At last year's Homegrown Festival, I had a hard time giving away these gnarly ugly apples. Most of those who were brave enough to try one were surprised and delighted by the taste. I had some ugly spotted pears as well.

Linda Diane Feldt | Contributor

It was almost 40 years ago when I first heard about antique apples. There was a tree on the edge of a forest with strange looking smaller apples. I assumed they would taste as bad as they looked. Someone else tried them first and pronounced the fruit not only safe but fabulous. One hesitant bite, and I found the best tasting apple I’d ever had before. It was a rare variety I’ve since forgotten the name of, but I’ve been looking for (and finding) these forgotten trees and varieties ever since. Wild apples may or may not also be antique, but they are also a great find.

The apples seem to be ripening early this year. It is the perfect time to find some promising trees and taste and wait for that ripe perfection. I've already found quite a few.

What makes an apple wild?
Like any wild food, it may have once been cared for. Rogue apples are typically unsprayed so much more likely to have worms. They may have been planted for aesthetics (apple blossoms are lovely) but then abandoned as far as harvesting the fruit. Apple trees may also be grafted rather than grown from seed. Many excellent apples grow when the host supersedes the graft.

Apple orchards are often abandoned; they take a lot of work to maintain. You may also find an apple tree on the edge of a field—maybe there was once an orchard and the trees that made it an orchard have been cut down, or this was the one that survived a disease that did in the others. The orphan tree may be overgrown and the apples gnarly, but they often taste great.

What is the difference between wild and antique?
Antique apples are varieties that were developed for taste and basic appeal (pun intended). There were once hundreds of varieties, developed not only for the multiple uses (eating, pies, storing, applesauce, etc.) but local favorites that were resistant to whatever challenges the apple tree might have in a particular area. 

With the development of chemicals and the need to have “pretty” apples to transport without bruising, be consistently available, and store well, most of the original varieties were dropped, along with the focus on taste. We now have just a couple kinds that people know and like (having never tasted anything else), such as red delicious, which leads the pack. My experience is that the antique varieties have subtleties of flavor and nuances of taste that are incomparable to the regular mass produced varieties on sale in any store at any time of the year. They may bruise more easily, only be at their peak for a few weeks, and indeed be ugly, but they are much more interesting and satisfying to eat and enjoy.

The difficulty in harvesting wild apples is getting over how strange they may look. They are often lacking in the familiar red color, may have worm holes, and might even be knobby and lacking that familiar perfect rounded shape. Apples grow in trees, so you may also need to get over eating fruit off the ground. Having a tall friend is handy, I find, to reach the fruit in the tree, but I’m often alone while I’m out tasting, and I’m kind of short. One trick is to pick up damaged fruit from the ground and use it to throw at a more perfect apple in the tree. Down it comes, and you can taste a “fresher” apple that is knocked off the branch. If the resulting fruit is great, you can return with a tall friend or a ladder for more serious harvesting.

Are these wild apples dangerous?
There is more likelihood of bacteria with fallen fruit. Especially if the skin is broken open or bruised. So I’m choosy and discard fruit that is obviously damaged—or with worms moving from the inside out. Unsprayed apple blossoms are the laying ground for the worms, and they hatch and eat their way out of the apple. So I also employ a knife. I now try to always carry one this time of year, and cut away all the bad parts and worm tunnels. It is free food. If I have to discard half the apple, I still have a half apple that I’ve “rescued” from waste—and more apple than I started with!

What can you do with the apples?
If you seriously glean abandoned and neglected apple trees, you could easily pick or pick up hundreds of apples, free for the taking, starting now and continuing into the fall. What can you do with all of that fruit?

Make juice. A common juicer can be used and the juice frozen for later use. Wash and sort through the apples, discard any bruised, wormy, or dark parts, and core and juice the rest. I mysteriously had some mold form on frozen juice last year—I still can’t figure to how that is possible. Pasteurization is an option. Heat the juice to 160 degrees, or so it is just simmering but not to a boil, then cool. You will lose some flavor and other benefits, but with some apples, it may be advised. You can freeze juice for later use.

