Foraging Wilds

Every year we forage for wild apples and pears and sometimes we happen on a very special place. This video shows a location where we found a wild tree that makes such great apples that we have grafted 30 copies of them into our orchard. Melody and I have known each other for a decade and have spent many Solstices and Easters together.

We met up with Summer and Sander of Flock Finger Lakes in August to walk Melody's property and scout out the wild apples there. Flock is a creative collective of three friends who have come together to chart a different life for themselves here in the Finger Lakes.

You can watch the full video on the Flock Finger Lakes YouTube channel.

Many of the trees on Melody’s property are from the 1800s and as they walked, Steve wrote on each apple or pear the location they were found in. This helps each year when it comes to harvest time so we know where to go.

What’s the difference between a good cider apple vs a good eating apple? It’s much like wine grapes vs eating grapes. The cider apples are very bitter and sweet, and super tart. The texture is much like a sponge, making it easier to extract the juices during the grinding process. Eating apples are more crisp and actually turn to mush when you try to grind them up, making it much harder to extract the juices. A good crossover between the two is with pie baking and cider apples because fo the flavors.

How do you taste apples for cider making? Apples could have sugar, acid and or an astringent mouthfeel or bitterness. If an apple has all three of these qualities then it could make for a good single variety cider. One way to test for ripeness, or starch, is to cut an apple in half and spray it with iodine. The starches turn the iodine a dark blue as they become more ripe. Enjoy the video!

Cheers,
Steve