Please excuse me if this comes out somewhat more garbled than normal – but WordPress have updated the editor and I am more than a little rusty without any changes on top.
I’m sure I’ll have the hang of it before long – but in the meantime – say hello to ‘Katy’ one of our apple trees planted as a kind of hedge-cum-orchard in the tiny front garden of our cottage. I’ve been able to admire the apple crop developing on the trees as like a lot of people I’ve been spending more time than usual in and around home than I normally do at this time of year.
Katy, or more accurately Katja, isn’t actually an old English variety – it was bred in Sweden in 1947. But being a cross between James Grieve and Worcester Pearmain I am more than willing to overlook the Swedish angle as the tree crops prolifically and the medium sized bright red apples taste refreshingly crisp and sweet straight from the tree in early September.
I took the photo a couple of weeks ago – just before an early gale brought down most of the apples. Way too many to eat before they spoil.
So I wonder where I should store all the apples?
I know – I’ll put them in a bottle!
Katy makes a very nice single variety cider – as do a lot of apple varieties. Though it’ll be a while yet before I find out whether mine is acceptable or not. There are varieties which are so sharp (acid) or bitter (tannin) in taste that they aren’t a lot of use for anything except making cider – often known as cider apples – but that doesn’t mean that a lot of well known dessert or cooking varieties won’t also make a nice drop of cider… or two.
I’ll drink to that……more in a while when I’ve finished pressing the apples, but for now….
….cheers
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