Rose Family
"Black Cherry"  "Wild Cherry" "Rum Cherry"
(Prunus serotina)

The earth brought forth vegetation:  plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with seed in it.  And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:12

For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be inhabited!):  I am the LORD, and there is no other.  Isaiah 45:18

Be a Tree Storyteller or Historian

         If you are raking leaves under what seems to be a very old tree, you may want to find out about its history or the family stories that it could tell if it could talk.  Interview someone who has lived near the tree for a long time.
         These stories about very old Black Cherry trees were written to show you the kinds of information you might be able to record.

The Old Black Cherry Tree

CHERRY TREES ON OUR FARM

         Five or six large black cherry trees as well as a number of smaller ones have grown on the farm. The old Black Cherry tree just east of the stone house may have been a seedling in the early 1920’s before Walter and Amanda Kuse were married. Over the years large sections of the main trunk and many branches have broken during ice and wind storms. 
At one time a lane from the cow yard extended all the way from the barn to a well, which was near the present house, and the tree grew near the lane fence. The cows rested in its shade.
As it grew older, the tree became hollow inside and both red and gray squirrels lived in it.  One year a flying squirrel tried to make a home in it.  In another summer starlings raised their family there. Now woodpeckers drum on the dying branches. 

In the 1930’s another tall Black Cherry tree grew near the edge of the lawn of the Kuse’s log house.  Buster, the family dog, often sat under it to wait for Hildegard to come home from school. That original tree died but new shoots grew up around the stump and made the tree that stands near the road today.
         Amanda Kuse thought that black cherries mixed with apple juice made her favorite jelly. When the large trees were young it was easy to reach and pick the cherries.

         Chipmunks often collected cherry seeds and stored them for winter. One year a chipmunk carried the seeds into the attic of the log house and stored them in the bag of the paper-mache Santa Claus.  When the Santa was brought out for Christmas he had a bag full of cherry seeds.
         There was another large Black Cherry tree that grew along Allman Avenue.  When it died Walter Kuse used the lumber from it to make a cherry chest for Hildegard

New Leaves on a Black Cherry Tree

Blossoms on a Black Cherry Tree

         Each year as the cherries ripen the trees are full of birds, especially cedar waxwings. The seeds pass through the birds’ digestive systems and new Black Cherry trees come up in many places.  One has been allowed to grow along the east edge of the orchard.  Another is located on the west side of the pond.

Dear Lord:
         As we see very old trees that have weathered many storms and new young trees that are just starting their life cycles, remind us that you are with us season after season.  Thank you for helping us trust you year after year.    Amen