Shaftesbury’s free summer harvest you didn’t already know, Shaftesbury is now an Orchard Town. It’s fruit and nut harvesting time, and Shaftesbury Town Council, supported by Shaftesbury Tree Group and the Sustainable Shaftesbury Advisory Committee, want everyone to take free advantage of the fruit and nuts on our doorstep to boost our health and wellbeing.
This year there’s an abundance of apples and pears. When fruit is hanging on a branch you can tell if it’s ready by cradling it in your palm and lifting slightly. Don’t pull or apply force. If ripe, the apple or pear will come away in your hand. If not, leave for another day then try again. Harvest carefully. Pears, especially, bruise easily.
So, what to do with nature’s bounty (aside from eating raw off the tree)? Here’s a couple of easy options for putting surplus apples to good use, from Our Man In Ludwell;
Sweet Dried Apple Slices
(Any apples will do)
- Take your sharpest knife and cut a whole apple crossways into the thinnest slices you can.
- Dry these on a rack on the log burner, in a warm oven or string them up somewhere warm.
The key is to dry them quickly before they go mouldy.
Drying concentrates the flavour and if stored in an airtight jar they’ll last for years.
Quick & Tasty Microwaved Apple
- Core but don’t peel an apple.
- Place in a suitable microwavable covered bowl.
- Half fill the hole left by the core with sultanas.
- Microwave for a few minutes.
- Serve with cream.
If no microwave then an air-fryer or oven will do, it just takes longer.
Next time: look out for details of top quality, nursery grown apple trees which will be available this winter. They’ll all be on a dwarfing rootstock which means they’re ideal for planting in a garden. Next month we’ll share notes of what they are and how to get one.
We want: your recipes using fruit for a Shaftesbury Orchard Town cookbook. Contact us with your culinary favourites via Planet Shaftesbury planetshaftesbury@gmail.com
Heads-up: Apple Day at the Donkey Field Community Orchard, Church Hill, Enmore Green, is on Sunday October 19th from 2-5pm. More news on this, and an exciting concert performed by the Palladwr Choir, to follow.
See our Shaftesbury Orchard Town page for more information.