Back to Nature

I was rather bored after breakfast this morning, waiting for the parents to get themselves ready for our morning walk. I was watching mum putting the washing out when I spotted the apple tree up the garden and remembered Alan Titchmarsh’s column in the Radio Times this week, which said this was the time to start harvesting. So I got a bag and put some shoes on and went to pick apples in the sunshine. It is a great experience and it’s amazing how many apples you get on one small tree. I picked the largest and healthiest fruit, which amounted to one quarter of the tree, and these alone will keep the family going for a week! I’ll have to juice them to get through them. I’ll see if anymore are ready in the next couple of days.

Then I decided to eat one (I often have apples as part of my breakfast), so I washed one and cut away the only small bad bit. It was a wonderful feeling as I first bit into the fruit and heard a satisfyingly loud crunch in response. To think this apple was grown in my own garden! I ate a little more but have to admit I wasn’t sure that I liked the taste much. So I gave dad a bit to try. He just said that it was incredibly tasty; probably a more powerful taste than I was used to. He also agreed that it was a little bitter or sour. As a result, I cut the rest of the apple into slices and sprinkled them with sugar before eating them. What a treat! I think I shall prepare some apples for tea by putting them in the fridge this afternoon, and then slicing them and sprinkling sugar on them just before serving.

There is a real buzz about eating something from the garden. You suddenly realise how wonderful nature is and how food is more than a packaged item in a supermarket. If only we had some more home-grown food!