How 'bout them apples

The apples from these two trees won't win any prizes. One variety is deep red and has a very mealy texture. Probably a cooking apple, but you have to hurry because they don't last very long and when they cook they turn into applesauce. The other variety is better, but not by much. Also best cooked, it will hold its shape in a tart. It also makes decent applesauce (I have some in the freezer from last year). Neither apple is very good for eating raw.

These two apple trees are relatively healthy and seem to be resistant to mistletoe, at least for now.

We had three other apple trees in the yard when we got here. One was pretty much dead and we took it out. The remaining two, one small and the other quite big, are dying. Age and mistletoe have taken their toll. The big tree has dropped large limbs over the years (firewood!), and the main trunk is splitting. The tree bore no fruit this year and many of its upper limbs are dead. We'll probably lose the tree altogether within five years (more firewood!). It's too bad, because those apples were the best of the five trees.

So now we're thinking we should find a nice cherry or other fruit tree to plant before the apple goes away.