October 15th: Royal City Apple Orchard

 Dear Blog,

Today we visited Jim’s Apple Orchard! To get there, we had to drive for a whole hour where we jammed out to “hype pop music” and we observed the other farms and fields on the way. At the orchard, Jim gave us a tour of the 300 acres of his cherry and apple trees. Throughout the tour, Jim explained multiple ideas and strategies about nurturing the orchard. We learned that by using wires and poles, two trees can be formatted and grown into a V-Shape. This helps the trees photosynthesize and simplifies the harvesting process. However, the most exciting part was picking all the apples left after their fall harvest! They were absolutely delicious and scrumptious and beautiful and gorgeous! We took quite a few back to snack on with nutella and peanut butter.


After our enlightening experience at the orchard, we got the opportunity to indulge in vitamin D and play! We were able to dive into a mesmerizing moment of mini golf together. The managers of the campsite were gracious and gave us a volleyball net (to borrow), which the girls (Geri, Sophia, Liat, Ani, Kiskoli, Eleanor, and Niki) used their determination and strength to set up. The guys mustered up their mental strength to show their appreciation. Amanda called us in to share a fun get to know you, teamwork building game. We learned that Isaiah wants to go to Paris and Geri wants a zoo with six jaguars, two red pandas, and one large panda. In all, recess was fun.


After a long day, we were able to reflect and think as a group about what the tour and our work other days meant to us, and how this connects our personal experiences. Our discussion prompt today was around the difference of demographics. We noticed how there are less people of color in Ephrata than back at home. We all shared our different ideas on why this might be. There were two categories of main points; historical and contemporary. We agreed that the effects of slavery and generational farming led to the population largely being white. The second leading minority is hispanic/latinx, which is because the leading force of their immigration was seeking opportunities to work in agriculture for better pay through contracts. In addition, we learned the hierarchical power work structures affected the workers’ experience. 


We were able to learn so many significant topics that we don’t usually expect to get out of our education system. We look forward to expanding our knowledge about agriculture and Ephrata and continue to have a splendid time! We hope you all enjoyed reading the blog, see you next time!


Cheers to good apples,

Geri, Isaiah, Kelden, and Sophia

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