Harvest

Apple Season

September 22, 2012

Apple season is officially upon us and, I have to say, I am so incredibly excited about it!

Since we’ve processed all 150 pounds of gifted apples, it’s finally time to start harvesting the apples from our own tiny trees!

Now, we put in our apple trees just a few years ago and this is the first year we’ve really seen them be successful!  I’m not sure if it was the warm spring or simply that they’re maturing well (or a combination of both), but their growth this year has been quite amazing!

Each of our two apple trees are 1) espalier and 2) hold four different varieties on each of their four different branches.  They stand against our fence in the front yard and are like a mini orchard all by themselves 🙂

Each tree holds Gala, Granny Smith, Red Fuji and Golden Delicious apples.  The winning branch this year, in term of volume of apples, was the golden delicious, which we’ve been enjoying in mini-harvests for the past several weeks.  So crisp and sweet and juicy!  Magic!

A diagram of where each variety grows and the best uses for each.
I tend to forget which variety grows where when there aren’t
actual apples on the tree!

Now, there are still some apples on the trees since they’re not all ready to be harvested yet, but so far this is how the totals break down this week:

  • Red Fuji = 1 lb 9 oz (10 apples)
  • Granny Smith = 6 lb 10 oz (25 apples)
  • Gala = 8 lb (37 apples)
  • Golden Delicious = 19 lb 9 oz (82 apples)
That’s right – a total of over 35 pounds of apples from our little trees just this week!  Not a bad haul for our little trees 🙂  Especially since there are still some on the trees to harvest later!
Red Fuji, Granny Smith, Gala, Golden Delicious

Now, since apples are in abundance this year, we’re thinking that we will save our own apples for eating fresh (apple slices and almond butter or apple and cheese slices are among my absolute favorite snacks!) and use any additional apples we’re given for preserving (I’d like to make some more Apple Pie in a Jar and try some dried/dehydrated apple slices).
Golden Delicious, Red Fuji, Granny Smith, Gala

What about you?  Are the apples bountiful in your area?  If so, how are you handling the bounty this year?  I’d love to hear your tricks and favorite recipes!

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4 Comments on “Apple Season”

  1. Very impressive! The Golden Delicious certainly is prolific. I don’t have any apple trees myself, but I’ve been enjoying good fresh local apples from the farmer’s market.

  2. We’ve just purchased and planted two of our very first apple trees. Add to that the six I grew from chucking the seeds into soil LOL

    You were very wise growing eating apples, and cooking apples. And I have to say that Golden Delicious and Granny Smith are my favourites. I’m hoping to solar dry our apples in 2 – 3 years time…

    Yours look yummy!

    1. How wonderful that you have actual apple trees growing from seeds! It will be more than worth the wait once you’re harvesting your own apples! Even the small amount we’ve gotten this year has felt so incredibly rewarding!!!

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