For years we noticed them. Bright red apples hanging off a tree in our neighbourhood long after the fall storms had stripped off all the leaves. It’s scraggly branches hung low and apples littered the neighbour’s driveway. So after seeing these apples fall to the ground year after year, we approached the resident of the house along who’s fence the tree stood. They assured us that they were harvesting every one of them and didn’t need our help.
So we approached their neighbour, who’s driveway was littered with the apples falling from the overhanging mess of branches. Sure, they said. Go ahead and help yourself to our side. Since then we have been harvesting apples every year. We also prune the branches to help the tree stay healthy and clean the fallen fruit from the driveway. Finally we take all the branches and fallen apples to our town lot farm for chipping and composting.
In 2025 we harvested about 145 pounds of apples. Half of which had worm damage so we pealed and cut them up for drying in our dehydrator. We only dry them until they are chewy, about 24 hours. Then we pack them in mason jars and place them in the fridge overnight with the lids off. The next morning we reach in and firmly place the cold lids on the cold jars to lock in the cold dry air of the fridge.
When we take them out and let them return to room temperature, the relative humidity inside the jars plummets and so the apples keep like this for literally years. We did a total of 12 batches which should keep us in dried apples all winter. Of course we shared some with the folks who were gracious enough to let us care for the apple branches over their driveway.