This is an excellent example of the little know Northwest Board tree oregonensis studifaria. It grows in the deep woods and is seldom seen by humans. This particular example, located on Ginny's farm, has been lovingly nurtured for over fifty years. Ginny and her brothers and sisters were members of the local 4H program, and this particular tree has been used by all of them for attaining their forestry badges. As part of that program the 4Her is required to graft new stock onto an existing tree thereby allowing a single example to produce multiple varieties of fruit. It started out as a 2X4 tree when Ginny transplanted it. That transplantation, in itself, was suitable for her forester badge since these trees are quite rare and hard to find. Kathy carefully grafted 2X2 stock which worked quite well. The children learned from each other, with Joe bringing on 1X2s, Patty adding 2X6 stock, Theresa was quite successful with her 4X4 graft, and finally Paul successfully grafted on a 2X8. As you can see in the photo, the fruit is getting vey close to harvest. Ginny's dad harvests the boards every year and stores them in the barn for eventual use in building a shrine to Our Lady of the Ever Loving Spoonful.

Actually, I lied. It is a plum tree which needs to have its branches propped up because it bears so much fruit that they would break off. Honest!