The mystery of the magical apple tree

When we first moved into our new house last fall, we noted that there were three fruit trees in the backyard: a lemon tree, an orange tree, and an apple tree. The previous owner, who lived here for many years, warned us that the apple tree did not produce edible fruit. She said that she had never known it to bear good fruit in all the years she’d been here – the apples were small and hard, and very sour. No one ever ate them. Of course, we decided to try them ourselves but we had to agree . . . not really edible. Too hard, too sour, too bitter. But over the course of the last 6 months, we’ve noticed the apples have really been growing. Other than a light pruning, we haven’t done anything to the tree. It’s still in the same spot, still neglected for water, and yet suddenly it’s sprouting huge apples that look nothing like the apples that were there a year ago. The apples this year are big, and they are tasty. They are a perfect mix of tart and sweet. My kids love apples, so we now have to issue regular warnings about not picking the apples unless a parent has approved it for ripeness. (Mark helps Karis get an apple ready for eating.) My boys have taking to calling this the Magical Apple Tree and I have to agree on the name. How in the world did this happen? How could a tree bearing inedible fruit suddenly change? I’m sure there is a scientific answer . . . but I’m going to let myself believe that the tree sensed our presence and knew that we would enjoy it’s fruit.