How to Store Apples

I'm still using the cooking apples we picked from our orchard back in September 2007, but I'm now down to a final basket.  We have been enjoying apple sauce with pork, apple crumble and apple tart for the last six months.  I have to admit that I was a bit cynical when I first read about apples keeping fresh all winter, but I have a memory from my childhood that spurred me on to try it out ... I was playing at my great Aunts and I found a stack of boxes in an empty stable. Inside the boxes were layers of red apples. I remember being amazed when it dawned on me that these were her own apples that I'd so often eaten from her orchard, yet it was the middle of winter, and there they were all sitting perfectly ... and still delicious!!!

There really isn't much to it. All you need is a dry cardboard box and a collection of cardboard fruit packaging trays.  Both these things are available free of charge at our local Supervalue supermarket ... an excellent example of  reuse, 'one mans waste is another mans gold'.

Collect your apples from the orchard, both from the branches and windfalls on the ground. Only store the ones whose skins are totally unblemished because the slightest bruising or break in the apple skin will quickly cause the apple, and all those beside it to rot. Make sure no apples are touching each other. Stack several layers in each cardboard box and store them in a cool dry place. Check through your stash every three weeks or so and remove any apples that are showing signs of bruising. This is a good time to bring a basket full indoors, otherwise its easy to forget about

When you are reading up on what varieties of apple trees to plant around your garden make sure you get a good book. The information on each variety should include details on whether or not it stores well. You don't need a vast area to enjoy home grown apples either. As a child my parents grew two beautiful apple trees flat against our city garden wall, a technique known as espalier.

Comments

[Lucy @ Smallest Smallholding]

As far as apple trees go we only have one lone wild /crab apple tree that managed to almost snap in half last year with it's bumper crop (it was a good year for apples wasn't it?).

Crab apples obviously aren't really for eating like your brambleys or golden delicious, however I still intend on storing them later on this year as they're rich in pectin, which is great for jellies and jams. So this mongrel of a tree does have it's uses. And of course I leave a load of the fallen apples out for the blackbirds to feast on over the late autumn and winter. The rest go into the compost heap and either get eaten by little critters or just rot down.

[Lucy @ Smallest Smallholding]

Sorry, 'Bramley'...I carnt Spel!

[Lizz]

Lovley, thank you.

[Christina]

Gosh I didn't know apples would stay fresh so long either! Apple crumble mmm... love it and so easy to make.

[Tammie]

After reading you post, I promptly called our local market to speak with the produce guy. I have them saving me 20-30 of those trays.
Thank you for the great tip!

[Sew Recycled!]

I am in a dilema - I want to have a couple of apple trees but not sure where to plant them. Do I plant them on the allotment where I wont get to see them out of my window (and its somewhere we might not have for ever.) Or in the garden, which I can see out of the window, but like allotment, we might move if our dream of being in the countryside comes true.I guess planting in the garden would allow future owners to appreciate the fruit...mmmmm

[Maddy]

I've spent the past few weeks looking at apple trees to plant in our garden. With the onset of autumn here they will soon be available bare rooted in the nursery. Do you have a favourite?

I'm going to put two apple trees in and will get the soil ready with lots of digging and composting. I've even read that under planting with lemon balm, fennel, rosemary, lavender, sorrel and wild garlic as companion plants can ward off unwanted bugs.

Were your trees established or have you planted them?

[Zia Meadows]

This is great-I spent last september peeling my way through 20 basket of apples when we moved into my new house, and froze it all as apple sauce for a fat free cake recipe, at least this year there won't be so much pressure!