Several years ago I planted an apple tree on our Northern Minnesota property. I planted a Haralson apple tree as it is one of the few apples trees that can survive the climate this far north. It is a full size tree, not one of those dwarf trees. It’s about 20 feet tall. The Haralson apple was introduced by the Minnesota Horticulture Research Center in 1922 and was named after Charles Haralson, a superintendent of the U of M breeding farm.
The tree has survived, sometimes struggling and sometimes flourishing. One time a few years ago a bear broke off a large branch leaving a significant wound in the tree trunk and in another year the leader stem mysteriously broke off but the tree continues to survive. It produces heavily one year and then lightly the next as is normal.
This year we got a bumper crop of bright red apples. We had a long cool wet spring and a long warm fall. Both are important to apple production in this climate. And, this is the year the tree would have heavy production.
So, now the question is what to do with all the apples. Of course we will just store a lot of them. They store fairly well. In addition there will be apple sauce, apple pies, apple crisp and whatever else I can find to make with apples. What ideas do you have for using the apples? Right now I am drying apple slices. They make great snacks.
Check out my on-line garage sale at Sirocco’s Curios. You never know what interesting you might find.
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