Feral Apples

Apples have started to fall from the wild trees that grow in the woods where I hike. In the last couple of weeks, maybe encouraged by the return of the rain, the abundant fruit has seemed to power through the last stages of ripening, growing more plump and taking on a beautiful red blush. Yesterday the dog and I shared our first feral apple of the season. It’s going to be a great harvest this year.

The same woods produce abundant black raspberries. It’s common to see people picking them, whether it’s just a handful for a quick snack or a container full to take home for later. Not so with the apples. Much more often, these lovely fruits simply fall to the ground, only to be run over by mountain bikers or kicked aside by hikers and joggers. Only the wasps seem to truly appreciate wild apples.

I think a lot of people are afraid of feral apples because they only barely resemble the fruit you buy at the grocery store. Cultivated apples have been engineered to be regular in size, larger, and to resist the scabs that naturally form as an apple grows. They stay white for longer. They are visually pleasing, assessed by the eye rather than the palate or the nose.

And yet, feral apples are very good. The apple I ate yesterday was small – about a third of the size of the average cultivated apple. It was dense with flavour, both sweet and tart. The flesh was also harder and crunchier than most store-bought apples. It was irregular in size, and bore some scabs from the trauma of growing. As I ate it, the pristine white flesh turned brown extremely quickly.

It could be that people are concerned that somehow feral apples will prove to be hard to digest, or that because they are wild crafted, they must contain numerous worms and insects. Yes, it’s best to avoid apples that have fallen to the ground. “Never eat a windfall apple,” advised the grandmother character in The Company of Wolves, and she was right (although you should stray from the path as often as possible). Once the tree is ready to release her fruit, all it takes is a little shake to make apples fall. Grab them when they hit the ground, and you’ll be just fine.

While I’m sure feral apples are more nutritionally dense than their domesticated counterparts, the most profound thing about them is their energetic effect on the body. After eating that one small apple yesterday, I was filled with a strong, uplifting energy that lasted for hours. It isn’t too surprising: an apple tree I spoke to last year told me that fruit trees have chosen to pour their energies into fruit as an expression of love for people and animals. Because wild fruit trees aren’t under the kind of duress that cultivated trees must endure, that voluntary energy of love remains with their fruit.

After enjoying that first apple, I put out an intention to gather more the next time I go to the woods. As I walked along the remainder of my route, numerous apple trees I hadn’t noticed before practically jumped out at me. I even found a densely laden pear tree, with enough fruit hanging on it to feed a family for the entire winter.

The next time you’re in the woods, keep an eye out for a feral apple or pear tree. Give the tree a shake and enjoy a gift from the natural world.

Midsummer at Iroquoia Heights

Even if I'm stuck inside, I find it's good to look at photos of green and growing things. I took these on the 5th of August at my favourite hiking spot. It never ceases to amaze me how, despite the consistency of the heat and the humidity, the natural world is always pushing toward some kind of transformation. If you go out today in my neck of the woods, you'll find wild plantain going to seed, sumac fruit ready to pick and squeeze into a glass of water, feral apple trees beginning to throw off their first fruits, and a host of late summer flowers coming into their own. The skies are putting on their own constant show, with an amazing array of varied and ever-shifting clouds passing through. Have you looked at the sky lately?

Click on any photo to embiggen.

A Simple Tree Meditation for the Middle of Summer

Oooops....was what I said to myself when I took a look at the date of my last post. It's been a while! Suffice it to say that I've been out in the woods. I hope you all have, too.

We've just passed Lammas, the "feast of first fruits" in the pagan calendar. The gorgeous black raspberries that were so abundant and delicious this year are on their way out here in Southern Ontario. We're just starting to benefit from the beautiful peaches and gorgeous yellow plums grown in the Niagara region. Now that solstice and the intense heat of July have passed, we're beginning the long, slow slide into cooler weather.

Source

The trees are reaching the height of their activity for the summer. They are fully present in their physical forms, and busy with the activity of drawing energies from the earth and the sun in order to foster growth. If you have never talked with a tree, or communed with the woods, now is an excellent and relatively easy time to begin.

Today when I was out in the woods, I spoke with Brother Oak, my favourite tree and the one I go to when I want an immediate answer to a question. I asked him what he thought would be the best information for me to pass on to people today. He showed me a simple meditation you can do with a tree in order to connect with the energies of the season.

If you already have a go-to tree that you like to connect with, then ask that tree to help you with the meditation. If you don't have a go-to tree, then wander through a wooded area until you find a tree that grabs your attention or that you feel attracted to. (If you find yourself tripping over a root or getting your shirt or hair snagged on a low-hanging branch, it could be that you've met your tree.) This meditation is best done with an older tree.

Needless to say, this is not the only way to commune with a tree right now. They have lots to say and want to help you with whatever questions or energies you bring to them. However, if you're at a loss in terms of what to do with a tree that wants to talk to you, this is an excellent way to begin and can help you feel really great.

This meditation is best done standing with your body facing the tree. Stand with your spine straight and your feet flat on the ground (or as flat as possible if the tree has lots of big roots). Acknowledge the tree in your mind and allow any imagery or words that might come to you.

Shift your awareness down to your feet. Allow your feet to spread out and relax. (Energy does not flow through tension.) Imagine the tree's roots spreading down into the earth. Ask the tree to show you how deeply he or she draws energy. Ask him or her to drop you down into the earth's core, where these energies originate. Note that, depending on your talents and proclivities, you are more likely to feel your way into this energy than to see it unfolding in your mind's eye. Feel yourself connect with the earth's core, and feel any warmth, tingling, or sensations that bounce back up at you and into you. Don't force the energy. Just allow the tree to help you feel what she or he feels.

Once you're comfortable with this, ask the tree to show you what it feels like to draw the energies of the sun down through his or her leaves. Relax your head and face completely, and make sure that your spine is straight so you can receive these energies. Feel the activity of the leaves as they receive the energies of the heavens. Allow those energies to pour down on you and through you.

Once you're comfortable with the two energies, focus on relaxing and opening your insides, especially throughout your chest and belly. Allow the energies to mingle and move freely. Note any sensations that follow.

We are open to the twin energies of the earth and sun all the time, but this meditation will help you to work with them more abundantly. If you have any questions while you're working with the tree, ask them, and see if any words or imagery or sensations come through for you.

When you're finished, thank the tree for his or her help.

Further Reading: How to Talk to a Tree