Ripening green apples?

[Felice Friese]

I have 4 small apple trees from Stark (2 colonnades and 2 "other") that are finally, this year, bearing apples in abundance. The squirrels usually get them before they are ripe, and I wonder if instead of netting the trees I can pick the apples while they are green and ripen them inside away from the creatures. Any suggestions? If not, is there anything I can do with green ones? Last year I made a pomander of one, but dozens of pomanders would mean a fortune in whole cloves and two wrecked thumbs.

I don't really care for apples all that much, but my husband planted them before he died and I feel obligated to care for them on his behalf!

Felice

[sherwindu]

Hi Felice, Your name sounds familiar, but I can't recall where I saw your husband's name. Maybe it was from NAFEX. Any ways, picking unripened apples will give you a fruit which is lacking the usual sugars that sweeten an apple. Only pears can be picked this way and ripen well off the tree. We use netting and trapping of squirrels on our apple trees. You can effectively stop them climbing up the trees if you put an inverted 'cone collar' around the trunks. If there are nearby high structures, they will simply jump onto the trees from there. A dog or cat might help. No suggestions for processing the green apples, as texture also becomes a problem with unrippened fruit.

Sherw> I have 4 small apple trees from Stark (2 colonnades and 2 "other") that are

[Travis]

Squirrels never bother my apples.

[Felice Friese]

Thanks, Sherwin. I just thought it might be worth a try. There are nearby "high structures" (taller trees) so I guess I can't keep the squirrels away.

Felice

[Felice Friese]

How about we swap squirrels?

Felice on Cape Cod

[G Henslee]

Contact Dog Kanter. I hear he's wanting to relocate.

[Travis]

OK.

[sherwindu]

Probably because you folks in Washington make lots of squirrel fritters.