Apple Harvest

March is time for apple harvest. While the Gravensteins have ripened from late January and don't keep till March, the other trees in the orchard are now laden and ready for picking. The Golden Delicious are beginning to glow yellow and the Jonathans to blush red. For the first couple of weeks I only pick the fallers and race the millipedes and the slugs. Any damage and the apples head to the pigs. Late March I pick most of the remaining fruit and prepare for cider making.
At this time I also keep an eye on the roadside trees nearby and grab a box whenever I have the time to stop. Roadside apples tend to be tarter and the mix seems to make for good scrumpy cider.