Visiting a Durian Orchard
Last weekend was one of the most enjoyable weekends I have ever had. My cousin has a durian orchard about five kilometers from town. I visited him once during a fruit season. I have often stayed on the farm before but this was a special occasion. I reached the orchard at about 10 o’clock in the morning after having cycled all the way from my house. It was my first visit during the middle of the fruit season. My cousin was waiting for me in his modest little wooden house in the middle of the orchard.
Around the house, about 5 acres of it, was the orchard. He has a huge orchard full of fruit trees such as durians, lychees, and mangosteens. There were hundreds of durian trees all over the orchard. Clusters of durians hung on the branches. There must be thousands of these spiny fruits. To have an orchard, one has to have so much land and it is not easy to possess that much land when residing in an area like cities.
Suddenly a loud crash sounded from a distance. I was startled. However, my cousin said that it was only a ripe durian dropping from a tree. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I followed him to where the sound came from. To my delight, I found the fruit among the undergrowth. I picked it up and carried it back to the house. There were hundreds of them hanging in large and small clusters on the branches of these trees.
There were dozens of other durians piled up at the back of the house. My cousin had collected them earlier. They were for a buyer who was coming later. Anyway, my cousin opened a couple of them and I enjoyed eating the delicious flesh inside. Some were large, while some were small, some were ripe and the others in the process of ripening and so on.
So I spent the morning picking up fallen durians. It was a great time for me. Only the mosquitoes, which kept attacking me, spoiled the fun somewhat. To have an orchard, you need to get to the interiors of locations and places that have large acres of land. Now you could have orchards for any kind of food items. At about noon, I bade farewell to my cousin after thanking him for the wonderful experience in the orchard. I then cycled home.
