An Apple Harvest

A couple of years ago, I posted about our apple tree which my son grew from the seeds of an apple that he had eaten.  Each fall I keep an eye on the tree hoping for a good harvest.  To my delight, this year I have had just that.  The other afternoon I went out to the tree and started picking, and filled up an entire large basket, as well as part of a plastic bag.  Now to many of you apple harvesters out there, this might not seem like many, but to me it was a lot.  To actually be able to go out to my own tree, pull up a ladder, and pick more than a dozen or so apples was such a treat. 

After picking the apples, I immediately went inside and started making a pie with them.  And of course the pie was to be for my son, now grown up, that planted those little seeds so many years ago.  He came over for dinner and I was so happy to be able to serve him a pie out of his very own apples.  We all took a bite, and to my disappointment the pie really wasn't very good.  The apples were still quite firm, and there just wasn't  much of the good juiciness that usually comes along with an apple pie.  The problem was that I have no idea what kind of apples they are; because really, who would keep track of the type of apple when your 7 year old son wants to eat an apple and plant the seeds to grow his very own tree.  And who really expects that the tree will someday actually grow and bear fruit.  But I'm not giving up, I have enough apples to experiment with them, and plan on trying another pie by cooking the apples first (which I have a recipe that calls for just that), and there is always applesauce. 

A New Friend

I have a new little friend.  He is a squirrel that sometimes makes his little presence known around our front yard.  I don't see him very often; but occasionally when I go outside to sit in the sunshine, I will hear him scampering through the tree above me.  One afternoon after hearing him scurry around the branches, I decided I should befriend him by leaving him little treats.  So each morning (well I really try to remember each morning, but some days I do forget) I place 6 unsalted peanuts in various spots amongst the branches of his tree.   He found them in short order, and they were all gone without even one little shell left behind.  I think at first he must have thought it very unusual to find peanuts growing from a maple tree, and so he took them all home to add to his winter stash.  But now, he sees that those peanuts just keep appearing, and sometimes I see a couple of empty peanut shells on the grass where he has decided it will be okay just to taste one before he takes the rest home.  He will not allow me to take a photo of him just yet, but maybe some day.  I need to give him a name, any suggestions?