Apples for apple cider - and applesauce

Photo by Patrick Deagen

I have never seen an apple tree that produces as prodigiously as this old tree in Echo Lake Park at N 200th and Ashworth Ave N. 

The apples all fall to the ground every year and lie there until someone cleans them up. Birds, squirrels, and raccoons ignore them, which supports the idea that they are not very good eating apples.

However, I have been told that apples like this make very good apple cider. If you own a cider press or know where there's one you can use, help yourself. Windfalls are good for cider or you can pick the fruit from the tree.

--Diane Hettrick