Our family garden

Hello!

My name is Oksana, and I live in sunny Adygea. Today I'll tell you about our orchard.

My dad started making it 13 years ago when he learned he was expecting his first grandson. Before that, we'd go to the farm's orchard for fruit or pick it from abandoned plots.

So, each tree on our property has its own name and was planted specifically for one family member. Let's get acquainted.

Early apricot "Ball" (My son named it that as a child—that's where the "name" tradition began.) The tasty, bright fruits were in full bloom in early July, and now our dog Mishka's house stands underneath it.

Apple tree "Varenka". This is my tree. We eat the fresh apples and preserve them for the winter, making jam and compotes. The remaining fruit feeds our cows.

I love apples, so I also have "Nastenka." I took these names from my favorite childhood fairy tales.

Cherry "Beauty". Dad planted it especially for his son-in-law. There were two trees, but two years ago a hurricane uprooted them. It was impossible to save the cherry tree, so they planted a new one.

Plum "Papina". That's what we call it. But there's no question about who loves it the most. This season, we barely managed to protect it from pests. The leaves, of course, suffered, but the plum itself is worm-free.

This year, we've been particularly pleased with the harvest, so we had to put up some supports to keep the branches from breaking under the weight of the fruit. Everything that fell to the ground is used to feed the cows and pigs.

Peach "Goremyka". This is my mother's tree. We have a problem with our peaches—the harvest is good, but all the fruits are gnarled and unsightly, though delicious. We tried fertilizing and treating them, but apparently we simply planted the wrong variety for our area.

Pears "Alice" - for my daughter and "Troshka" - for my youngest son. The whole family loves the fruit from these trees. We preserve it for the winter, drying it in the sun and making compotes and jams.

This is our garden: small, but homey. We chose the tree varieties based on the advice of a consultant at the local nursery. We all take care of them together, but our dad does most of the work. He prunes the young trees and sprays them. We don't prune the apricot and plum trees.

We also plan to plant cherry, fig, wild pear, and crabapple trees. I'll share more about this joyful event later.