Apple harvests

When we were on holiday in Cornwall In October we visited Trelissick gardens who were preparing for an apple weekend. The apples were set out in bowls on shelves in the old stables. There was an amazing number of different varieties. We checked them all out but couldn't find any which resembled our allotment apples which are a type of pippin. They taste like a Cox's pippin but are quite red. There was a wonderful smell of apples as we wandered around the stables looking at the displays and I thought of the apples back home on our allotment apple tree.

We've had a lot of apples this year on our allotment apple tree. Just before we went on holiday we wondered whether to start picking them, but they didn't seem ready to come off the tree when we tried twisting them so we decided to wait until after the holiday.  We returned from holiday to find the ground underneath the tree full of apples which had fallen off. Most of these were badly damaged or half eaten by birds, so we left them there for the birds to finish them off.

There were still plenty left on the tree so we set to work on picking them, wrapped them in newspaper and stored them in boxes  as we always do. They are an eating apple and I find that they don't store well so we eat as many as we can before they go off.

Over at our old house where our daughter now lives, there is a Bramley apple tree, which again has produced plenty this year and my daughter is happy for us to take as many as we want. Bramley apples store very well, so I have taken a good number to store in the shed. They will keep for quite some time. 

At this time of year we often see boxes of apples outside people's houses with notes on for people to help themselves. Then there are the friendly neighbours who call round with a big bag of apples for us. I usually accept them with a smile but groan inwardly. I don't need any more apples I have enough of my own.

Clear up time

The last couple of weeks  has brought some extreme weather to our area--high winds and very heavy rain.

When we got to the allotment last week, we found one of the climbing bean wigwams had toppled over onto the path. For a few weeks now it has been leaning precariously and did fall over once before but Richard managed to hoist it back up into place. But this time I decided it was trying to tell me something--that it has had enough and was time to clear it away. There were very few beans left on it so it was cut back and thrown on the compost heap. The other beans still in the ground are slowing down so I'm sure it won't be long before they join their friend on the heap. The sunflowers which were growing in the same bed as the beans were leaning over too so those have been cut down.

 I cut the flowers off and those which were looking good are now in a vase at home. The rest of them have been left to dry out and provide a tasty treat for the birds.

Looking around the plot, there is a lot of clearing up to be done now that autumn is here. Although I am still harvesting some vegetables, there are others which have finished and can now be got rid of. Our job on the last couple of visits has been to clear some big weeds from around the plot boundaries. This weeding gets neglected a lot of the time when we are busy with other jobs, but I was determined to get them cleared. As areas were weeded we mulched them with shredded bark. A big pile of bark has been left for the allotment holders to help themselves to. There seems to have been only us using it, but we have found it really useful--and cheap of course! It has been hard work all that weeding and spreading bark, but it looks much better now and should keep the weeds away for a little while.

On the next visit to the plot this weekend I was intending to start weeding the veg beds, but there were lots more vegetables to be harvested and cleared away. The courgettes are slowing down now, I picked a few little ones and pulled up some of the plants. We also picked sweet corn and climbing beans and I found several cucumbers hiding under their leaves in the greenhouse.   I now have a big bag of cucumbers in the fridge. I finally managed to get more of the veg beds weeded. We're starting to see bare soil again.

The apples are looking lovely and will soon be ready for picking which means I need to find boxes to store them in. They will soon be all over the shed.

 There is no end to the jobs at the moment, but we are off on holiday soon and want to get as much as we can done before we go.

Jams and chutneys

There's something really cosy and homely about stocking up the cupboard with jars of preserves to see you through the winter.  You've always got a jar to give to a friend or donate to a charity coffee morning.

Last week I decided to make some spiced apple chutney. I found the recipe in the Sept/Oct issue of Landscape magazine. As with all the chutneys I have ever made, it is easy to cook, but takes hours to make.
I have found that I need to set aside a full day to make chutney. Preparing the ingredients can take ages, then all you do is throw them in the pan, bring to the boil and simmer--but it takes hours to get the point when it is ready. You need to go away and do something else while it is cooking.  Chutney is ready when all the vinegar has evaporated and when you draw a spoon across the surface of the chutney a channel is formed without any vinegar filling it.

If you are making chutney for Christmas it needs to be made about a month or two in advance to allow the flavours to develop. I've never made this recipe before and I did lick the spoon after I had filled up all the chutney jars-- it tasted pretty good.  So I'm wondering if I can really wait for a month before eating it.

I've also made apple and blackberry jam. Click here for recipe. You may notice now that I'm making things with apples. If you've read my last blog,  you'll know why.

Harvesting the apples

 We've had a bumper year for apples both on the allotment and in the garden.  In the garden we have an old Bramley apple tree. We've lived in our house for thirty-two years and the apple tree was well established when we moved in, so I don't know how old it is. It has good years and bad years. Last year was probably the worst year ever and we thought it might be because it was old. But it has bounced back. There are apples all over the garden fallen from the tree which will provide some food for the birds in the winter months. The good ones which we have picked from the tree are now stored in the shed.

On the allotment is an apple tree of an unknown variety, it was there when we took the plot on and we have pruned it and looked after it over the last three years. It has rewarded us with an abundance of apples this year. I think the variety is a cox's pippin, it tastes and looks much like it.

With all these apples around I needed a good way to store them. I haven't done well in the past with storing the Bramleys. So I got a number of boxes from the local supermarket. These are the sort which are used for displaying fruit or veg, shallow and made of good strong cardboard. I have wrapped each apple in newspaper and set them out in the boxes so they are not touching. The boxes stack up easily and fit neatly on the shed benches. I'm hoping this will work and the apples will keep well.

All that remains now is for us to eat all these apples. The Coxs aren't a problem, we are eating them an apple a day each. That should keep us healthy. Now the Bramleys need cooking and making up into puddings, jams etc. I have plans to make jams and chutneys.

So many apples

We have a Bramley apple tree in our garden, which must be quite old as we've lived here for 27 years and it was here when we moved in. Despite its age it still produces lots of apples each year. And each year I struggle to use up all those apples.  They do at least  provide lots of food for the birds throughout the winter. As the apples fall to the ground, I collect any good ones and the rest are left for the birds.  The birds love rotting apples. The good apples left on the tree my husband picks.  We usually end up with several baskets of apples. Some are given away to friends, family  and neighbours, the rest we keep and I try to store them as best as I can.

I'm now at the stage of finding different ways of cooking these apples.
Sometimes I do baked apples. I core them and fill the centres with sultanas, raisins, currants and some syrup or honey. Yesterday I made an Apple Cake using a recipe from Greenside Up. This was easy to make and tasted yummy. I would recommend you try it.

Apple cake

I also made a Spiced Apple and Raisin Crumble based on a Delia Smith recipe but I adapted it slightly.  I put this in the freezer.

 Spiced apple and raisin crumble

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 350F (180C)

1lb/11/2lb (450 gr)  Bramley apples, peeled and sliced
1oz (25g)soft brown sugar
 1/4  teaspoon cloves
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 oz (75g)  raisins
2 tablespoon water

Place the apples, raisins, sugar and spices in a dish, sprinkle with the water.

For the crumble topping:

6oz  (175 g)plain flour
3oz  (75g )butter
3oz ( 75g) soft brown sugar

Place the flour in a mixing bowl, add the butter and rub into the flour lightly, using your fingertips.  When it looks crumbly, add the sugar.
Sprinkle the crumble mixture all over the fruit in the dish.
Place the crumble dish in the centre of the oven and bake for about 40 mins or until the apples are cooked and the top is slightly brown.

Does anyone else have any good ways of using up apples?