Winter Apples

The late apples are large and juicy this year even though it was not a good apple crop overall.

All the spring rain kept bees from pollinating the soaked blossoms that fell as soon as they formed, but it seems that the later fruit that we refer to as winter apples seemed to have had a better chance of forming than the early varieties. The crop is still fairly sparse but the size of the apples are larger than normal.

These apples are the best after a frost or two condenses the sugar inside to clear pockets of sweetness in the flesh of the apple. Some refer to them as ice apples. They are good apples for fresh eating and make delicious pies and applesauce.

I will be harvesting this tree in a week or two and will fill the cooler with the crop, unless hard freezing speeds up the need to pick sooner.