Apples of the Equinox

There are two lovely little apple trees by the junction of Dukes Rd and Thomas Lewis Way. I’ve often noticed them but every time someone picks all the apples very early in the season.

This year, after we noted the trees had been cropped, I returned to mop up the survivors. The original picker lacked either the tools or the determination to gather the hard to reach fruit.

I had to prune away some brambles in order to reach the apples but they were an interesting looking fruit and I gathered about 8 Kg. Sadly, I saw that some idiot had dumped and smashed a china basin by the tree; the effort required complete this criminal act would be about the same as disposing of it legally.

I did notice that some crab-apples were grafted onto one of the trees. I believe this old practice is intended to provide a small supply of more-tart fruit, to improve the cider making or cooking process. It is a sure sign that someone who knows their onions, once cared about the tree. I always grab a couple for good luck; I firmly believe in preserving arcane lore, especially when it comes to apple trees.

The Autumnal Equinox falls this weekend and I intend to pick a regular boot-full of apples (that’s a car boot, not a wellington), in Hedge End. The best fruit will be stored for the winter months and the less tasty crop will go toward the imminent cider making season!

Apple Attack

The autumnal equinox passed last week and for anyone harvesting apples this means that you are going to be busy. There was to be no exception for the Urbane Foraging family, not least because I wanted to stock up my apple store, arrange an Apple Picknik and pick and press enough apples to fill my second 5 Gallon barrel with cider.

I knew it was going to be very, very busy.




Half an Hour on the Little Common

 

To add to the logistical problems, the girl needed ballet classes and to be taken to a friend’s birthday party, the boy had to go to swimming lessons, Grandma was coming for lunch, I had promised to take the Head Chef out for a meal and we had all the normal weekend chores to perform.



Half an Hour on Woolston Foreshore



I did phone around to see if I could garner any support for the cider pressing but inevitably, everyone else was very busy too.



What am I Going to do With All This Fruit?



Call me crazy but when I set myself a target (even an optimistic one), I always try to attain it. So, with this in mind, my weekend actually started on Friday lunchtime; I borrowed the car and took my fruit picker to work.



Put Some In The Apple Store



During my lunch hour I gathered enough apples (from the Lost Orchard of Hedge End) to stock up my store and still had half a bucket load left over (about 10 Kgs) to supplement my cider making efforts.



Green/Yellow Apples from Hedge End



On Saturday morning, while my daughter danced, my son and I gathered a bucketload of apples from the big tree on Southampton Little Common. There is still a Huge amount of fruit left on this fabulous old tree.



Red/Yellow Knobbly Apples from Hedge End



Then, while my son swam, my daughter and I cropped another load from a lovely little tree covered in crunchy, deep-red eaters, from the foreshore near Woolston.



Red/Green Apples from Hedge End



Both of these were manic picking sessions, with only about half an hour to spare each time but together they produced about 40 Kgs – I estimated that we would need about 60 Kgs to make 5 Gallons of juice.



Green Apples from Hedge End



Saturday PM was the Apple Picknik # 3 - this will be reported separately here but I can say that we all had a great time and I took home over 10 Kgs, so I was still on target.



Red/Yellow Apples from Hedge End



During the Picknik, I also discovered the Lost Orchard of Mansbridge, which is another interesting story for the future.



Russety Apples from Hedge End



Saturday evening we went out for a well-deserved relaxing meal. By the time we walked home I realised how tired (and happy) I was from all my exertions and I slept very well.



Crunchy Red Eaters from Woolston