Well, the deer only murdered two of our fruit trees this year.
Sometimes they strip all the leaves; other times they break so many
branches that the trees cannot recover. Nonetheless, we finally have
some fruit this year in our small "orchard". My husband snickers when I
call it that. But some of the trees are definitely maturing despite the
local plague of fat, malicious ruminants.

Many of the tree tags have long since disappeared so we're not really
sure what we have anymore (heh), having lost and replaced so many. But
one of the apples, that sure looks like a Fuji, is just laden with
beautiful fruit. We need to get out the pruning books in the fall as
it's been awhile since we've done that. There are two more, smaller
apple trees. I'm hoping one of them is a surviving Honey Crisp but who
knows. The deer seem especially attracted to crab apples and have
killed three of them now so we may have to give that up.

But having seen so many apples on the Fuji, I'm starting to wonder what
to do with them all. Of course I'll use a great many of them fresh off
the tree. But there will be plenty for preserving. None of us like
apple butter so I'm thinking applesauce, maybe apple pie filling,
conserves or chutney. I was wondering what those of you who have a lot
of apples find to be the best ways of preserving them. (and, of course,
I will search the RFP archives too)

Our little peaches have been mobbed by the cursed japanese beetles so
I'm not sure how many of them we'll end up having. The plum trees (God
only knows what kind they are) are also bearing, one of them quite
decently despite the darn beetles. At least one appears to be a Santa
Rosa type. None are damsons but we'll be planting one of those and a
mirabelle come fall. Plum jam is a favorite here. There is also a plum
BBQ sauce I happened upon we're anxious to preserve as well.

We did harvest our first little crop of Montmorency cherries--- not
quite enough for even a small batch of preserves. We ate them plain and
with vanilla ice cream (awesome). My husband had two standard
Montmorencies in his backyard when he was a boy. He said he ate them
until he got sick (lol) and sold them up and down the street each year,
from his red wagon, so everyone in the neighborhood could make cherry
pies. And his mother canned many quarts of them as well. So he was so
happy to finally have a few on our own tree.

Happy preserving!

Izzy
--
"The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time
with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Dry them, :-) They keep well, make good snacks, and can be
reconstituted to make pies, or apple sauce or anything else that you
would use fresh apples in. And its one of the easiest way to preserve
apples-- just peel, core, slice and put on the dehydrator trays until dry.
Connie TC

But having seen so many apples on the Fuji, I'm starting to wonder what
to do with them all. Of course I'll use a great many of them fresh off
the tree. But there will be plenty for preserving. None of us like
apple butter so I'm thinking applesauce, maybe apple pie filling,
conserves or chutney. I was wondering what those of you who have a lot
of apples find to be the best ways of preserving them. (and, of course,
I will search the RFP archives too)

"Isabella Woodhouse" wrote in message
...

Well, the deer only murdered two of our fruit trees this year.

Your preserving the wrong thing. Get thee a smoker and put
up a mess of venison jerky. Tasty, tasty stuff!

Ted

In article ,
"Ted Mittelstaedt" wrote:

"Isabella Woodhouse" wrote in message
...

Well, the deer only murdered two of our fruit trees this year.

Your preserving the wrong thing. Get thee a smoker and put
up a mess of venison jerky. Tasty, tasty stuff!

Ted

Our neighbor across the street saw a herd of 14 of them at the pond the
other day. I'd need one heck of a big smoker.

Izzy
--
"The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time
with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson