Apple Season Continues

My friend and I picked apples from the two trees in my yard. The ancient one had dropped a good many to the ground, compliments of an earlier than normal ripening and a few storms with high winds. There were also many scrumped by the squirrels methinks, as well as raccoons and skunks because the amount I saw on the ground plus what was left in the tree didn't add up to what I'd seen in the branches not a week before.

The younger tree had kept about half her apples on the branches and some were on the ground. Here, too, many had gone missing. Along with raccoons and skunks, we have deer so I am sure everyone got a chance to eat some. The younger tree is a semidwarf, so I've no doubt the deer could easily reach up and help themselves.

Undeterred, my friend and I picked. She had never used a long-handled apple picker and was keen to try it. She's taller than I am so could reach a few without it but it was nice to be able to reach nearly all the apples on the younger tree without needing to climb a ladder to get them. The ancient tree is standard size so one could climb it were one inclined. Neither of us were, and here again, the long-handled apple picker came in handy. Here's a picture from the internet to show what the basket part looks like. The handle on the one I have is 10 to 12 feet (~3-4 metres).

I gave her more of the younger tree apples as they looked nicer and were probably less wormy than the ones from the ancient tree. I gave her at least 3 gallons/~12 litres worth and maybe a bit more. After she left I went back to the ancient tree and was able to fill up a 5 gallon/~20 litre bucket. So, plenty to go around.

I didn't get to cooking them down for applesauce as quickly as I would have liked. About half of the apples from the ancient tree that were bruised were turning very brown at the bruise spots, so I decided to dehydrate those. I filled a 4 quart/~4 litre pot with the sliced bits I got from them, and they'll be a nice addition to the larder. I like to eat them as snacks or add to oatmeal. I still have half of them left, which should give us a few quarts/litres of applesauce.

My friend told me the apples I gave her rendered 4 quarts/~ 4 litres of applesauce.

 The picture below shows each kind of apples from the trees in my yard. Those on the left are from the younger tree. I am not sure what kind they are, maybe a Cortland. The flesh is a bright white, and they are juicy, a little more sweet than tart, have a clean taste, good for fresh eats, and are not mealy. Those on the right are from the ancient tree. I think they might be Macintosh or a close relative. They look yellow and red in the pic rather than green and red like Macs, but the yellow usually has a green cast to it. They are typically a bit sweet good for fresh eats, dried, as sauce and in pies. They are usually not mealy, although some of them were when I was preparing them for the dehydrator. They may have sat a little too long waiting for me, which may also account for the stronger yellow but will be delicious dehydrated in any case.

I learned more about the apples up the street and have collected some of those. The neighbour next door to the lady with the horses who have since died but who ate many of the apples saw me scrumping when he walked to the mailbox to collect his mail. He introduced himself and told me he was glad to see someone picking the apples. Eric explained they are not good use in the cider press but are tasty and called Wolf River apples. An old, old variety like many of the apples on my street. His wife worked at an organic apple orchard before she retired, and that's how they learned more about the apples. I told him I'd be glad to share them. He laughed, said he had a Wolf River apple tree in his yard and more apple trees in the back of his house. The family who'd owned much of the land had planted a number of fruit trees. The land was divided up into house lots over the years, and many of the apple and cherry trees still survive. Eric said he'd never seen this tree bear so heavily, and a few of the apples are the size of grapefruits.

I filled my large basket and lugged it home. There's certainly another basketful on the side I can reach easily. To reach the back of the tree, I'd have to climb over the horse fence, which I am reluctant to do. My friend and I shall meet tomorrow, and we'll get the ones we can reach without having to climb the fence. They are shown in the picture below. The average sized fruit is larger than the red apples from my yard. The piece of cardboard under them is 6 inches/~15 cm square. I researched just now, and they are good for baking and drying and make decent pies. Not so great for fresh eats. I'll try them fresh, all the same. What can I say? I go for low hanging fruit!

Apple Season 2021

It's apple season here once again. Last year, my two trees gave me nothing. They were both blooming wonderfully in May, when we got about 8 inches of snow. The bees thought it too cold to come out and pollinate for a few days, and by the time they arrived, the blossoms were past. The ancient tree tends to bear every other year, and I was hoping for bounty from it. The younger tree has only just started bearing but the blossoms aboard it looked so promising. sigh.

Fortunately there's an apple CSA (community supported agriculture) near me where they have a bunch of old timey and rare apples. Most are not commercial successes as they are either not beautiful looking enough or the fruit isn't uniform enough, or they're not the current darling. It was fun to sample so many kinds, and I'm glad for those who are continuing to grow them. I got the CSA as much as to support their efforts as anything. And I learned about different varieties. Some were for fresh eating, some for pies, some for cooking. All were delicious.

My up the street neighbour let me scrump from a tree on the boundary line between her and her neighbour's yard. Neighbour wasn't interested in the fruits, either, so I used those to make apple sauce. Not quite as sweet as the apples from my trees, and a tad more mealy, but tasty all the same. Neither neighbour was interested in the apple sauce.

This year, both trees in my yard bloomed well and are bearing a bit earlier than usual. Perhaps it's because we were so dry and some things sped up a little. On my walk around the neighbourhood, I chatted with another neighbour, asking if I could scrump from her tree if my trees run a bit short. We've had raccoons visit, and I saw a grey squirrel in the ancient tree and jump to another tree with an apple in his mouth. I had no idea they liked apples.

We do next to nothing to the trees. I pruned the younger one this year, but that's it. So we do get a number of fruits with worms. We cut away the bad, eat the good either right away, or later on, as sauce or dried apple pieces.

Neighbour told me i was welcome to them. She said she does nothing to them, so they'll be wormy. They're an old variety, what kind who knows? Like mine, her house is from the 19th century, and the tree likely came very soon after the house. The apples are juicy, and her horses loved them. Both her horses are gone now, dying from old age.

I nodded and said I remembered seeing them and wouldn't want to take away any apple treats from them, although I hadn't seen them in a while.

She smiled, said they lived well into their thirties, which is a long life for equines. She looked a tad wistful.

I thanked her for letting me scrump as needed and then said, "I suppose it isn't really scrumping if I have permission, is it?" And here we both smiled.

She said some years she does do things with them, but she's not going to bother this year, so I may take all I want. She said they aren't good for pies, because they break apart too readily. All that juice. I thanked her, said we usually do apple sauce and dry some pieces,  and told her I'd likely be picking her worms quite soon.

I had chatted with a friend to see if she wanted to split apples with me this year. She does, so we'll take from my trees and those from neighbours. I'll offer some sauce and dried apple pieces again this year to those who let me scrump.

A few small things

I have been away, busy doing other things. Apologies to the few stalwarts who have been regular readers.

I have also had issues with signing in so I could publish a new post. 

For the moment, I have prevailed so shall share one small thing that happened earlier today that made me smile and led to other small things. Isn't that the way life works?

We are getting ready to do some renovations in the kitchen. That's a process unto itself that can provide plenty of blog fodder. And the getting ready part is no small thing.

In the midst of clearing out cupboards, I have been looking at what to cull and what to keep. I came to a Good Seasons cruet. I remember when it was new, which was now Quite a Long Time Ago, and how the clear, plastic lid that capped the cruet smartly had started to go. A small tear appeared along the edge and over time, the tear grew to the point where one couldn't shake the contents in the cruet without splattering them about the room. The lid went the Way of All Things. I think. I always stored the lid capped on the cruet, and the lid is MIA.

While the lid and cruet were married, the cruet was available to hold other salad dressings, not just the Good Seasons brand. I confess, I was not always brand loyal and found it handy for my homemade concoctions.

Well, how hard could it be to get a new lid? I would certainly use the cruet more often if I could get a proper fitting lid. Today was the day I set out to find the answer. It wasn't hard to get a new one, but to know where and how to get a new one presented a challenge. Looking online, I saw lots of chances to buy a new cruet with lid, used cruet with no lid (thanks, I have one of those and in the search engine I clearly stipulated I wanted a lid or cap) or cruets with caps EUC (excellent used condition for those not in the know).

And then I stumbled onto a blog that talked about Good Seasons cruets. One person commented to contact the company. Of course. How 20th century.

The website Contact Us part didn't have an email window launch, but it did provide a phone number. I called and talked to a man named Chris. He had a nice baritone voice. I explained my cruet had no lid. He asked me if I had the package it came in or a packet of the Good Seasons dressing. I told him, no, I didn't. I had used the contents of the last packet and discarded the paper envelope.

I chose not to tell him it was likely a decade or more--probably more--since that occurred.

He told me he could likely find what he needed another way, which he did. And about 15 seconds later, he confirmed he found it, and would be happy to send me two lids. TWO!

I provided my mailing address, and they'll arrive in five to seven days. No charge.

Thank you, Chris!

The stumbling onto the blog Holy Juan reminded me of my sad little blog and wondered how some of those I liked in BlogLand were doing. So I took a look, caught up with a few although couldn't comment since I couldn't get signed in. Until now.

One small thing led to a few other small things. Chris being nice on the phone and happy to help. Chris able to send me not just one but two caps for my cruet, and for free! Finding that Joanne over at Cup on the Bus still weaves lovely tea towels, and I decided today was the day to order some. They shall look wonderful in my kitchen. I think I should save them until the kitchen renos are complete. But I might not be able to hold out that long!