Apple care

There's been a phenomenal fruit set on my apple tree - a combination of early warmth at the right time for pollinators followed by plenty of rain means June drop hasn't really happened here this year. I thinned these recently alongside dozens more and removed a couple of others with brown rot (see next photo). I think there might be more of that to come this year, so I'll be keeping an eye out and keep my fingers crossed it doesn't take a more determined hold. 

As you can see from the photo below I picked lots of fruit of a good weight and I pondered over on Insta whether I could make an early batch of apple jelly from thinned or June drop apples when they're of such a reasonable size. My garden books and internet search gave me conflicting advice: on the one hand 'it's OK', and on the other 'oooh you shouldn't do that as there's a  risk of illness from a fungus which isn't destroyed by cooking.' Hmmm.

I'm so glad I posed that question as my friend Karen saw my post and tagged jam making royalty, 'Pam the Jam' aka Pam Corbin, whose Preserves book is the one I turn to whenever it's jam making time. And she answered the question! She said:

"You can use immature green apples to make an excellent pectin stock. I imagine you’ll find enough without using those with brown rot. If your tree is truly loaded then simply pick a few by lightly twisting the apple to remove." The next link takes you through to Pam's Insta post which tells you what to do and how to use the stock, then this one shows a beautiful photo of the jar of pectin stock she made recently. Thanks Pam, and also Karen for making the virtual introduction 😊

I'm so pleased this early bounty can be used, and I see pectin stock is perfect for preserving low pectin fruit such as figs and strawberries. I have an enormous crop of figs just beginning to ripen right now 😋