A Scrumper's Tale

[Richard]

Ok - so I was in Fairweathers in Beaulieu yesterday buying a pressie for my son's birthday and my eye was drawn to a bargain...a fruit picker device (see pic) - a mere £3.99

Aha I thought, just what I need. Our apple tree has delivered tons (well very nearly) of fruit this year. Most falls to the ground and then we have a race with our dogs to see who can clear it up first! I won't go into details but apples don't stay inside dogs very long....one a day is ok but 9 or 10 can get quite messy!

So this device would easily allow me to get the fruit off the tree before it falls thus allowing me to use it. I had an old extending aluminium thing that used to allow a hose to be connected to it so that you could wash conservatory roofs etc. It had long since sprung various leaks so was ripe for recycling.

After a little DIY bodging on my part I fixed the picker to the pole and tried it out. It worked a treat and I soon found myself developing a nifty technique. Occasionally the intended fruit springs off the tree requiring catching skills of a Paul Collingwood standard (for those who don't know him he's a gifted England cricketer with a series of remarkable catches to his name). In 15 minutes this is what I had gathered....

Enthused by the fruits of my labours (alright alright - could you do better?) I thought I'd venture further afield. My neighbour has a tree still laden with eating apples and he was delighted that I wanted to come and pick some.

Now his apples were a different kettle of fish - there were so many and some were quite defiant of my attempts to pick them. I confess that it became a bit of a sport akin to fishing. Some would surrender quickly while others leapt away. And some fought back! Within a few minutes I had been hit on the head several times and one caught me a severe blow to my left cheekbone which is bruising up nicely (rather like the apple itself as it happens). Now I've never been one for excessive Health and Safety stuff but I have now developed the Acme Apple Pickers Kit...(see right)

I now have so many apples that I have ordered a press and a Pulpmaster (yes really!) from a great site that have some good offers at the moment and I've been checking out how to pasteurise the juice.....follow this link to a nice little blog about this from the Carbon Descent Food series.

Here's what I collected in around 45 minutes....as you can see the vultures (or in this case Juno and Guinevere) started circling as soon as I put the buckets down. And we still import 90% of the fruit we eat in the UK - absolutely crazy!!

[Yvonne Bishop-Weston Nutrition]

Hi Richard
Tony out and about, any chance he could pick up your press?
Thanks
Yvonne

[Richard]

Hello Tony & Stephen - I've got through the mounds of apples now so if either of you want to borrow the press and pulpmaster thingy you'd be very welcome. I have a gallon of cider bubbling away, a few litres frozen and have just pasteurised six wine bottles full. So I will test how all that goes over the winter and will be ready to get much better use from the tree in our garden. We must have composted a couple of hundred pounds of fruit this year!

[Richard]

Hi Tony and Stephen - Press is still in full use here at the mo. A friend and I picked over 100lbs of bramleys from one tree yesterday - beautifully juicy - I have been getting over 4 pints of juice per press! So don't know when the kit will be available. Some thoughts on presses - the one I have is a cross-beam model and I think it has advantages over the spindle sort. With a cross beam nothing touches the apple pulp, you just screw down the plate. With spindles the threaded spindle sits in the pulp permanently so if you grease it this will contaminate the juice. You also don't need blocks of wood with a cross beam. And the stainless steel construction is definitely easier to clean than wood. Sound like a real expert now - I'm not but maybe these musings may be of help!

[Tony Bishop-Weston]

Hmmm - looks like there is a queue - We may have to invest in a press - fancy one of those wooden ones...

[Richard]

Hi Stephen - my press is an 11litre model. I get around 3 pints of juice from each pressing. I'd be happy for you to borrow it in a few days time - I keep getting offers of more apples locally and just can't pass up the opportunity! Will let you know when I have had enough!! Have just put a gallon of juice from our own tree into a demi-john - will now wait and see......

[Stephen Chapman]

Hi Richard, what size press did you go for? Useful to see it "in the flesh" in your photos to get an idea of the sort of size it is. Keep us posted on progress - we have a bumper of apples from ~5 different varieties in the garden and I wouldn't mind having a go. We donated to a collective cider making effort last year, but have heard nothing back and rumours suggest the finished article wasnt particulalry drinkable! But I'd still like to have a go and see if I can do any better ....

[Richard]

Here's a pic of the new press...works v well now that I have the hang of it. Got a gallon of wonderful juice from three loads.... Will let you know when I have finished with it Yvonne - your red bramleys look lush!

[Yvonne Bishop-Weston Nutrition]

Thanks Richard top tip Bargain! Picker was very usefull! We seem to have a bumber crop of (RED!) Bramleys this year can we please borrow your super duper new apple press?