Picking apples is a difficult game to play. Too early and they can be inedible. Too late and they are left bruised on the ground with the wind laughing around you. For weeks now I have been gently twisting them on their stalks to see how much they are stubbornly holding on, knowing that they can just decide to give up in the time of only a few days. The other problem is that different trees are ripe at different times. One tree, who’s name we do not know, drops its apples in late August. I deliberately let the wind tell me when these are ready as it gives such a heavy crop. Once I see a mess of windfalls on the ground I decide that in one week I will strip the tree. These are the apples of crumbles, chutneys and frozen puree cubes to be dropped into cooking porridge on cold winter mornings. Some of these apples are simmering away in the cottage tonight in a tomato chutney. I could say that the place smells of spiced vinegar, but that is not quite the truth; it screams of vinegar. Monty Don’s book tells me that it must simmer for an hour. Our experience of getting a decent consistency with chutneys is to take whatever it says with a pinch of salt (or a tablespoon of salt). Double the time in the book, then add another hour.
Fork to Fork – By Monty and Sarah Don
It is to be windy soon. Tonight, after homework was completed, I passed out colanders* to the little people and we ventured out for the annual apple harvest. The little man inevitably gravitated to the bold red apples of the ‘Discovery’ tree looking like it was straight out of a child’s drawing. I headed for my favourite, the ‘Katy’ tree, with its small explosions of autumnal flavour.
*bugs fall through the holes.
The harvest from the Discovery was good, and this is a crucial tree. The apples are sweet and red with a white flesh that is marbled with red anthocyanins that have migrated from the skin. They look strange and taste fantastic if sliced thin with a drop of lemon juice placed on each slice. Hungry from a long day of school, the little man and the little lady will quickly disappear a plate of these slices if it is placed in front of them. Sometimes I have to take my hand away quick if I am to keep my fingers. Unfortunately the third hungry person, the littlest man, just looks at me and shakes his head; not a fan of apples.
this teacher's life 