The saga of my apple tree – jellies, wasps and a guilty conscience

I have an amazing apple tree in my front garden, it produces an incredible amount of sweet, juicy apples every two years and do you know what? I hate it with a passion, because when I say an incredible amount of apples, I mean a gargantuan, ridiculously huge amount and why would I hate this you ask? Because I am the one that has to do something with all the apples!!! I have secret fantasies about chain saws, not Texas massacres, relax, no I mean chopping the damned thing down branch by branch. That’s where the guilt comes in. How could any responsible, eco-minded person even contemplate annihilitating one of nature’s treasures? Comments please!  Anyway, our annual perseverance event took place last week, Katy even managed to smile her way through it and we picked as many as we could, so whilst I’m still wrestling with my conscience and all the swarms of wasp that also accompany the apple glut, here is one of the recipes I use to try and get through at least some of the apples.

Kim’s reluctantly home-made mint jelly

You will need: apples, cider vinegar, fresh mint and sugar (use jam sugar if you are worried about the setting) and finally,  lemons. Read on and you will see why I am being non-specific about quantities. First, wash your apples (don’t bother cutting them unless they are huge), just chuck them in, skin, pips, core and all. Place in a  saucepan and add just enough water to cover them, I add one quartered lemon. Bring them to the boil and then simmer until they have turned in to a thick pulp. Place the apple pulp in to jelly bags (available online from Lakeland) over a container and leave for 24 hours, don’t be tempted to squeeze the bags, as your jelly will then be cloudy. A pathetically small amount of juice will appear (Oh dear, I’m sounding bitter again…) which you should then measure and for every pint of juice, you will need 1 pound of sugar and 2 tablespoons of chopped, fresh mint and 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar. 

Heat the juice and when boiling, stir in the sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then boil rapidly without stirring until the setting point is reached. (Same principle as for previous jam recipes). Thsi can vary enormously from 10 to 25 minutes, maybe even longer, but be sure that it is setting before you stop. Add the mint and vinegar and allow to sit for 15 minutes before pouring in to clean, sterilised jars.

I do also have variations for rosemary and chill jelly which I will share at a later date, but this jelly is in fact, extremely good and of course perfect for lamb and makes a lovely gift for people when you’re trying to get rid of all the apple produce…did I say that out loud???

Anyway, you know how I said the apples produce heavily every other year, well guess what? The wretched plum tree next to it fills in as my chief tormentor in between.  But in the meantime,  anyone for apples…please, anyone????