This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Monday 13 October 2014

Autumn Apple Picking

Pictured: apples picked at the Apple Event.
My own home grown apple harvest this year  was 3 apples (just 3). 

But not to worry, County Armagh in Northern Ireland is known for growing apples and this year seemed a good year for apples (except for mine)! One of the National Trust Properties, Ardress House, has an apple orchard and at the weekend they had an all things apple event - apple picking, pressing, apple pie, apple cider, etc. 
Above: Apple trees as far as the eye could see!
Many trees full of apples ready to eat!
The apple event was a great day out and its lovely to come back home with apples much larger and less perfectly shaped than the shops offer. Unfortunately there was no signage to tell what variety of apples were available. There seemed to be several different varieties and I seemed to pick what look like cooking apples. Looks like I've a few apple pies to make this week to start using my apples!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

6 comments:

  1. I'm guessing that the apples don't come free. They look lovely - did they let you in to their secret.

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    1. They asked for £3 and you could pick quite a large bag full. Much better price than grocery stores, and much fresher.

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  2. Wouldn't it be nice to have as many apples as you wanted - in your own garden? I like green apples better than the shiny red ones (which I find are often mushy). I bought a few the other day at Daylesford Farm in the Cotswolds, and they were excellent. So fresh, crisp and juicy - unlike most of the ones you can buy, which have normally been stored for ages.

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  3. A lovely basket of apples - enjoy your apple pies.

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  4. Apples fresh from the tree are the best. We have picked the best of apples from our tree. I think they are Delicious. Still a bit green, they should keep. I was surprised that many of them were worm free, so hail damaged, but the tree was loaded, so we were able to pick the best ones. You know what they say, An Apple a Day.

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  5. We managed just five apples from four trees, maybe we can do better next year.

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