Aunt Natalia's Apple Tree

Very long time ago when August was young, the love of his life Cecilia took another man. August had lost his father Gustav in the Crimean War - the English navy had taken him as their pilot and he never came back. That left August the oldest son in the family and responsible for over 10 sisters and brothers. Cecilia was a reasonable woman but her first husband died and by then August had become a pilot himself. He decided to try again and this time Cecilia said Yes! 

They got married and with Cecilia followed her children from the 1st marriage. One of them was a girl called Natalia. Here are August and Cecilia with their oldest grand-son Uno, the grand-father of my son's father. 

She donated this apple tree to the Pellas farm and it is the only one of the old fruit trees that survived the terrible cold of the Winter War 1939-40. The apples are quite small and best in jam but the tree is strong and full of lovely flowers promising a new harvest again in August.

This spring I have been attending a course in garden horticulture. During one of the evening lessons in Tuorla we were taught how to plant a twig from a fruit tree to a stronger base root, and I took with me some twigs from home. 

 Here are now twigs from Aunt Natalia's apple tree planted to a new mother-root and taped.

The new apple-trees were then put in pots to get started with their growth.

Now they'll be held in their nursing pots few weeks before I plant them to their "kindergarten". After 3-4 years they will hopefully be big and strong enough to be planted  in the fruit garden... Until then let's hope for a nourishing  childhood with my vegetables!