Monday 17 October 2011

Golden Harvest

I have a huge Golden Delicious apple tree at the allotment in what used to be the area where I kept my hens.  It has grown well beyond the fruits being reachable, so this weekend, as the weather has been so lovely, I decided to get the ladders out and harvest as much fruit as I could.  There are literally hundreds of apples, far more than we could ever get through, the best year ever.   The tree had an unfortunate beginning, alas, the sheep broke through into the orchard where I had seven different young fruit trees.  They stripped all the  bark off the trees and killed all but two - a Victoria plum and the Golden Delicious apple.  They were saved by the fact that the stakes were close to the trunk and the sheep couldn't completely strip it. 

Since then both trees have gone from strength to strength and now really need to be chopped back to a more reachable level.  Last year I made a start pruning the top out of the tree, but more work needs to be done.  It won't really matter if I don't get as much fruit and I think the quality of it will be better.

Last year, as the winter was so hard, I fed a lot of the apples to the blackbirds, who I am sure really appreciated it, we had a regular half dozen birds on the lawn hollowing out the halved fruit, so none of them will go to waste and the blackbirds don't mind if the skins are wrinkly.
The Golden Delicious you buy from the supermarket are usually quite a bland taste, but the home grown ones are definitely superior, and when fully ripe, taste almost like pears.  Now I just have to find space to store them all.

10 comments:

  1. With so many maybe you might want to try pressing some of them them for cider or making into wine? Yum yum! :)

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  2. It's always the same, home grown is always superior to things you buy in the supermarket. I'm sure the birds will appreciate an apple to munch on, especially if we get the same harsh winter as we did last year.

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  3. I'd love some fruit trees but we're not allowed them at my allotment site, which is a real shame. In fact there was a huge plum tree next to my plot when I took it on but that was chopped down. It would have cast a lot of shade and taken a lot of moisture from the soil but some plums would have been nice.

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  4. I think the supermarket Golden Delicious are fairly bland. Lucky you having such a crop. We pressed a lot of our Grenadier apples for apple juice this year.

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  5. I've never had the privilege of eating a home-grown Golden Delicious, so I can only take your word on the question of flavour. Like others, I have found shop-bought ones to be bland and often very soft.

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  6. hello
    lucky you have your own golden-delicious.what will you make with all the wonderful apples? lovely blog
    have a wonderful week,
    regina
    reginassimplelife.blogspot.com

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  7. Regina - I am sure they will all get used up one way or another.

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  8. Your apples make me hungry...yummy! I do not, as of yet, have an apple tree, but I am thinking about it.

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  9. I like apples, and generally eat one most days. I don't mind what variety as long as they're crisp and juicy! Flighty xx

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  10. WOW! You should become a supermarket 'supplier'!! x

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