Post by johno on Jul 12, 2008 12:32:23 GMT -5
"We" have been taking advantage of nature's bounty more than usual this year, in light of the trend of rising food prices. Heather has been freezing wild blackberries and wild raspberries as fast as she can pick them. I'm happy as a pig in mud with all the blackberry cobbler! And my sis-in-law, Hope, made an unparalleled mountain berry long cake last week, with all fresh picked berries, of course. Between the aborted fruits last year due to the freak late frost and the unending 'spring' rains this year, most of the fruit-bearing plants around here are producing in record numbers.
Which brings me to apples. One of my father's apple trees has gone completely nuts! To his memory it is a Jonathon, to my memory it is a Winesap - let that be a lesson to make permanent labels. Anyway, the limbs on that tree are like wet noodles under the weight of unspeakable numbers of apples. It is a large semi-dwarf tree; it was about 18' to 20' tall, presently maybe 12' under the strain. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know some of those fruits needed to be thinned.
So, what to do with green apples? It turns out that green apples have tremendous amounts of nutrients, but you'd get sick if you ate them fresh. Cider was the first thing to come to my mind... but the ladies decided on apple butter. They've been at it for almost 24 hours now. It looks like they'll have about 4+ gallons of it by the time it is canned. Between three households, that should last us all about three years.
I haven't been to the tree to see how many they picked, but my guess is that they didn't get many from up high. I sent Heather after a fruit-picker - the kind on a pole, so you can reach high - but the only store where I recall seeing one was out, and of course the help didn't know what she was talking about... I was really most concerned about the highest branches, and I bet they couldn't pick from those. Guess I should make a fruit-picker myself. Point being... there are probably quite a few more green apples that need to be picked (and more apple butter is out of the question.) What are some other good ways to put them by?
Which brings me to apples. One of my father's apple trees has gone completely nuts! To his memory it is a Jonathon, to my memory it is a Winesap - let that be a lesson to make permanent labels. Anyway, the limbs on that tree are like wet noodles under the weight of unspeakable numbers of apples. It is a large semi-dwarf tree; it was about 18' to 20' tall, presently maybe 12' under the strain. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know some of those fruits needed to be thinned.
So, what to do with green apples? It turns out that green apples have tremendous amounts of nutrients, but you'd get sick if you ate them fresh. Cider was the first thing to come to my mind... but the ladies decided on apple butter. They've been at it for almost 24 hours now. It looks like they'll have about 4+ gallons of it by the time it is canned. Between three households, that should last us all about three years.
I haven't been to the tree to see how many they picked, but my guess is that they didn't get many from up high. I sent Heather after a fruit-picker - the kind on a pole, so you can reach high - but the only store where I recall seeing one was out, and of course the help didn't know what she was talking about... I was really most concerned about the highest branches, and I bet they couldn't pick from those. Guess I should make a fruit-picker myself. Point being... there are probably quite a few more green apples that need to be picked (and more apple butter is out of the question.) What are some other good ways to put them by?