We'll it might typically be a tad early for picking apples, but with the drought we've had... seems like things are acting a bit differently. You either lose a crop all together or it flourishes like crazy! I've heard when you have a late hard frost (speaking of apple trees now).... and it kills the blooms...that you don't get anything that year but the next is usually a bumper crop.
Such was the case last year and this.
Our trees are wonderfully loaded this year, so much so, that I feared the branches would snap, crackle, pop. Even the picture doesn't do justice to how many there are!
I picked and loaded up boxes and baskets galore until I could do no more. Holding one of those long handled baskets for picking can really throw one's neck and back a fit!
Last weekend I finally got the time to start cooking up applesauce! It took me all day.... did it really take this long when I was younger!!! ... but I'm only about halfway through what I picked and the trees still have more fruit ripening at the tippy top.
Gonna be a real challenge for those raccoons and deer!
Sidebar...a couple days before I picked, I walked out to see if they were ready and saw a small raccoon up on a branch... being vewy vewy still and trying to blend in! It was pretty funny, and I left him to his feast.
Fortunately I have one of those little hand crank machines that cores, peels and slices...otherwise I'd have never made it through the day!
For me, even though the work is hard... it's so satisfying knowing I grew them and there are no pesticides or names I can't pronounce on my jars!
I used to make applesauce where it turned out all nice 'n purty 'n smooth...but my family called it baby food and wanted chunky. So that's how I've made mine for years. The plus is, you can open up a jar of these babies, add a little cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.,, walla..
apple pie baby!
Enjoy your day my friends!
