It was my 40th on the 2nd of May during lockdown, so I placed this cache to celebrate my 40th.
These ancestors of cultivated CRAB apple have small, round fruit that rarely grow larger than a golf ball. They ripen in late September to October and are usually green with a pink blush or a golden yellow colour. Garden varieties can vary too, and are also edible.
They may be small and sour, but you can make some amazing recipes with the fruit of the crab apple tree. They have an exceptionally high pectin and acid content which makes them ideal for setting fruit jams and jellies. They also have an excellent, tart and tangy apple flavour.
Crab apple trees have a lot to offer. A perfect tree to grow in a small garden, crab apples are compact in height and spread and will inject colour and interest into the garden all-year-round. In spring, the trees produce clouds of blossom that can’t fail to lift the spirits, while fruits and foliage provide rich autumnal colour. This caches is in a crab apple tree knee hight, not on the fence line. Crab apple trees flower even when young, often blooming when two or three years old, so it’s a great choice of you want a tree that performs quickly. The blossom is also invaluable as pollinators and there are many cultivars that are suited to cooking – especially to make crab apple jelly – so in all a versatile little tree.