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.

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.