There are two large apple trees down by the river, just by the house. We picked from them last year and turned the fruits into chutney and jam, some of which we gave away to the neighbours at Christmas, and some of which we’re still eating ourselves.
Right now they’re fruiting again, so I took a bag down to them last night, and picked what I could from the low branches. Very frustrating. I got a good haul, but the best fruits were just out of reach, and a lot of the others that were in range were hanging over nettles (and I was wearing shorts).
Even so, I got enough to provide the base ingredient of several pots of jam or (this year’s plan) to turn into cider. The trouble is, there seems to be almost as many ways of making cider as there are cider brands in the shops and I’m having difficulty working out which is the easiest, and which will make the best brew. Clearly some more research is called for, but ideally I want to try using a blender to extract the initial juices rather than a press if I can.
Late summer is great for foraging. There is so much free food in the hedgerows that you can quickly gather more than you could ever need. That’s against the spirit of foraging, of course, so although I’ll be heading back to the tree wearing long trousers, it’s only because I don’t yet have enough to half-fill my fermenters. The rest, I’ll be leaving on the tree for someone else.
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Hi Blagger,
Just looking at your cider brew. Maybe you just want to make cider, but, if you’re looking for a stronger drink, why not make some apple wine? I’ve done it several times in the past and with the amount of fruit you picked you could have doubled your volume and ABV simply by adding water. Loads of recipes on the ‘Net.
Best wishes,
B