In the Garden

Too Many Apples!!
2011 was a banner year for raspberries and apples. Our three little trees in the mini-orchard produced over 500 apples, and because of favorable weather conditions and a whole slew of new baby chickens, the crop was particularly robust and disease/pest free. We have three varieties on our trees, one resembles a Granny Smith in both color and taste, another would seem to be a cousin of the Gala, but due to either soil conditions or atmospheric influences, this apple is slightly more tart than a standard Gala. And finally we grow a small red, creamy fleshed apple that is best suited to eating fresh straight off the tree.
So with our baskets and buckets of apples this year we did the most logical thing- we made pie. There were a string of weekends throughout September and October when the kitchen was covered in flour dust and we were cranking out pie after pie assembly line style. A particular favorite around the dining table, when all was said and done, was a traditional French style apple tart that incorporated a layer of crème fraiche in the filling. Please see the “In The Kitchen” (link) page for the recipe.
Our neighbor ended up filling 5 large Rubbermaid bins with windfall apples to feed to her turkeys. So there was apple feasting by all of the creatures on the hill. Next year we’d like to find a used cider press and try our hand at making apple cider. If anyone has a used press to sell, let us know!