Thursday 30 August 2012

Autumn is in the Air - The Apple Harvest

Behold the apples’ rounded worlds:
juice-green of July rain,
the black polestar of flowers, the rind
mapped with its crimson stain.

The russet, crab and cottage red
burn to the sun’s hot brass,
then drop like sweat from every branch
and bubble in the grass.

They lie as wanton as they fall,
and where they fall and break,
the stallion clamps his crunching jaws,
the starling stabs his beak.

In each plump gourd the cidery bite
of boys’ teeth tears the skin;
the waltzing wasp consumes his share,
the bent worm enters in.

I, with as easy hunger, take
entire my season’s dole;
welcome the ripe, the sweet, the sour,
the hollow and the whole.

Laurie Lee
 I can smell a change in the air - the garden is starting to wind down - soon digging will begin on vacant spaces where the final crops have been harvested, and all that will be left are the cabbages and  leafy veg.  But of course there is always the apple harvest to come.
My apple crop is greatly diminished this year, and I could see blackbirds hopping through the branches pecking at them, James Grieve are a highly scented variety, and seem to attract birds and wasps alike, in their droves - some years you can hardly see the tree for starlings gorging themselves.  So yesterday I picked all that I could reach - maybe a bucketful - as we are on holiday next week - and I fear there would be no apples left for us on our return.  They are not a keeping variety but will be alright for a couple of weeks so I shall be making a few pies and crumbles with them as well as a bit of juicing.

via

A Deeply Appley Apple Crumble
A sublime crumble is probably one where the fruit lies somewhere between thick juice and soft nuggets of flesh.  For me, the filling should be a mixture of barely recognisable chunks on the verge of collapse and a sort of sweet slush the texture of melting snow.
Nigel Slater

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recipe here
A favourite apple is the Russet which has a lovely nutty flavour and I am hoping to plant one this year so that when the James Grieve is over I will  continue cropping from this tree.
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via pinterest

My Golden Delicious tree doesn't have a single apple on it this year - last year it was heaving.
   I had so many that I was giving carrier bags full away and feeding them to the sheep - if only I had had an apple press.  Alas, this year is a different story.  Hopefully the tree will feel rested and give me a bountiful harvest next year.

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via pinterest
Or I could have made them into apple crisps if I had had the time.
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Carl Larsson - Apple Harvest
I still have two other trees which are Braeburn type apples but they are still small and won't be ready before October - and of course there is the Bramley - most of the apples this year seem to be a bit pitted and scabby - so I am not expecting a good harvest from it.  In fact, it has been rubbish ever since I planted it - so earlier this year I bought a replacement - and the old tree will be chopped down when the new one has established itself.   My Mum used to grate Bramleys with sugar  for us when we were kids, a treat that I always associate with autumn. 
Pinned Image
via pinterest
And I also love cheese and apple sandwiches - a slab of strong Cheddar and thinly cut crisp, tart apples - in between slices of fresh crusty bread - simple, but delicious.
Apple Orchard, Kent - John Minton

 let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could." 
                         --Louise Erdrich "The Painted Drum"

29 comments:

  1. It all sounds rather like here. We have a small harvest of Bramleys, our ONE Granny Smith apple was plucked by a small child and thrown away, and we have a few Cox type apples. However, Lady M did bake a Blackberry-n-Apple Crumble yesterday; our first of the season!

    I shall have to plant a Golden Delicious; they are always much better home grown.

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    1. I agree about the Golden Delicious, when they are fully ripe they have a pear-like taste no comparison to shop bought. The blackberries aren't ready yet - I don't think we've had enough sun for them to ripen.

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    2. Could you tell me how long more to leave them on the tree, I have about 8. this is my first year with apples.?

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  2. My cooking apples should be ready very soon. All four of them. Also my little blackberry bush in the garden should have some more fruit ready for when I pick my apples.

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    1. Perfect timing - apple and blackberry crumble here we come!

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  3. Our Golden Delicious are hopeless too, but the Discovery seem to be ok, in addition the Golden Delicious tree looks decidedly sickly, just off to make a cheese and apple sandwich

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    1. Funny you should mention your GD tree looking a bit sickly - mine does too - all the leaves seem to have been attacked by something - oh dear, not looking good.

