As it turns out, we have a very prolific crab apple tree in our front yard. It has approximately one bazillion crab apples on it. That creates a challenging situation for folks like us who are busy with other homesteady things, but who hate to see any produce go to waste. So we did the only thing we could think of: we made a plan to use all bazillion crab apples. Most of them are still out on the tree, but at least we've got a plan. Plus, we've already filled the fridge with sauce and juice, and Katie says we have to clear that out before we pick any more.
We've laid out our plan below, in case anyone else reading this is in a similar situation and just needs a creative nudge. Hopefully we'll be able to report back over the next several weeks about successful experiments, so stay tuned!
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| The source. Loaded and really hard to mow under. |
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| The first five gallons worth. This didn't even get one branch out of the way for mowing. Yikes! It turns out they're just like regular apples, except crabbier. |
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| The sauce-making apparatus (aka, berry grinder), in case the strange-looking device in the next graphic is hard to decipher. |
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| ...And here she is: the master plan. Twelve ideas for what to do with all those crab apples. We posted about jam, pie filling, and liquid pectin earlier, but we're now revisiting some of those recipes with a 100% crab apple version. Also, preliminary tests suggest chickens like crab apples at any state of processing--from completely raw all the way to the screened-out leftovers. |
What do you do with your crab apples? Let us know in the comments below!
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