Getting the garden ready for winter

[thistlebloom]

I think your clients might freak out a little if you were barefoot......

But he could distract them with beautiful apples!

 

[Nyboy]

I got some apples this fall, they looked like they grew in a nuclear test ground

 

[ninnymary]

Apples are everywhere around here. Just going through streets in town you will see apples all over the ground. I am going to talk to somebody about these apples. It is a Pixie Crunch. It matured in 3 years and had a few apples. I bought a Sundance pollinator, which was recommended. They are both 8 years old now. The Sundance started producing a few apples last year. On the property across the alley there is a crab apple and I am wondering if it is effecting the taste of the Pixie Crunch. The Pixie has flowers before the Sundance, so I do not see how it can be a pollinator. I will pay more attention next year. I just did not have time to think or pay attention to things. I know some people with chickens and hogs, so I will either eat them myself or give away next year. When DH was in the hospital I offered several people to come to the garden and pick all they wanted of tomatoes and things and not one person wanted to. I asked at church who wanted squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and one said she would take green beans. LOL. Nobody wanted squash. I picked tomatoes, squash, peppers, cucumbers and DELIVERED to people.

Sadly, most people want you to hand them to them. If someone told me to pick all I wanted, I'm afraid I would take everything. It's not that I'm greedy but I know I would eat it.

Mary

 

[baymule]

I agree Mary. I hate seeing fruit fall to the ground and go to waste.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I have been putting rabbit manure and bedding on the garden. Cleaned the hutch and gave them some straw. It is supposed to be getting colder and maybe snow. I have leaves raked in piles, but still more to rake. I got a Gurney's catalog in the mail. I don't think I picked a good place for the asparagus and my Whopper strawberries are so crowded. These 2 things I am going to have to really do some planning and preparing where to put them.

 

[ducks4you]

I've found the flavor of the apples are affected by how much or how little the tree is fed. After applying some good horse manure, cow manure and chicken manure to our orchard a few years back, some of the trees that have pretty tasteless fruit had a great new flavor. Then this past year I didn't get a chance to fertilize and they are back to bland...so bland they are the only trees that the squirrels didn't pick clean. Even the squirrels think they taste bad.

@Beekissed said what I was gonna say. I have two Montmorency cherry trees right next to each other. The 1 year younger tree is taller and has grown more than the other one, though they are both healthy. My red (not sure what kind) apple tree is just to the west of them and this year the apples were puny and the leaves fell early. The ONLY difference between the 3 trees is that the full cherry tree has a horse "deposit" spot at the drip line right next the fence. I have started to empty used stall bedding at the drip line of the other trees to let the Fall rains leach it into the soil and the roots of both trees.
Fall is an excellent time to do this bc it takes some time for the manure/urine to break down and be usable for next year.
Also, I have made apples into juice by cleaning them, cutting into 4 pieces and cooking down in water with cinnamon and allspice:
MAKE APPLE CIDER
Directions

1. Place apples in a large stockpot and add enough water cover by at least 2 inches. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, and allspice. Bring to a boil. Boil, uncovered, for 1 hour. ...
2. Strain apple mixture though a fine mesh sieve. Discard solids. Drain cider again though a cheesecloth lined sieve. Refrigerate until cold."

except I heat up the juice and hot water bath it. I have quite a bit of it and really, really do plan on make alcoholic cider this winter. I halfway suspect the fermentation has already begun in my jars, ha, ha!
Remember, too, to collect cardboard and smother any weed areas with it. Next weekend I intend to do this at DD's back yard, that has some perennials that we planted in it, but got out of control this year. I collected paving stones, some that were broken and we will make pathways in it, too for 2018.
WhatEVER you do, pat yourself on the back and simply enjoy the exercise.

 

[ducks4you]

I agree Mary. I hate seeing fruit fall to the ground and go to waste.

My horses are REALLLLLY good at cleaning up the dropped apples. They have their own GD apple tree, ya know, as a result of a new fenceline from new fencing in 2008. They say, "Doesn't every horse have his/her own tree?!?"