Apples to Applesauce...

Many of the old neighbourhoods in Vancouver have fruit trees that are often not harvested.
This lovely apple tree is in the yard of one of my friends, and they were too busy this year to pick them. I was very happy when she invited me to come harvest them, in exchange for a portion of the harvest.

I brought a few friends, and we used a tool called a apple picker. The tree is relatively small, and it was loaded, so it didn't take long for us to harvest quite a bit.

We got three bags. We divided them up between the owner and the pickers.

At home, and three weeks later (you got to love apples for their lasting qualities) I started to process them into applesauce. First washing them, then coring, and peeling the ones whose skins had lots of blemishes. I have been enjoying leaving most of the peel on the apples when making applesauce, its easier, and it gives the applesauce a heartier texture.

Putting the pots of apple chunks on the stove, I cook them down until they are juicy, soft and very steamy. I also added some sugar and lemon (less than a cup of each) to raise the acid to help ensure that they last longer in the cans.

After the apples are cooked and boiled, then I puree them with my blender. Hot puree bubbles too dangerously, and I have been burned before, so, now I make sure to cook them down first and then puree. Notice how much the apples did cook down, the two pots of apple chunks made one pot of apple sauce.

And into the jars and through the water bath canner they go. It was funny, usually you follow a recipe for a dozen jars and end up with 8 or 16 jars, here I followed no recipe, and ended up with exactly one dozen.

Are there trees in your yard that you can share with eager foragers? 

Or are you eager and want to harvest some of the wasted fruit in your town?

Check it out, there are programs connecting these two all over the world, and they always need new fruit and new pickers. 

In Vancouver -https://vancouverfruittree.com/

In Calgary- http://calgaryharvest.com/

In Toronto- http://www.notfarfromthetree.org/

In Montreal-http://lesfruitsdefendus.wordpress.com/

The first time we used the applesauce was with Latkes, made with our garden potatoes. So, virtually a free meal. Cool.

Latkes

1/2 lb grated potatoes

1 egg

spinkling of flour

oil

Oil a cast iron pan and heat on med. Mix the grated potato with the egg and flour, and form into patties on the pan. Fry until cooked inside and browning slightly on the outside.

Enjoy!

Apple Fest at UBC

Every Fall the UBC botanical Gardens hosts the Apple Fest, a celebration of the hundreds of different varieties of apples, the people who grow them, and the people who eat them.

There were many different trees on hand for sale, but the botanical garden also had some beautiful specimens planted around the paths, this one is part of an espaliered "wall" around the vegetable garden.

There were also many apple experts around to answer questions, with lectures and demonstrations on many subjects. I attended this speech on grafting, which is when you fuse a branch of a desired type of tree onto the trunk of an existing tree. I learned that if you grow apples from seed, you have only a 1 in 20000 chance of the apples from your new tree being nice and edible. So almost all apple trees are branches from proven edible varieties grafted onto compatible, existing root stock (like local crabapples trees, or perhaps a dwarf apple tree, if you lack a lot of space.) 

The most incredible thing about the apple fest was the tasting tent, where they had dozens of different types of apples to try...

...along with the histories of those apples and friendly volunteers to slice them up so we could taste them. Just look at some of these varieties.

And the absolute winner, in my eyes, for being the most distinct and lasting with its impression...

If you ever get a chance, GO! to this festival, but get there early, or you may miss out on the tasting. 

UBC AppleFest