Today I drove by a sign that said "free apples" by the side of the road near my neighborhood here in town. I pulled over and picked up 4 huge bags of apples that had fallen from a tree. They were of all sizes, many small perfect for my juicer. I may go back and get more tomorrow. It is so cool here now I think they should keep in my garage.

any suggestions for keeping apples from rotting? it is about 40 at night and 60-70 during the days here.

anyway, I love to get good finds like this.

I'd figure out how many fresh apples you can use to feed your family, then use the rest to either make apple cider or apple sauce.

Mmmm.. I'd sure like to taste your melons, uuhh, apples, April.

14Orion, weren't you the one that started ‘the amazing shallowness of women’ thread? :D

Make hard cider April. There's a book called "The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible" how to do this stuff. You'll need basic beer brewing equipment, and corn sugar to increase the sugar content, as well as "turbo yeast" that survives in a higher alcohol content.

The basic gist of making homebrew of any kind is to sterilize a 5 gallon bucket that has a sealing lid with a hole in the top to put the airlock in. You boil the apple cider with about 2 pounds of corn sugar, then put it in the bucket, then pitch the yeast and stir with a long spoon that has been sterilized in an iodine solution. Use iodophor, NOT BLEACH.

The airlock should have an iodophor solution in it to. When it stops bubbling, you use the beer siphon thingy to siphon the cider into another bucket or carboy, leaving the sediment at the bottom that you don't want and makes the booze taste like shit. Add more corn sugar and repeat the process one more time. Done. Put it in bottles and let sit for a few months.

You need to hoard those "Grolsch" type beer bottles. YOu can buy them as is. You use them again and again. Even if you guys don't drink you can trade/sell with people who do.

You might investigate drying some of them.

http://www.eons.com/groups/topic/1077916-Drying-Fruit-Outdoors

14Orion, weren't you the one that started ‘the amazing shallowness of women’ thread? :D

Silly Aistulf, only women can be shallow.

My grandfather was a whiskey runner during prohibition and the owner of a bar. I guess if I made cider it could be returning to my roots.

Make applesauce and place in masons... Dried apples store well.

Hey, theres nothing shallow about Ms Gaede. ;)

Today I drove by a sign that said "free apples" by the side of the road near my neighborhood here in town. I pulled over and picked up 4 huge bags of apples that had fallen from a tree. They were of all sizes, many small perfect for my juicer. I may go back and get more tomorrow. It is so cool here now I think they should keep in my garage.

any suggestions for keeping apples from rotting? it is about 40 at night and 60-70 during the days here.

anyway, I love to get good finds like this.

Make an apple juice :)

I just made a bunch of apple juice. It is so good and tart. I am going to try to make hard cider too.

I just made a bunch of apple juice. It is so good and tart. I am going to try to make hard cider too.

Yes, apple juice is good old staff. Something a country girl would like for a change ;)

I just made a bunch of apple juice. It is so good and tart. I am going to try to make hard cider too.

:rolleyes: C'mon April, it's like it's not even a challenge.

:rolleyes: C'mon April, it's like it's not even a challenge.

dude you need to get a girlfriend.......lol

I think they used to bury apples in sawdust or something like that to keep them from spoiling during the winter. Maybe waxing them would help preserve them. I have washed off produce like lemons and potatoes with vinegar to keep them from going moldy, but I don't know if that would work with apples, since they spoil on the inside. I hear those "green bags" they advertise on TV do work.

Edit - the sawdust thing is obsolete. Some good hints here - http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/337582