Free Apples... En Serio?

(Glorious Apples)

One of the great things about having neighbors, family, and friends with fruit trees and/or a large garden is most of the time they have so much abundance they are begging you to come over to help them out. This was the case we experienced lately. Free apples that have never been sprayed (basically "organic")??? We were over there in a heartbeat!

(Check out that smile... ear to ear)

(Here's the provider)

(Lots of them on the ground)

The apples that didn't get picked in time were all over the ground. Good for animals (Don + Aggie give them to their horses) and also good for compost.

We picked approximately 60 lbs of apples and there was tons more waiting to be picked. Generally in NYC the cheapest non-sprayed apples we find are $1.50- $2.00/lb. So we just got $100 worth of apples for free. Crazy!

(Just as good)

What's really crazy is that most of the time apples are sprayed (chemicals) for bugs, worms, etc. We know this is unnecessary, because there are many apple farmers who do not spray. These apples are not perfect looking. They have little dimples and some are oddly shaped but they are just as good as others.

We gave some away, have been juicing them, and also making apple sauce (simply blend up the apples), which I was using in place of sugar in my zucchini breads.

What benefits! Plant a fruit tree. :)