Apologies if this has been asked numerous times, I recently took an interest in gardening this year 🤣
Anyone know what kind of apples these could be? Friends have said they’re cooking apples, just wondering if they’re safe to eat/compost. Trying to keep a C/N balance of between 50:50 and 70:30, bin absolutely heaving with worms so do not want to upset the balance with hundreds of apples. (Browns not an issue as I have access to plenty of cardboard etc).
The tree in question fruits extremely heavy year on year whilst I’ve lived here. It’s as tall as a UK semi-detached house, and having 2 of its main branches sawn from the trunk seem to have boosted the amount of apples somehow. Seems a waste to bin the apples, but I’m at a loss on how to use them. Ive picked up well in excess of 500 windfall apples (somehow) so far this summer, and I want to put them to use. (None so far have been ripe when checked)
Sorry for the amount of text, and thank-you in advance
by pat_frick
9 Comments
The scientific name of the tree is green apples 😉
Sorry, dont know.
If they dont taste good, you cant really use them. Perhaps you could make cider and distill into strong spirit.
My neighbour made Apple juice from similar fruit and it tasted crap.
I get like a ton of Apples each year. I dont want to eat all that so i compost 90% or so. Yeah, it probably upset the worms if adding alot, but whenever i turn old Apples in the compost the worms seems to enjoy it alot, so i guess its a matter of time. I just add a bucket or more (like a wheelbarrow) on a daily basis during the season, now probably about a bucket per week.
Yes they are both safe to eat and safe to compost (assuming you’ve got enough browns).
For apples like this that aren’t good hand apples, I like to process them into apple butter! Takes a bunch of apples and makes a nice, much smaller batch of apple butter that you can freeze and use throughout the year.
I’ve got 11 apple/pear trees. I don’t want to overwhelm my kitchen scraps and yard clippings pile, so I have a couple piles that are exclusively apple/pears and wood chips.Â
They break down just fine. If the apples aren’t buried in chips or compost, it isn’t fun to walk by once wasps come out in Fall.Â
I compost my apples every year. I have an absolutely massive tree that drops hundreds. I’m adding a wheelbarrow or 2 full a week at the moment. That will increase to a barrow every other day at peak apple time. Doesn’t negatively affect my compost.
I don’t even chop them small. Just chuck them whole. I don’t turn my compost over winter and by spring there’s not much trace of apples left. I find a few whole mushy ones in the outer edges of the pile, but most will have disappeared.
Look into processing them into applesauce or apple butter! Apples make a great introduction to canning because they’re acidic enough to preserve themselves without any extra ingredients.
I have a crabapple tree that makes small, tart apples. Once they’re red, I process them with a food mill attachment for a stand mixer and make apple butter. After that you can them in a hot water bath.
Is it super cost effective? Well… maybe not. But it’s fun and tasty.
Great for composting if your end up doing that, the critters and worms really enjoy an apple however make sure your ratio is low (browns to apples) as apples are quite dense in both water and sugar
Fruits have lots of water so the compost can be too wet. I chop them up with a shovel so they break down faster. I also get lots of black soldier fly larvae that eats the fruits.
Awesome for composting, Just slice them open with the shovel so the critters can break them down faster. Make sure you have a good amount of browns and I’d recommend sawdust to coat them and bury them in. Make sure to put some metal grating on the compost so bigger critters won’t raid your pile and make a mess of your yard.
I made Apfelmus Yesterday! Just cut off all the parts you don’t want to eat (trunks, seeds), put the apples in a pot with a little water and boil until it’s all mushy. I had like 7 liters of apples and just ~300 milliliters water. In the end mix in a little honey/sugar and put in sterile glasses, close tightly when hot and it’ll stay good at least till the next season. If you don’t over sugar it, it’ll taste good with savoury food too like pork or liver. On the other hand you can mix in spices like cardamom, cinnamon or vanilla. That’s pretty nice on yoghurt and porridge.