10 hours of worked yielded approx. 125 quarts of apple sauce, 50 of which my mom will deliver to my 93 year old Grandpa Coleman (he swears that’s what’s keeping him alive ; ). With plenty of apples still remaining on our trees we picked enough to have 40  half gallons of apple cider, and peeled and sliced 64 cups that we froze for pies to enjoy this fall and winter. Mom typically makes 4 apple pies for our Church’s Harvest Dinner, which is just around the corner. As you can tell, we Coopers don’t take lightly the old adage “an apple a day keeps the Dr. away.” And if you think we stop at apples, think again. This year also happened to be a bumper year for our plum trees. I’ve been pressing beet, plum and carrot juice weekly and together mom, kate, and I have pitted and dried closed to 10 gallons of plums. All the picking this fall has really beefed up dad’s shoulders ; ) He’s quite a trooper and the best helper around. If only our husbands could follow suit ; )