Sunday 22 September 2019

A Bumper Apple Harvest

I've started harvesting the apples from my little tree and to say I'm delighted with the haul it's produced this year would be an understatement. Don't they look delicious, all rosy red.


I bought this little tree back in March 2012. My mum and dad had given us some money for our 20th wedding anniversary back in 2010 and we'd been contemplating what to spend it on. We decided on a dwarf apple tree for the garden and after looking in the local nursery, decided that this Gloster variety fitted the bill. It was really just a twig when we bought it.


It's filled out nicely throughout the following seven years and now produces a decent crop to say it's such a small tree. Here you can see what's left on it after the first bowlful was removed.


A couple of years later we added a dwarf Golden Delicious tree to the garden. Unfortunately, this has never performed well since we've had it. The apples look more akin to crab apples rather than eating apples.


Even though I don't grow so many vegetables these days, it's still nice to have fruit trees and bushes in the garden which produce a crop each year without having to put too much work in. Once they become established, they tend to look after themselves.

38 comments:

  1. Those apples look great Jo! I'm not one for eating much fruit I have to say, although instead of the bushes at the top of our garden I wish the previous owners had planted fruit trees. Hope they tasted as good as they look.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love having fruit trees and bushes in the garden, even for ornamental purposes. The blossom is beautiful in spring and there's plenty of interest throughout summer as the fruit develops. That's not to mention the tasty goodies once they're ready.

      Delete
  2. How splendid, what a haul. You cab't beat an Apple, they are so versatile. The red ones look so beautiful on the tree. 🍎🍏

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think red apples are so attractive. It's been lovely watching them hanging from the tree all summer and now they're ready to be enjoyed.

      Delete
  3. Your apples look absolutely delicious! And no nasty chemicals or wax on the skin like shop bought ones. Best, Jane x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's one of the great things about home grown fruit and veg, no chemicals and no air miles, just fruit and veg packed with plenty of taste.

      Delete
  4. We can't keep up with our apples this year! Just made a pie crust for an apple pie to enjoy this evening. Your Gloster apples look delicious, love the red colour.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yum, I love apple pie and apple crumble. I think this is the best haul I've had from this little tree, it's certainly been a good year.

      Delete
  5. A good crop of apples is a lovely sight at this time of year. X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is, I'm very pleased with this year's harvest.

      Delete
  6. How fun to eat apples you have grown yourself. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think growing your own definitely encourages you to eat more fruit and veg, aside from the fact that home grown always tastes better than shop bought.

      Delete
  7. I love my fruit harvest when it comes, not got any trees, but I have been looking at a plum tree.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've got a dwarf plum tree, it produced a lot of plums this year but most of them had maggots in them. I need to look into what to do about that ready for next year.

      Delete
  8. What a great crop of apples! I am looking forward to the day we can pick our own apples, we have planted one tree and have another two that are ready to go out in the garden somewhere over the autumn/winter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It won't be long until you're picking your own apples, it doesn't take long until they're producing. It's a wonderful thing to grow your own fruit and veg.

      Delete
  9. Wow - I'm am SO envious of all those apples! We had zero fruit tree harvests this year (still uncertain as to why - perhaps there was a late frost I was unaware of?). Apples are such a great crop - delicious and you can enjoy them over an extended period as many store for at least a couple of months.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's such a shame. It does sound as though the frost got to the blossom if none of the trees produced anything. I'm really thrilled with my apples this year, my dad was pleased too when I took him some round to enjoy.

      Delete
  10. Delightful!!!!! Just think of all the apple pies, and cakes, and crisps, and etc. For hardly any work. :-)

    Another blogger has the problem, of birds pecking their apples. So they had to make a "cage" around and above them! So they can get their fruit, without the birds doing so! :-)

    Fresh apples! Says Autumn!

    🍁🍂🎃🍂🍁

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the versatility of apples, there's so many things you can do with them. The birds had most of my blueberry crop this year, though I didn't really mind, I enjoyed watching them pecking away and enjoying them.

      Delete
  11. It certainly has been a good apple year. Our pears have had a bumper year too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seems that most fruit has done well this year, the conditions must have been just what they required.

      Delete
    2. Oh, that's a shame. Still, the gardening gods won't let us have it all our own way, they need to keep us on our toes!

      Delete
  12. What a great crop, the vibrant colour of them is a feast for the eyes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They do look very attractive, especially hanging from the tree.

      Delete
  13. Those red apples look good, and I'm sure taste great as well. Shame about the other one. I eat an apple most days and if I had room would certainly grow a couple of dwarf trees. xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dwarf trees are great when there isn't much room, they can be squeezed into the smallest space or even grown in a container, though I must say that my trees have performed much better in the ground.

      Delete
  14. A good harvest! Those apples look very good Jo …

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm very pleased with them. We don't eat all that many apples usually so these will keep us going for a while.

      Delete
  15. Those apples look delicious, I rather like the way the trees fan across saving space, like your toms lovely to pick from you own garden xcx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These trees are real space savers. They're grown on dwarf root stock so they stay small, and I planted them by the fence which has encouraged their branches to spread out rather than grow in the more traditional rounded shape.

      Delete
  16. What a bumper harvest, shame about the golden delicious, maybe they'll get bigger as the tree matures.xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Golden Delicious seems to get plenty of apples on it but they don't grow very well. I may have a go at removing some of the fruit next year and see if that makes a difference.

      Delete
  17. They do look delicious. I've often pondered getting a few small trees but we have deer roaming around and they do like to nibble at the bark. I read about growing small fruit trees in pots so that might be an option.
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All my little trees (I have four) started out in pots but they didn't do very well, that's why I ended up having to find space for them in the garden. Perhaps they just needed more care than I game them whilst they were residing in their containers.

      Delete