Product of the month (September 2024)

Apple times

Now the apple trees are full of lovely fruits and you walk there and wonder when it's time to pick them. The lovely colors of the apples attract the eye, and don't you think of all the good things you can use them for?

Apples and history

In the Nordic countries, apples are mentioned for the first time in Snorri Sturlasson's Edda, which was compiled around 1220. Many of the Nordic apple varieties are very old and were often grown at the medieval monasteries. In the 1500s, apple wine was produced in the Nordic countries, in the monasteries there was apple juice and applesauce, which was festive food in bourgeois circles. However, farmers and the homeless were for a long time uninterested in apples because until the 1700s it was considered that fruit was harmful to the stomach.

When are the apples ripe for picking?

A rule of thumb is usually that the storable autumn and winter apples are picked when they smell of apple and come off easily.

Smell, feel and taste your apples. For example, the variety 'Aroma' is usually ripe from September onwards, you can pick a little at a time for a week or so. Then you have to taste your way to when they are ripe for eating, because it is not quite the same as ripe ones.

Take care when picking and storing so that there is no damage to the apples, handle them as carefully as if they were eggs. Store only the completely undamaged apples, and wrap each apple in newspaper so they don't press against each other. Then put the apples in paper boxes or styrofoam boxes and store in a cool place, 3-5 degrees is ideal, slightly damp and dark. 

Fallen fruit cannot be used for storage, but it can be used to make pies, apple cakes, applesauce, jam or jelly. Feel free to also dry apple rings, you can nibble on them as candy. A large apple surplus can become good apple juice at some juice factory.

In the old days, anyone who had too many apples would simply put out bags or boxes at the gate and a note that said Please! Maybe something to take after if you don't have huge amounts?

Also save some apples for the blackbird, for example, the birds will be happy to get some apples later in the winter. For the birds, it doesn't matter if they are a little offended.