"I don't know where we'll put it all, but I'm very thankful James,

that you bought a whole bushel of apples. Who would have thought that we'd have so many apples in Oregon?"

"Mary Ann, I think you will enjoy the story behind these apples. Just five years ago, a man named Henderson Luelling left Iowa on the Oregon Trail with a wagon full of dirt and charcoal, and all the fruit trees he could fit into it. His neighbors thought he was crazy, and told him they'd never make it. But he was an orchardist, and he wanted to bring his business with him. He also brought his wife and eight children. Half the trees died, but he started a nursery with the rest."

"When I think of going over the same trail we just traveled, with a heavy wagon of growing trees, I can hardly imagine how they brought them through. Just look at the varieties of apples in this bushel - there must be at least four different kinds."

 

From U of Minnesota extension

"I only brought home the most common apples - I counted over twenty varieties. The Luelling family planted plums, grapes, pears, apples, cherries, peaches and more. The nursery sold strawberry sets, rhubarb eyes, nut tree saplings for walnuts and filberts, and Mary Ann - there were half a dozen kinds of pears for sale."

"James, do you think we could plant some fruit trees of our own in the spring?"

"With 320 acres, I think we can spare a few for an orchard. We'll have to learn how to take care of fruit trees if we want them to survive and thrive. We have all winter to figure out which trees would be best, and how to care for them."

"I'll help pick the apples, Uncle James."

"Thank you Cousin Mary, but you'll have to be patient. The trees don't bear fruit for several years while they are growing. We won't wait for the apples, we'll get a few strawberry plants and those will be ready the year after we plant them."