Apricots

Apricots are one of my favorite fruits and I'm happy to be in Tajikistan while they are in season. Since Isfara is known for its apricots...

...on the way back from our visit there, we stopped at some of the orchards.

(Dressed for my teacher workshop, I must have looked a sight jumping over the stream and asking questions about what they do.)

We learned that during picking and drying season, farmers come from their villages and camp out in the orchards for a month or two.

Families have a "tapchan," a platform for sitting and sleeping, shaded by cloth or plastic.

Some of the family members from one of the groups we talked to.

The "campers" can use mud to make a stove for their time in the orchards.

Animals come too--cows, dogs, and even birds.

The process of picking, sorting, drying (and sometimes sulfuring) is time-consuming.

He's demonstrating how pits can be squeezed out of apricots that are at just the right stage.

We also saw apricots being sold on the road between Ayni and Panjikent. It's a business for the whole family.

Lots of different varieties of apricots!

My only regret is that I couldn't buy a bucket of apricots and make jam. That wouldn't be a practical way to spend my last two days in Tajikistan!