05/25/2026
A bit of slow pace living. Yesterday, after allowing the body a morning of rest from 5 am chores, I swam through the black flies all afternoon to remove the 10 year old poly electric top wire for the east paddock pasture then repositioned the insulators and installed new wire. Got it zapping at 3000 volts, so the goats got their first taste of big pasture late in the afternoon. The black bears are super active right now and I didn't dare let the goat morsels out in the paddock until the top wire was functioning again.
As I surveyed some changes to make in the west paddock, I passed the Duchess of Oldenburg apple trees in bloom. It's a pleasure to be at this stage of life when stopping to reflect and absorb is the slow pace of daily life. I love the history of the heirloom apples I raise here. Each time I taste one at harvest, I stop to reflect that I'm sharing a replicated flavor enjoyed by others some 200+ years ago.
A brief history of this apple. " 'Duchess of Oldenburg' is an old Russian cultivar (1750–1799) of cultivated apple which has attractive streaks of yellow and red. It was commonly but not universally known in America simply as 'Oldenburg' after the American Pomological Society listed that as the official name .....
Duchess originates in the Tula area of Russia, from where it spread to many countries under different names, like: Duchess, Duchesse, Duchesse d'Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Borowitsky, Brunswick, New Brunswick, Charlamowsky, Early Joe and Queen Mary. It was once so popular that it was used as reference in evaluation of other apple cultivars. It is widely cultivated in Europe and in the United States and is a parent of cultivars including 'Alkmene', 'Northern Spy' and 'Pinova'."
And some attributes. "Duchess has a generally good resistance to major apple diseases, good vigour, flowers early-mid season, blossoms are self-sterile, gives an early harvest and good crop of variable size of apples, which use for fresh eating as well as for cooking. Fruit melts by cooking, resulting in a good purée which has an orange tint.
This apple is easy to cultivate but fruits do not keep fresh very long."
