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Show I October is time for apples By KALYN SECRETAN It's apple time in Pleasant Grove. "je used to be known for our !, tawberries, but now I wonder if the apples have taken over. The Tomlinson brothers have carried on family farming and their father was known as the "Strawberry King." Now with their Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Rome and Jonathan apples, they are keeping alive the tradition Pleasant Grove is known for -- its fruit. The apple harvest is underway and the Lowell Tomlinsons report a 100 percent crop. Mrs. Tomlinson stated she has never seen the trees so loaded with apples. They anticipate an-ticipate 3,000 bushels will be harvested har-vested this year, compared to al ight crop last year of 1,000 bushels. The Tomlinson Orchards on Locust Avenue have customers who come back year after year for their favorite variety of apples. A recent customer from Arizona traveling to LDS Conference reported he made the mistake of taking apples to his friends. Now they all want apples from Pleasant Grove. Most of the fruit is sold locally and throughout Utah. A few boxes are shipped to Arizona and Wyoming. Most of the harvest is completed with family help and usually the picking takes place during October. With the warm weather, the apples are ripening too fast without color. Apples should have cold nights and warm days to color. The newer varities color almost as soon as they get size. By September Sep-tember they are a beautiful color and they are putting more and more in. Mr. Tomlinson says he prefers the older variety, they improve for looks but not for taste. Apples sweeten after a frost, but if they stay on the tree too long they will water-core. They are stored at 32 degrees until they are sold. Sometimes it runs into January or February before the crop is gone. A lot of farmers received considerable con-siderable damage with the three hail storms that hit the area during the summer. The Tomlinsons feel fortunate to have escaped the hail storms. It is like a funeral to a farmer when he loses his crop and everything is ruined. The orchard stretches over 18 acres. Lowell has farmed all his life and his wife joined him 28 years ago. They have six children, who all pitch in to help. The cherries were taken out when the market fell and they have a young peach orchard coming up. The Tomlinson Orchard has changed through the years. When Lowell's dad was killed in a train accident the boys were young, but they worked hard on the farm. They are now involved now and help one another, especially in the runs to the stores during the marketing season. |
