Malus

Out in the forest it's been a very good year for Crab Apples (Malus sylvestris) many of the trees are hanging with fruit. 

Crab Apples

It looks like a good season for Crab Apples (Malus sylvestris), many of the forest's compact shrubby trees are festooned with small green and red fruits. The small apples are bitter to say the least, although that doesn't rule them out as a wild food resource; most commonly they're made into jelly to be served with pork, or roasted also to be served with meats; they're also a good source of pectin so a great addition to jams. The bark and wood are none too shabby either, the bark for creating a yellow dye and the wood is very good for turning. Though the tree and it's fruits are most valuable to the forest's wildlife; the flowers are a boon for pollinating insects, the leafs provide food for caterpillars, especially those of moths; and all manner of birds and woodland mammals enjoy the tart fruits. All round it's quite the forest provider.

Crabby

The boughs of the forests Crab Apple trees (Malus sylvestris) are hanging low with nice sized fruits throughout Red Rise Shade. Hardy buggers the forest crab apples, you'll still see fruits hanging on right through the winter months. Fingers crossed, I'm hoping to makes some vodka based crab apple liqueur, come fall. I've not made it before, though it's pretty much the same as making sloe gin/vodka by all accounts, which is straight forward enough.

Crabby

The forest's Crab Apple Trees (Malus sylvestris) are festooned with small fruits, like over zealously decorated Christmas trees. It looks like it's going to be a good year for crab apples. Thing is what to do with them? I know there are things you 'can' do with them, jelly for instance, it's just they're so damn tart, and with even the smallest bite is capable of extracting all the moister from your mouth, should you. I used to think no, Crab Apple jelly was as far as I'd go, good, though with limited application. Then I discovered there was more to Crab Apples than just jelly. You can also do a Crab Apple gin/vodka style thing with them, make tiny toffee apples, pie filling, fruit leather and syrup from them. I read you can even pickle them! Well, that's opened up a whole world of possibilities, man, bring forth the appleocalypse. 

Crab Apples

It's been a good year so far for some fruits. Some of the Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris) trees in the forest are well laden. These fruits can vary widely in size and hue, though if you intend to use the fruit for jelly or some such, you could do worse than a tree like this whose fruits were of a very good size. So much so that I wondered if this example, not too far from habitation, was a hybridized example.  It's that time of year now when thoughts turn to harvesting and preserving nature wild and cultivated bounty, and this year could be a good one.

Fruit on the bough

I've noticed there are still quite a few clumps and isolated apple on several of the Crab Apple Trees (Malus sylvestris).  Not in bad condition either, remaining firm and still juicy. I tried one, still tart, though I feel winters chill has tamed them some and you'd find uses for them. A good wild resource, especially at this barren time of year for foraging.

Crabbies

The apple trees over the common may have failed this year, and the cooker in next doors garden has produced but a few fruits, but many of the forests Crab Apples (Malus sylvestris) are heavy with apples. I'll have see what can be done with them, beyond crab apple sauce. 

Crab Apples

Wherever you walk in the forest where Crab Apple (Malus) trees abound, you'll see that they've all but a few fallen and are now covering the ground under increasingly naked trees. Like so many of the other forest fruits and nuts, it's been a good year for Crab Apples, earlier many of the shrubby trees looked like over enthusiastically decorated Christmas trees decked with hundreds of small green baubles.  So, it's your last chance to gather a few up to make Crab Apple Jelly or such like. It's been easy, with the good weather up to late, to forget how far through the year we are. It's only ten days to Samhain! Soon Shamansburys (a Mighty Boosh reference there) will close, and all but a few of the forests bounties will be spent, you've got to make the most of them whilst they're there.