7-7-11 Apples

Remember this from last year?

And this??????

For whatever reason (any ideas out there?) our trees only produce well on alternating years. Well, last year was obviously an ‘on’ apple year (see above pictures).

This year was NOT an apple year. We call it an ‘off’ year.

There were few blossoms, so we didn’t spray them. And they got hit by hail.  Thus, the few that did grow were pretty sad. And I do mean few.

That is IT!!!

Which is why last year we preserved well over 300 quarts, thankfully, because we knew this year would be an off year. We didn’t know how off though – usually we do get at least a few bushels.  Since we didn’t do any spraying, the Japanese beetles took care of the few bushels that started on the trees this year. And they REALLY damaged a few of our old trees. I’m on a rampage about that, but I’ll preach more on that later.

So anyway.

Thursday evening between pressure cookers, we went into town (some of us anyway) to pick Grandpa Steiner’s neighbor’s apples, because the neighbor didn’t want them and we did. It was the nastiest, buggiest tree I had ever seen, and if it weren’t for the wet tree and sluggish beetles due to the afternoon’s half-inch or so of rain, we would not have picked a single apple. As it was, the rain had water-logged the beetles so they didn’t do any of the dive-bombing buzzing-in-your-face sticking-to-clothes-and-hair that they normally do, and we endured to bring home a few apples to be sauced later.

But Oh My. That was quite the experience for Kate. She’s a trooper, I’ll tell you that. She climbed up in that tree and got the nicest apples and also got covered in beetles. Ok, not literally covered, but just as bad in my book. On her hair, inside her shirt, in her shoes, lots and lots and LOTS of beetles!!! And grinned the whole while! Thanks, Kate!!!

So this is a job for next week - - - -