Make applesauce. This is one of my favorite ways to preserve a large apple harvest. Simply wash and sort through the apples, discarding any dark, bruised, or wormy parts, and core and steam the rest until very mushy. I leave the skins on; they add nutrition as well as color and texture. You can add cinnamon if you’d like. It is a rare batch of applesauce that would need any added sugars. I never do that. Mash with a potato masher if needed, let cool, and simply place in freezer containers or baggies and freeze. Best if used within about 6 months, but I’ve had it a year or two old and been very happy with the taste.

Make future apple pies. You can wash, sort, core, slice, and add the spices for apple pies, putting enough in each freezer bag for one pie. In mid winter you can make a quick pie crust, partly thaw and dump the ingredients for the filling into the crust, and bake. Simple, and most of the work is already done. Use these apples within 6 months, since they haven’t been cooked.

Make fruit leather. I haven’t done it yet, but I hope to try this in the next few months.

Make dried apple slices. I love the taste and texture of dried apples. Slice and dry in a slow oven (200 degrees) for a few hours, or use a solar drier or just place on cookie sheets in the sun for a day or two. If you do try it in the sun, it is a little tricky to wash the apples, dry them from the water, and then slice and dry them without attracting wasps and other insects. Use very thin slices as they will dry much more quickly. Store in a tightly sealed glass jar.

Make lots of apple crisp. I slice the apples and sometimes combine them with fruit I’ve frozen earlier, such as rhubarb, blueberries, strawberries, service berries, black raspberries, or red raspberries. I often add raisins to the apples as well. Sprinkle the apples with chopped nuts (choose from walnuts, pine nuts, pecans, and of course wild harvested hickory would be great). Then a layer of real oatmeal and a dusting of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves (in order of quantity). About ¼ tsp of spices total. Meanwhile, I’ve been heating equal parts honey and butter together in a small saucepan to drizzle over the whole thing. For an 8x8 inch dish, I use about ¼ cup each butter and honey. Use more or less to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes (top should be lightly browned) and serve warm.

Make apple butter. Apple butter is basically applesauce reduced. I keep the skins on, and once I’ve made the applesauce I keep cooking it in a heavy skillet until it is a thick uniform paste. I freeze it in small quantities, but it can also be canned. Follow a recipe for canning similar to applesauce.

Store the whole apples. You can fruit cellar your apples, but prepare to lose a lot of the crop. One bad apple does take a lot of its companions with it. Don’t use windfalls (apples from the ground) but rather the best-looking, healthiest, most unblemished apples that you have. Depending on the type of storage and the sturdiness of the apples, you may get 2-3 months of storage, with some varieties longer. Under ideal conditions and with varieties that hold up to storage you may be lucky to have 6-8 months. Potatoes stored in the same area will hasten the apples' deterioration. Individually wrapping each apple in tissue paper may help them last longer since they are protected from bruising, won’t come in contact with a neighbor that may start deteriorating, and may also be protected from gases that might hasten the process of breaking down.

That will give you some ideas of possible uses. It is a versatile fruit.

The work is significant, so invite a few friends over, pull up a chair, and prepare to make a mess. You will certainly enjoy the fruits of your labor later in the year.

And finally, where are these rogue apples?
All over. My advice: get out of your car and go for a walk or a bike ride. If you see apples on the ground, look up. Taste and decide if these are worth picking and processing. Look in parks, in schoolyards, in street medians, in fields, in front of people’s homes, all over. If the apple is small, it is likely a crabapple, which can also be used but is far more tart—less sweet. Last year, I mixed a lot of crabapples in with my applesauce and loved the taste. Many apples are ripening now; the only way to tell is to take a bite. It seems a shame to let all of these wonderful apples go to waste. Enjoy them instead!

Linda Diane Feldt is a Holistic Health Practitioner, author, and teacher. You can follow her on twitter, visit her website, or contact her directly at ldfeldt@holisticwisdom.org.