Comments on: Pippin season: hunting wild apples.

By: Herbwifemama

Herbwifemama — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:09:18 +0000

OOooh! We found a stand of wild apples.Right next to some old railroad tracks (the tracks are no longer there, and they’re covered with grass- I bet someone tossed an apple core out the window on the train once.) That explains why I couldn’t figure out what kind of apple it was. There’s a green apple tree, and three red/green streaked apple trees. Kind of tart, kind of sweet. We picked a bucketful in about 5 mins and didn’t even make a DENT in the tree. And then we took a friend, and she picked a bucketful for her family, and STILL didn’t make a dent! (And we snacked on wild grapes while we were at it.) I’m about out of apples, so I’m planning on going back soon (but not today, as it’s a steady gentle rain here). I made apple pie and apple butter. And there’s a tree by the highway that I see whenever we drive by, and it kills me that I can’t get to it!

By: hank

hank — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:10:17 +0000

Nothing wrong with hard cider! If you find some of these trees the cider will be FAR better than if you use eating apples — there is significantly more malic acid in cider apples, which ferments out into a mellower, more mouth-filling drink than if you used Grannys or some such…

By: The Herbwife's Boyfriend

The Herbwife's Boyfriend — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:26:59 +0000

Yes, we are keen on the pippin cider. If only wild grapes made such good wine! We grow the wild grapes well here, but the good wine doesn’t start growing until a couple hours east, down in Virginia. Virginia wine, though, is so much better than California wine, six days a week, that I am determined not to be jealous of your backyard-Zinfandel. And if that rings a little hollow, remember that I am three thousand miles closer to France than you! Ha!

By: crabappleherbs

crabappleherbs — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:11:00 +0000

Herbwifemama: Sounds glorious! There are so many things to be done with apples. I think I’m going to make some apple habanero sauce later today.

Hank: Yes, indeed, pippins are perfect for hard cider. We’re scheming to do a bunch this year…

Boyfriend: Settle down, now. Settle down.

By: LB

LB — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:16:32 +0000

Va wine is pretty good, actually!
If it weren’t for the price I would pick it over Cali wine most of the time.
That is a subjective thing,though.
Also, You guys have any muscadines? They make the most ridiculously delicious juice.
We’re heading down to Bristol this coming weekend and they always have some for sale.
yum!

By: crabappleherbs

crabappleherbs — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:25:18 +0000

No muscadines around here that I’ve found, though I heard a rumor someone has a vine in their yard. Last year we did find some scuppernongs at the Blacksburg farmers’ market — big as tomatoes, and so good!

(And yeah, we’ve really liked some VA wine, too — Cab Franc especially. Kind of out of our price range most of the time, though.)

By: hank

hank — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:12:05 +0000

I used to live in Fredericksburg, so I am well aware of Virginia wine. It can be better than California wine, but it can also be truly wretched. That’s the price you pay for an Eastern climate. Just like France, you have epic years and nasty years. I would also note that you probably have not had the kind of CA wine I can get locally — much of what is exported is so-so, until you get to the really spendy stuff.

Incidentally, I made the most amazing red wine from damson plums I picked in Culpeper, VA, and the most amazing white from dendelion blossoms outside my house in FredVegas…

By: The Herbwife's Boyfriend

The Herbwife's Boyfriend — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:29:34 +0000

The most memorably bad bottle of wine I’ve ever had was from Virginia. It was an aglianico that tasted like pineapple and ham. I think it’s more the winemakers than the climate, though.

Next year, I will ferment everything.

By: crabappleherbs

crabappleherbs — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:54:46 +0000

Hank: Yes, we’re at the mercy of the weather here. I’m curious about the locally available CA wine — we might spend some time in SF this winter with family, so maybe we’ll do some “research.” (And damson wine? We’ll have to try that…)

Boyfriend: Everything?

By: LB

LB — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:06:25 +0000

Yeah, we are a lot smaller than CA and we live in VA, so here we are lucky to able to taste it all. That means we have easy access to some real stinkers! Everything good is over $15 a bottle, by a lot in many cases. That is probably cheap to a lot of people but not to me. I keep wishing one of our producers would start letting you come fill a jug and get a discount but I don’t think it is very likely to happen. I tasted a bunch of non grape wine a few weekends ago. I was curious esp. since we don’t see much at the store, wine people totally turn there nose up. It isn’t anything like what you can do with vinis vinifera but that doesn’t mean it is bad. They were pretty good, actually.

By: Mrs. B.

Mrs. B. — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:21:47 +0000

I had no idea that sprouted seeds made new varieties! That’s so interesting!

Just stumbled onto your blog. It’s really great!

By: hank

hank — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:53:04 +0000

if you come to San Francisco, email me and I will give you some names and places to go that will not cost a zillion dollars…general rule is to avoid Napa/Sonoma and head to Lodi, the Delta or the Sierra Foothills (Gold Country).

By: crabappleherbs

crabappleherbs — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:11:00 +0000

LB: Yes, fruit wines can be quite good, as long as you think of them on their own terms, rather than as a substitute for traditional vinifera wines. I really like honey wine, too. (I just posted about it.) Oh, and the boy says if he ever gets around to making proper wine, you’re welcome to come fill up your jug at our place.

Mrs B: Isn’t it fascinating? (And thank you!)

Hank: Oh, wow, thanks! We’ll do that. (Makes sense to me to avoid the hyped places.)

By: SMB Weber

SMB Weber — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:31:21 +0000

I have some old apple trees that my grandparents planted in the 1920s and would like to identify them? How can I find someone who might be able to? I have a few contacts from the extension service, but wondering about other sources?

Also, will be putting in more apple and other fruit trees and would like to plant antique varieties. In contact with someone else way ahead on this, a big help, but would welcome any other suggestions.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:32:33 +0000

Oh lovely! And I’m with Mrs. B. I had no idea that pippin’s were new varieties. Cool!