Last year’s harvest in Armenia was extremely poor due to (I think) a late cold spell and hail. The fruit was particularly scarce. Not this year!
I’ve spent much of the last ten days cutting my apples and pears into slices to make dried fruit for the winter. Some of the slices I simply put on plates and left outside all day, but most I threaded on a string and hung on my fence.
Today, along with some temporary neighbors who own my previous house, I gathered apples in an orchard owned by some relatives near the end of the village. There must have been ten large potato sacs filled with apples, and this was just from those that had fallen from the trees. These were to be used to make juice, while the remaining apples on the trees will be picked later and eaten throughout the winter.
One of my favorite snacks in the Colorado was an apple with some raw almonds. I can get both here, but while apples are free, almonds are absurdly expensive (and aren’t sold in my village). At least I have the apples!
Filed under: Joel in Armenia: A Peace Corps Experience
