Pruning Apple Trees

It is a bit late to prune apple trees, but the weather has been awful around here for a few weeks! It goes from rain to snow and back again. Not really awful, because this is great apple weather! Last year when we had this type of weather in our area there were so many apples and so many trees that went to waste!

This year the university about 30 minutes south of us has sent out the word that if people want to come and prune their trees in the spring, they can come back in the fall and pick the apples. We spent a few hours one day two weeks ago and we'll probably go back again next week. I know its a bit late to prune, but we didn't get the information until last week, and the university said they just wanted them pruned. Whenever we could get to it, they would be happy.

The pruning wasn't hard at all. We brought our own equipment and piled the branches for the university grounds crews to haul off and chip. Here's a great link on how to prune apple trees: The Weekend Gardener

Last year we had such a great time pressing apples into cider, that we are looking forward to it again this year. We've been saving 2-liter and 1/2 gallon plastic containers whenever we can! We sold so much last year, and could have sold more.

But the part about pressing cider that we are most looking forward to is all the neighbors gathering and visiting in our front yard while they watch us press the cider. There were so many people last year who asked us to do it again because they felt like it was a neighborhood party. They loved seeing people that they hadn't had a chance to visit with in a long while, and they loved the idea of helping a hard-working young man earn money to save for his future.