Apples to apples

We have a huge apple tree in our backyard. When we first moved in, our neighbours informed us that it produced more apples than you can ever possibly dream of. We were excited - a huge apple tree right in our backyard meant apple pie, apple crumble, apple muffins, apple sauce, apple butter...


We waited...

And we waited...

And we waited...

By September we finally had to admit that the apples just weren't coming.

This year, the tree blossomed in spring. The hundreds of big pink flowers could only mean one thing: apples!

Apparently our apple tree is a biennial tree, so it only produces apples every other year. And oh by george, it does, in fact, produce more apples than you can ever possibly dream of.

We pick up apples every day. Every. Single. Day. Despite our efforts, our backyard can be seen regularly sporting this look:


You can smell the apples as soon as you walk out the back door. In a country that is mostly devoid of seasons (Cold And Damp and Colder And Damper are the two season here), it's nice to have such an autumnal smell in our backyard. I've brought bowlfuls of apples into the house just because they smell so good.


They're baking apples, so they're very tart and are rather unpleasant to eat raw. We've made a couple of apple pies, but I'm somehow finding myself short on time (what with the school and the kids and the moving and the work and all), so the crumbles, sauces and butters have yet to come to fruition. And since we're moving and won't be able to bring it with us, I'm not feeling terribly motivated to break out my mad cooking/baking skills.

But fear not! The apples will not go to waste! Eric has conspired with two of our friends; they're going to make cider. Apparently there's a place close by that will press your apples if you have a minimum amount. I think we should have no trouble meeting the minimum. So last weekend Eric put Rhys to work.


A child wandering barefoot through the backyard collecting apples - now who could she possibly belong to? She and Eric managed to collect enough to fill a trash can, a black trash bag and whatever empty planters we could find.


And our backyard is still covered. And the tree is still full. Does anyone have an automatic apple peeler I can borrow?!?

Happy Autumn!