Oh, what might have been! All the lost potential. All the apples that never will be. One of the most emotionally difficult parts of having an apple tree comes in early summer: The Thinning Of The Apples. This time of year, our tree's branches are covered in tiny apples. Apples-to-be. But, alas, the problem is that there are just too many.
You are supposed to go out and pick of any obvious duds or runts or diseased applets - which is not too hard. In fact, a lot of those apples practically commit hari-kari and jump off the branches as soon as you touch them. But then you are also supposed to remove perfectly great looking future-apples. Apples do better if they aren't crowded together: fewer pests, and larger more robust fruits. So, if there are 3-4 mini apples all in a bunch, you're suppose to leave just one. This is very hard if you are a greedy fruit lover like me!! I sometimes can't do it and leave two.
Snoopy wants one too.
Dottie contemplating her treat. Dottie is a very contemplative eater.
Can you see Stevie's little pink tongue licking on her mini-apple? She is so cute.
So, in spite of myself, I've been a good girl and thinned the tree... and I'll hope for a good crop of big healthy apples come autumn time. Ours are a pretty late apple, so I won't be eating these goodies until some time in October. Until then, I'll just leave our tree to work its magic!
Ha! We are doing the exact same in the orchard at work. It feels so counterintuitive. But our farm doggies love the little rejected apples.
ReplyDeleteaw Dottie is such a sweetheart:)
ReplyDeleteyeah, she really is!
DeleteThis is like me thinning my lettuce seeds! I can't bear to cut their little lives short even though I know I'm actually helping the others thrive by giving them more space and nutrients.
ReplyDeleteAre the mini apples not good to eat?
ha ha - we're all so sweet. we even love plants too much!
DeleteHoly cow. That's a LOT of apples! I feel your pain. I even hate to pull the suckers off tomato plants.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do with your applets? Could you make homemade pectin and can same? Or will they just be composted?
I put them into the yard waste bin, and they get composted by the county. It's a good enough system. It never occurred to me to try to make anything with them!!! ???
DeleteHahaha, my Irish setter used to do that. We had 4 trees so we used a big laundry basket to clear the windfalls and discards - she'd sidle up, sniff sneakily and then when she didn't think we were watching she'd take one. It used to take her the rest of the day to nibble and play with it!
ReplyDeleteyeah! that's what they do! :) hee hee
Deleteaww your dogs are so cute and happy!
ReplyDelete:) doggie love!
DeleteHow cute!!
ReplyDeletewww.veganmiam.com
I love that you wrote about this dilemma. I, too, find it painful, sad!, to thin out fruit/veggies, and there must be many others--you spoke to our plant-loving condition.
ReplyDeleteDottie, and Stevie, are adorable. (Do they actually eat the apples, or just chew on/play with them?).
Thanks.
I know. It's quite endearing that all us vegans can't stand to thin our fruits and veggies. I loved hearing that I'm not the only one!
Deleteoops, didn't mean to leave out Snoopy...also adorable.
ReplyDelete