Guess what's cooking?

[wildwose]

The weather is crisp and the there is a serious bite in the air. The leaves are passed the glorious stage and moving on to leather brown and rich golds. And the apple tree is finally all harvested.

Comments

[sestree]

mmmmmmm lovely. I miss the apple harvests. The smell of apples in the house .... delightful.

[wilhelmina_d]

This is sooooo cool! Himself & I will be planting an orchard that includes apples on our new property and, in the back of my mind, there really was this "can we actually do this?" Knowing that you guys do this sort of thing makes me feel much more confident that, even though I'm a complete n00b, real honest-to-goodness people I know have done it before. :)

Also, GORGEOUS pictures!

[wildwose]

Just to clarify, we didn't plant that tree, it was here when we moved in. However, I have planted several orchards and seen several to a harvest, which is usually 3-5 years from planting depending on the type of tree, age at planting, etc. Its a long wait for a special harvest but worth it. It takes alot of knowledge to properly care for fruiting trees, more than any a vegetable garden, mostly in pruning properly and identification of diseases and pest, but once you do the maintenance its sit back and watch 'em ripen time. Don't be afraid, its hard work, but you CAN learn from books and doing. When I teach Organic Gardening, which I have done in several settings both privately and publicly, I recommend the best general intro book out there, Lets Get Growing: A Dirt Under the Nails Primer, by Crow Miller. It looks and reads like a middle school text book, which is what I love about it. After years of experience in commercial operations I still use these as a reference

[wilhelmina_d]

Thank you for the book recommendation and the congratulations!

[posiefairy]

mmmmmmmm applesauce! lucky ducks having a fruit tree in your yard!

[fegie]

Those apples are a lovely color. :)

[anonymous]

I smell those apples cooking. Warm applesauce and
graham crackers. Oh yes. MOM