Not sure if I am being a bit too fussy now with my compost but what's your opinion on composting apples (obviously the fallers that I can't use). I ask because I have over a hundred or so and I was thinking if they had 5/6 seeds per apple that would be 600 apple trees trying to grow over my veg patch? Am I being daft?
simhop
Use em, I say. It's not that easy to germinate apple seeds, they will be killed anyway if the compost temp goes up where it should. If they germinate, pull them out.
Make cider -and put the filtered result on the compost. ;D
Make apple juice and put the leftover pulp onto the compost. Apples that look too bruised for eating are okay to juice, just cut out the bits that are badly bruised, unless they're completely rotten. We have put apples (including the seeds) into our compost for the past 5 years and have never had an apple tree grow from the compost we make.
Excellent - thanks for help - on they go.
hic??
Was watching the 'apples of my eye' last night - ABBA!! = Tim
oooooooooo good one Simhop. As I was gathering all th emouldy ones up today, I managed to fill a couple of buckets full and bunged them on my compost heap and then though....ooeer...should I be doing this! Well, I did and am glad tis an okay thing to do!
It is to be hoped you can compost them, we have been putting apple cores and peelings on the heaps for over 30 years, only problem is that wasps love them too.
By the way we have just put over 200lbs (no idea what that is in kilos) at least into store for Winter use. And there are still 4 well filled trees waiting to become ripe.
Don't you just love harvesting?
Tim - ABBA arae quite popular over here as well!!!!
EJ - Glad you thought the same, I was hoping it wasn't one of those questions everyone thought "Doesn't he even know that?"
Palustris - 200lb is roughly 90 kg which is a hell of a lot of apples. Anyway how do you store them, I have some vague recolloection of my Mum and Dad indivdually wrapping them in newspaper but it sounds lika a bit too much hard work for 200lb?
The apples are stored in the boxes which Supermarkets use for their apples. We get them with the plastic inserts from our local one. The apples are thus kept separate and do not need wrapping. The boxes are then stored in a frost free shed. Main problem is mice who like a nice Winter fruit dessert as much as we do. The apples ripen slowly over the Winter and last till about the end of February, usually. Then they go on the compost heap! ;D
We put ours on wire 'bakers' trays' in the cellar. Stand them on plastic pots to keep the mice at bay. I reckon the Bramleys do better than February. But this year there are only 40lb or so of keepers, & Sunset & Discovery are only just starting to colour.
That's the difference a 650' hill makes? = Tim
Never heard of February Tim...Are they nice?!
heheheh Andy! ;D
I would love to have good enough apples to store some as I am picking them by the crate load but most of them have blemishes on their skins. However, I suppose these would keep for a few weeks in the shed????
Depends on what the blemish is, if it is only on the skin then the apples will keep no trouble. If it is inthe flesh then the fruit will not keep as long, but even so they usually last for a few weeks, except when bruised to start with. Hope this is clear.
Tis clear. Some have, well, the only way I can describe them is uneven scabby like marks, but the flesh feels firm so I don't think they are bruised. I shall oik the best ones out and wrap them in paper and put on a tray in the shed and see how they get on. Thank goodness the free rag gets shoved through the door tomorrow!
Just to be difficult - don't like wrapping. You can't keep an eye on them.
And - this is just me - I do think they like 'airflow'. = Tim
I don't think I will be storing my 12 apples for very long...
Oh well they are only young trees!
:D
Ten x
We got 3 apples,1 lime and 1 of those silly horrible tiny orange things that look like they are made of marzipan...
Slice of apple pie, a G&T with a twist of lime and a touch of marmalade for tea then Andy!
I managed to sort through my crate full and at least three quarters of the apples are okay and I am going to try and store them in the shed in something...who knows what though! The carrier bag full of bruised or broken skinned ones are going to go into cakes and pies and crumbles and cakes and pies and crumbles! :-\
Why not puree some to accompany a nice roast pork :P yum!
or stew lightly and freeze for later use of crumbles etc..
I have lost my apple & pear supplier - as sister who had one of each has moved house !!
... she could have waited until after Autumn... ;D ;D ;D
Debs
Just before everyone either wraps and stores their apples or composts them.....here's an alternative way of using them only in a savoury dish.
Not sure what it's called but it's a main course - seem to think I found it on the following site:
www.recipezaar.com - which seems to be primarily for fruit recipes.
for 2 people you need:-
2 Pork chops trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon of mango chutney
1 granny smith apple (possibly more) peeled, cored & thinly sliced
2 oz. seriously strong cheese - grated
Heat grill to high
grill chops for 4 minutes on both sides
spread one side of chop with chutney, top with sliced apples &
grill for further 2 minutes
sprinkle with cheese & return to grill for further 4/5 minutes or
until cheese has melted & is golden brown & bubbly
serve with salad & new potatoes
This is just scrummy :P - have done it but it doesn't use many apples :(
Don't forget to leave some windfalls out for/ chuck out some stored fruit later for the birds
Blacbirds especially love them
Dave
After working at an orchard that pressed apples for juice/cider over here, and having to remove the pulp promptly due to the attentions of wasps (yellowjackets), is having rotting apples lying around not a concern in the U.K.?
Can't say I saw a Yellowjacket in the UK or here in Sweden. As far as I am concerned the harvesting of apples coincides here with the start of the cold spell so practically all wasps are dead now anyway. though I do have a few more flies round the compost bin now. It's far enough away from the house so no problem.
Not many wasps about anyway the last year or two in this bit of the uk (Cheshire) anyway.
We do have extra mosquitoes this time around, it seems to me, or maybe my flavour is improving with age
dave
Bl**dy wasps everywhere on my plot in drizzly Essex at the moment, and picking apples up from the ground is a dangerous job! I was stung on my back a month or so back whilst under the apple tree. The wasps adore my compost heap now it is filling up with rotting apples and other green kitchen waste!