It looks like we’ll be having a bumper crop of wild apples from abandoned trees this fall. This apple tree arising out of choking undergrowth is probably over 100 years old, based on local history. It’s full of ripening apples:
That fruit will not be harvested by humans, but wildlife will eat much of the crop. Some apples will last long enough to ferment and make some creatures drunk.
The prospect of a “bumper crop” of apples made me realize that I had no idea why an abundant harvest is called a bumper crop. Well, it seems that, in the 19th Century, the verb “to bump” also meant “to bulge” when describing solid objects. (Its use with wine and beer is another story.) When sacks bulged with a harvested yield, they “bumped,” and the harvest was called a “bumper crop.”
That word use is now defined as obsolete, but I’ve grown to accept some obsolescence in life. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 21, 2024.)