A small break from my writing-related posts. Instead, here comes one more nature-related. To say it up front, I always liked home-grown apples. What I like even more is home-made apple juice. 100% natural, 100% fresh, sometimes with a side of a wasp sting. Well, my grandfather has a garden around his house with several apple trees, even if some of them were cut down in past due to frail health.

The previous year was pretty much a catastrophe for fruit trees in general. After the warm early April, the temperatures dropped significantly for the second half and the early-blooming fruit trees did not bear it well. This year is pretty much the opposite as the weather was warm or outright hot since early April. The early warmth pushed the fruit trees into overdrive and there’s quite an abundance of (not only) apples.

Including my grandfather’s garden.

The trees are so covered by apples that the branches are bending and even snapping under the weight, something that is quite a sad sight. Some of them are subspecies that are normally harvested in mid-October.

As result, companies that turn fruits into spirits are busy 24/7 with several days or even weeks of wait time. If you don’t want to compost the abundance, the only remaining option is to make apple juice.

Over the past two months, we pressed over 200 liters of fresh juice. Sweet, good-tasting and healthy. Yummy.

Anyway, that’s the end of this small detour. I’ll be back soon with something more related to my usual topics.