Picking

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So I've been spending a lot of time picking/processing apples and crabapples the past few weeks.

The apples came via Fruitshare and involved picking after a sudden shower, which is why these apples (and all of me) were so wet. We picked approximately 90 pounds of fruit off this tree, the majority of which were smallish and green.

It was fun using my new telescoping picking tool (oooh!) from Lee Valley to reach the apples on the highest branches. And the folks at Resource Assistance for Youth (RAY), were super pleased to receive their share of the fruit...

They're not the best eating apples, so I've been making lots of dried apple rings...

I also picked my M-i-L's crabapples, which were both rosy and plentiful. It's a goddamn pain to cut them up, so I mostly make lazy pink applesauce out of them, which involves cooking the crabapples down and then straining out the cores and seeds.

I was also gifted with a double handful of rhubarb stalks, a bag full of cucumbers and tomatoes, and two jars of jam: pincherry and grape. Which is so very nice...

I'm hoping to get a Goodland apple pick over the next few weeks, even so that we can have a bowl of juicy apples on the counter. I also wouldn't mind picking some chokecherries or plums or pears...

PEARS!