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  4. The apples on the plot don't look as good this year. THe fruits don't seem to be swelling as much which is strange given all the moisture. We have a young Egremont russet but it isn't very big yet. Yes we have been having apple and blackberry crumble - lovely!

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    1. It seems to be a universal problem this year.

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  5. It's difficult when you've just taken on a new garden. I have two or three apple trees, but have no idea what variety they are. All I do know is, like others have said, they are not doing a lot! Not a single apple anywhere.

    I will need to read up on pruning and see if I can rescue them next year.

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    1. Pruning fruit trees frightens me to death - however much I read up on it I never feel certain I am doing the right thing. Good luck.

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  6. As with so many things it's a poor year for apples sadly. Flighty xx

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    1. My worst year ever - no plums or raspberries either I'm in danger of becoming deficient in vitamin C at this rate

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  7. I bought a little Gloster apple tree at the start of the year but it hasn't produced anything, and I've picked up a Golden Delicious in the local nursery closing down sale. It would be nice to get a small harvest next year. I've never heard of apples being eaten in sandwiches before, but agree that they go lovely with cheese.

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    1. My GD tree took years to produce any fruit but when it got going there was no stopping it - until this year that is.

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  8. Was beginning to think it was just my apples that weren't doing so well this year. Don't want to sound unsympathetic - but it is reassuring to hear that I'm not the only one! Have a great holiday!

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    1. It's a sad appley tale this year for just about everyone - so you're definitely not on your own.

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  9. It's amazing the difference of apple trees. I have an unknown one that had loads of blossom early on, but now no fruit. Then earlier this year I bought a bare root Golden Delicious and it has about 8 or 9 fruit on it and they are looking good. Just need to know how long more til they will be ripe enough to pick as I do not want to do it too early. Thanks, Elaine...I love the poem :)

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    1. Mine had loads of blossom too - the frost hit it just at the wrong time.

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  10. Elaine I was enchanted by this post,I love that Laurie Lee poem and the beautiful apples .Yes I smely Autumn this morning too

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it Angela - that poem just about says it all.

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  11. Nice post Elaine, love the apple pictures. Its no use me taking a photograph of my one and only apple this year.

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    1. If it makes you feel any better I don't think many of us will have much of an apple harvest this year. That's just the way it goes.

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  12. Hi Elaine, I enjoyed your lovely apple post. I do love a nice, crisp golden delicious apple. I have childhood memories of trips with my grandfather and younger brother to a rather large pick-your-own apple orchard in Illinois. I can still see the trees dripping with big golden delicious apples. I'll bet your apple tree(s) will do great next year. Last year, my pear tree didn't really produce, but this year there were over 150 pears. I guess they do have to rest once in a while. All the best! :-)

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  13. Have been picking from my plot too Elaine - have very young 'Katy', 'James Grieve' and 'Sunset' on dwarf rootstocks. I am most partial to 'Russets' too, which are becoming increasingly harder to locate in the supermarkets. I have enjoyed your recent posts but for some reason have been unable to comment using Safari. My computer has been very sick but I reinstalled Google Chrome yesterday and can communicate again :)

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  14. I do love the way Nigel Slater writes about food! I am in the middle of planning what apple varieties to go for in our new garden. They will have to be grown as cordons, for space and because of the overhead wires, but I really hope that I will be making my crumbles from fruit picked in the garden in a few years. Weather permitting! Hope your harvest is better next year.

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  15. A lovely time of year - apple harvesting. I've noticed many of my apples are quite small but still great to have. Can't wait to harvest.

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  16. Well the pesky squirrels have eaten all the pears and plums yet again but have left me with some nice blackberries-perhaps they were too full to finish those off too!!

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  17. Hi Elaine,

    You are so lucky to have some apples. In Kent the yield is so low. I do not have any apples on my old Blenheim Orange......no crab apples.....no pears. The heavy rain at the most important time stopped pollination.

    Tku for your message on my blog. You have been an inspiration to me.
    I am planning raised beds in the garden with fencing to keep the rabbits out. I shall once again be growing my own produce....tku.
    I don't know when the project will start but it will happen.

    I shall be dropping by your blog from time to time for ideas.

    Have a lovely holiday.......

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