COUNTRY APPLES

Mighty Mike says splitting wood makes him feel powerful.

Preserving the fruit trees here in the country is an ongoing interest for our family. We have elderberry bushes, an ancient pear tree left over from Grandma Ina's orchard, plum trees in the gully called "Stove Creek," raspberries we planted (and their relatives growing in the wild), and of course, old apple trees in bad need of renovation or removal. Today it's about apples.

Large apple tree on the Dickson/Senter place

Over at the Senter place where we've been cutting, splitting, stacking and loading wood, I discovered a large apple tree in the front yard. The tree is taller than any apple tree I've ever seen, though it has a little brother by its side that is rather like others in the area – low and broad. I surmise from its position in the yard and its general appearance that at one time it had good care. Perhaps it was purchased and deliberately planted, then sprayed and pruned, until at last it, too, was abandoned, just like those on neighboring land. I have no guess as to the variety. The other day I talked Mike into picking some of the apples for me – scabby as they were. We think the apples were still on the green side, but I made a pie and a batch of sauce. I thought both products were good.

There are six or eight old apple trees on our homestead. My dad didn't take care of our apple trees and didn't pick the apples. I have no idea how the apple trees came to be here. So every autumn I've wondered -- Can I use these country apples? Given that they are wormy and deteriorate as they ripen, can I pick them green and cook with them? When are apples ripe anyway? And what can I do to encourage these old trees?

Last year I asked advice of my sister, Harriet, who was a country wife – a genuine farmer's wife – for more than 50 years. She said her mother-in-law was interested in the country apple trees – those you find on a country road or in the yard of an old homestead or down in a gully. When they were out driving, Harriet would stop at this tree and that so that her mother-in-law could pick a sampling of apples. She would then make sauce with the apples, noting the location of the tree and the quality of the sauce.

Apples on the Senter tree

My mother loved the green transparent apple – an old variety becoming rather rare, as I understand it. The green transparent is an early variety – ripening in June or July – and very tart, strictly a cooking apple. Mother made her applesauce in a 6-quart aluminum pot, peeling and coring each and every apple. She insisted she could tell if the apples were cooked with their peels on. To her pot of sliced apples Mother added water "just until I see it coming up." She then simmered the apples, adding sugar – a lot of sugar -- near the end of cooking time. No cinnamon. She also made pies for the freezer to which she did add cinnamon. No allspice, though. She didn't like allspice.

Well, I was never really sold on that applesauce made with transparent apples -- had too much sugar, I thought . The sweet/tart flavor made my jaw ache. But – the appeal for me today is that the transparent is evidently becoming rare. And that's a quest – and you know how I love a good retro-quest. KW