crabapples

[zxcvbob]

I went to my favorite crabapple tree today; the only Dolgo that I've found in the whole city. It's along the driveway to the water department treatment plant. Some idiot pruned it.

Looks like they sent a teenager out there with a chainsaw and told him to cut off all the branches he could reach and just leave the trunk. Everything below about 6' was cut. I'm pretty tall, so I was able to pick maybe a gallon before it started raining. If they hadn't pruned it, I could have filled a 5 gallon bucket in the same time.

Not sure whether to go back out tomorrow with a stepladder or not. There's not a whole lot of fruit on it.

There are crabapple trees planted everywhere around here, but this is the only one that actually bears fruit worth picking. The rest are mostly pea-sized, hard, and flavorless.

-Bob

[Mimi]

OMG, that is such a shame...glad you were able to get some though...

[zxcvbob]

Thanks. I juiced these tonight and I think I got just enough to make one batch of jelly if I use Certo. (I could just add sugar and boil it down, but that wouldn't yield very much.) I got about 6 or 7 cups of juice but it's watered-down a bit from the steam juicer. I'll boil that down to 5 cups to get it back to full strength then make the jelly.

One batch of jelly is easily a year supply, it just doesn't give me any extra to give away :-( I guess I can make plum or apricot jam for that...

-Bob

[Brooklyn1]

You can plant your own crabapple tree(s). You'd also get a lot more and much superior fruit from a tree planted in good soil rather than surrounded by pavement, that you water, fertilize, prune, and tend to yourself.

[JessicaB]

That is too bad, I'm sorry! My parents have issues with their neighbors taking all their apples without asking and it's frustrating as well.

[Dave Balderstone]

I put a sign on the lawn inviting people to pick and eat our apples...

[jacobs_citw150]

That is so sad!