Along the western wall of the Garden of Rambunctiousness grows our espalliered 6-N-1 apple tree. It only began bearing fruit on 2 of its 6 limbs over the last 2 years and it’s still trying to teach me the best time for optimal harvesting.

So for now, I employ my tomato & peach ripeness test to the fruit. To do this, I give the apple a quarter twist of the stem. If it drops off, I figure it’s ripe. If not, I leave it for another time. I know I’ve left a few of the Fujis on a bit too long by using this method but the Galas have come out wonderfully crisp, slightly sweet and counterbalanced with just a touch of tanginess.

As you can see in the picture to the right, they’re definitely on the small side but they make the perfect snack and I eat them simply out of hand while wandering about, pulling weeds, throwing snails over the fence and inspecting the rest of the dew splattered garden first thing in the morning.

Posted on Wednesday, October 5th, 2005 at 12:45 am . Filed under Growing.
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