Harvesting and Drying Apples Along the Coast

It’s been too cool along the coast this summer to do much gardening. I’ve been sitting around watching the powdery mildew cover my zucchini leaves and my green tomatoes languish on the vine. The quail eat seeds faster than I can  get them in the ground so I’ve decided to do something with the ripening apples before the squirrels eat them all.

Husband Don is mainly in charge of the apple trees. He prunes them each winter, thins the apples each spring, and picks them for me. He promises me that next year he will be more diligent with thinning, leaving only one per cluster, so that the apples we get, are larger. The first apples we are harvesting are small. But they are sweet and flavorful.

The apple tree we always harvest first is the one that old timers around here call ‘Beverly Hills’. This particular tree was planted in the 50’s-60’s making it “really old” in apple tree years. The ‘Beverly Hills’ apple is a “low chill” tree, requiring only a few hundred chill hours under 45 degrees. It does well in Cambria and when folks discovered them 50 years ago, many of them were planted in gardens here.

After picking a few five-gallon buckets full, we set up our handy-dandy apple peeler, slicer, and corer. I’ve worn out several over the years. It does save time, and is a kitchen gadget that earns its keep. I’ve gotten down my dehydrator from the attic. I usually keep it busy this time of year so will just leave it in the laundry room for a while. This is the second dehydrator I’ve had. It has a fan that really speeds up the drying time. My old dryer did not have a fan so it took days to dry apples. This one is much faster taking about 24 hours to do the trick.

We peeled the apples using a peeler. I put the slices in water and “Fruit Fresh” to keep them from turning brown, then spread them evenly on the rack. When I got all 8 racks full, I turned on the dehydrator.

We eat these dried apples year around. They’re great for taking on trips. They keep in the pantry and do not have to be refrigerated. I keep some in the car for emergencies. I once managed a school district on a remote Indian ranchera along the Sonoma Coast. I’ve never gotten over the fear that my car might break down, or worse yet, go over an embankment, and I wouldn’t be found for days. So I got in the habit of keeping dried apples in the glove compartment. Now my most remote driving takes place along Hwy. 1 from Cambria to San Obispo! Should you see me broken down along the road, you’ll probably find me happily awaiting a tow truck, eating my dried apples and enjoying the ocean view!

.

.