It’s not quite time to harvest all of the apples, but I found this one on the ground this afternoon, so it’s getting close. Unfortunately, the damn squirrels like my apples, too. They never eat them all, though; they just eat a little off of each one. That pisses me off.

Last year, I used all of the apples from my tree to make a gluten-free pie for Thanksgiving, and I’ve been thinking about it all year. I want to make another one, but I know last year’s success was nothing more than beginner’s luck, and if I try again this year, it won’t be as good, tainting the memory of both pies.

In 2019, we harvested 300 pounds of apples from our little tree and made about 5 gallons of hard cider out of it.

It was perfect timing because we had cider to drink through the COVID lockdown, not that we weren’t buying booze too. Still, it was nice to have our own little reserve that we didn’t have to leave the house for.