Lucio's Orchard

Macintosh

Kurt amongst the apple trees he planted over twenty years ago!

Lucio's Orchard, Skaha Lake in the distance.

Lucio demonstrates the twist of the wrist used when apple-picking

Lucio and Else ready for picking!

Golden Delicious Apples. Kurt's old tractor still in use....

Almost time to pick the last remaining apples. Our friends Kurt and Else used to own and manage an orchard just up from the marina on Skaha Lake. They were kind enough to take us up there and introduce us to the present owners, Lucio and Irene with their son Bryan, who took over twenty or so years ago. Since then a lot of the orchard has disappeared into houses, like everywhere else in the world; the march of "progress" continues here too. Lucio gave us a demonstration of how to pick apples, put them in the bag, then release them gently into the big wooden boxes without bruising. Bryan gave us a walking tour of the orchard, and capably answered all our questions. There were some huge apples on the trees still, and we came away with a bag of samples. We had cooked Macintosh apples on our pancakes for breakfast this morning. They were sweet and delicious, straight from the tree...