Old Gravenstein Apples
September 11, 2017
Up the hill near my vegetable garden stands an ornery, old apple tree, the only one I own. For years before I bought the property, it had been neglected until one day I stooped to pick up a withered apple near its trunk. Curiosity got the best of me. I cut off the “bad spots,” and took a bite. I was pleasantly surprised. Here was the taste of apples I remembered growing up, crisp, tart and juicy with a slight taste of honey. It looked like a yellow Delicious but it had red and yellow-orange stripes. At my local extension service, I was told that it was an old Gravenstein variety that has it origins in Denmark.
I got to work: pruned it, sprayed it, prayed over it, and hoped it would forgive the years of neglect and shower us with appreciative love in the form of a bushel of apples. No such luck for years. Until now! The tree is loaded with apples and I can only say it is truly a miracle. The tree is too high to get the best and ripest at the top but I am just waiting for the drops. They are good for pies and cobblers and crisps and baked apples and applesauce and and etc. They are not beauties to look but we all know that beauty lies beneath the skin and so does the taste.
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