I’m going to replicate a post I made recently to growingfruit.org, as it expresses my sentiments so completely on this idea about sharing the bounty.

This topic is inspired by my daughter Jennifer who is a counselor. She has all manners of great posters in her office to educate and inspire her children in the classroom setting.  One of them touches on the importance of sharing with others.

I can remember her saying “Sharing is Caring!” and then flashing her beautiful smile at her two children, Troy and Luke, when one of them refused to share what they had brought along with them.  Here she is with Troy at his elementary school graduation.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention how pleased I was that my dear friend Karen shared her amazing art site with everyone online.  That gave me the push I needed to finally let go of my fears and release my website out into the world.

Karen and I have a great time together and wish we lived closer to one another so we could hang out more often.  She is my growing fruit partner, my art inspiration, and so much fun to be with.

I absolutely love being out in the orchard, and this year I have had the most apples ever. I was so excited to walk through and see so many different varieties of fruit on the trees.  I wanted to build community support for the orchard, maybe get on a community drive through route, and share my passion with others.

What seems like a lofty goal has started to take root

I have had two community walkthroughs with neighbors, friends, and family.  There was a lot of interest and great questions from those who came.  Quite a few expressed interest in a grafting demonstration in the spring, and I am working toward that.

In the last week, I purchased some inexpensive bags and have shared fruit within my small village by dropping them off at local homes. I attach a card I have had printed which has my new website and email.  This has been difficult to continue after the recent death of my dad, but keeping busy is helping me to fill my time with positive thoughts and energy.

All scary things to be sure, and it surprises even me how I’m pushing ahead.

This week I shared my website more openly with the experts at growingfuit.org, knowing full well that most of the participants have much more experience and knowledge than myself.

Tonight I was invited to an event where I was asked to bring some fruit to share.  This was the first time I have ever taken my fruit to any community setting.  It was fun to set up the apples with little variety flags, but even more fun to share the different colors, textures, and flavors.  Even though there was a lot of great prepared food, there was still a lot of interest in sampling different apples from the orchard. 

To my surprise, there were many who attended that had never eaten an asian pear.  We sampled a large “Drippin’ Honey” with great enthusiasm.  They were really pleased with the flavor!

I am pushing the boundries of what I used to consider comfortable territory for myself.  At the same time, I am sharing information about something I love to do.  I really do feel like “Sharing is Caring” and it is bringing me great joy!