The last week has passed in something of a blur. It has been dominated by two things: apples and puppy training. The apples, are reaching the end of their life cycle; Hermione is just beginning hers.
Apples, apples everywhere
The high winds we have been experiencing all week have certainly made apple picking easier. Instead of reaching up, I just reach down to the ground. We now have an absolute glut of fruit and despite my best efforts, the trug never diminishes.
But there is joy in plenty, not least because there is enough to share. Friends and neighbours have all been enjoying the fruits of my tree. And for those neighbours who are also keeping productive gardens, we get to swap our surplus for theirs.
My only sadness is that I can’t bake cake to share. That will have to wait till next year.
50 ways to cook your apples
I admit that I am exaggerating a little bit, but I have been learning all sorts of new ways to eat and preserve this most versatile fruit. So far, I’ve made apple vinegar, apple berry jam, apple rings, spiced apple compot, apples for the freezer, baked apples, apple puree (which is perfect for vegan baking) and my favourite so far: toffee apple fruit leather. I’ve been meaning to make fruit leather (fruit roll-ups) for years and now have finally done it. If you have surplus fruits, I highly recommend it. It’s perfect for little snacks. And if you have a brilliant apple recipe you’d like to share, please post it in the comments section.
Distractions
Of course, whilst doing all this, I’ve had a little helper. Well, helper might not be quite the right word. Companion would be more appropriate. Hermione is very happy to sit in the kitchen and watch, but needs numerous breaks to run about the garden and relieve herself.
So every forty minutes or so, my husband or I don our rain jackets and run outside. The apple tree serves a purpose here too, as Hermione loves to eat the fallen fruit – though sadly only the most rotten and revolting looking. The capacity of a dog’s stomach to consume the most disgusting food, never fails to amaze me. She neglects, of course, any of the more edible windfalls.
Training
With her jabs complete, Hermione is now free to run wild in the garden. Her breed is naturally intelligent and requires a great deal of stimulation and challenge. Having mastered the art of sit, paw and recall within days, we thought we better add some more difficult tasks. So now our garden has become a sort of mini adventure playground. The gardening stool makes for an excellent ‘tunnel’ to run under or, when tipped upside down, to jump over. We have a raised path with steps that she rather alarmingly runs up and down and low wall from which she takes terrifying leaps.
Like children, she most enjoys toys that are not toys at all: an empty plastic bottle, a plastic flower pot, a stick and a hose attachment are all kept in the toy box outside. The advantage of this is that as soon as one of these is gnawed to pieces, another can be found. We are working on her retrieval skills (she is a bird dog after all) and she once managed to bring an apple. This dog might come in useful after all.
Puppy lessons
While we have been teaching Hermione, she of course, has been teaching us. When you spend time outside with a child or a puppy, you realise that the world is an infinitely fascinating place. Every leaf, branch and insect is something to be explored and this sense of wonder is something that we should all nurture – not least if we are to have any hope of healing our damaged world.
The apple tree, to me, epitomises the generosity of nature. She gives and gives. The humble cooking apple may not be the most exotic of fruits, but with it I have been able to make endless treats that will remind us of summer even in the depth of winter. And I try not to take any for granted. My apples are hardly supermarket perfect, but a little effort on my end means that very few are wasted. It has taken a year for this fruit to be produced. Surely I can take a few minutes to remove a bruise or insect damage.
For me, living with wild things (and Hermione is certainly wild sometimes) helps ground me. Living as we do in the world of the mind or the cyber world of internet and social media, it is easy to become detached from what actually is.
In the virtual world, our desires are but a thought or a click away. In the real world, we need patience and hard work to get what we want. And paradoxically, it is the latter that brings a more lasting joy.
So, like a doting grandparent, I shall leave you with one last picture of Hermione with her new best friend – a snail.
Image: Karen Costello-McFeat