Two clamshells on the ground, the one under the plum tree popped open probably at impact, empty, but the one under the mystery-variety apple tree intact.
But on opening the little box and looking a little closer, I saw the damage. Oh. And thought, it’s a toss-up whether that was the mockingbird that found one of the airholes in the plastic and went at it or a jay. The hole in the fruit isn’t too deep, but that beak had to get past the airspace between the tops of the apple and of the shell.
A crow couldn’t have fit in there. A mockingbird’s beak is too short. Scrub jay it is, then. Busted.
I cut up an unpecked apple and tried it with a sense of reverence that at long last, our first apple. Twenty-six years in this house and we finally get to find out what the rootstock-gr0wn-back one was all about. Drum roll!
And the verdict was: yeah, yeah, I know it’s underripe but that’s a really mealy lousy apple for eating. Isn’t the mealyness supposed to happen when they’re overripe?
But I put it in the microwave with a bit of water, zapped it about 75 seconds (it wasn’t very big), scraped the flesh out of the peel–and had me some really fine applesauce. Seriously good applesauce, given the nothingness I was expecting. A bit of zing to it, good texture, just right.
The mystery tree stays.
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Is it really soft but really tart? It looks like it might be a yellow transparent, they don’t get grown commercially because they’re so soft…they are Bill’s favorite because he had a tree growing up, we planted one, and they are not an eating apple but a cooking apple. They go from ripe to ruined fairly fast, just to warn you. They’re also ready early in the season compared to other varieties. Ask if anyone is familiar and come eyeball it, because a photo is not foolproof, but that’s what they look like to me. Dead ringers for ours. (Sometimes the applesauce goes pink in the jars waiting to be processed, if you take too long to have the batch ready–one year, one batch every pint jar was a slightly different color!
Comment by Marian 06.25.13 @ 11:55 pmLeave it to those stinkin’ birds to find a way! I hope the other critters don’t take notes.
Comment by Jody 06.26.13 @ 5:11 amWishing you a bounteous harvest. We just cut down the yellow transparent tree in our yard yesterday. But the Little Free Library is sitting proudly atop the crabapple stump.
Comment by Sherry in Idaho 06.26.13 @ 7:39 amWell! Good, easy, homemade applesauce is still a gift… hooray?
Comment by Channon 06.26.13 @ 9:12 amhmmm, homemade applesauce — as fresh as you’ll ever eat — sounds wonderful! (do the bottoms of these apples have 5 little bumpy spots? if so they might be golden delicious or a cross there of)
Comment by bev 06.26.13 @ 11:39 amI have canned quarts and quarts of apple sauce, and wished for quarts more come spring.
Comment by twinsetellen 06.26.13 @ 4:53 pmCould be a Lodi apple. My aunt had three trees loaded with them. She didn’t want them, my husband and I made jars and jars of applesauce, no sugar added. Worked very fast as the off-tree spoilage factor was high. Haven’t found any Lodi apples since then. The trees were cut down many years ago when my aunt moved from that house. Sigh.
Comment by Chery 06.27.13 @ 6:38 amYou can purchase Gravenstein apples locally in Sonoma County, CA. They are also available in many stores in Northern California. They are the very best apples for applesauce and pies!
Comment by Kris Stuart 06.27.13 @ 10:24 pmLeave a comment
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