Gleaning bounty

There's an apple tree living two blocks away from us. It's in a small yard, facing west, on the side of a little triplex apartment. There's a fig tree next to it, with few fruit because it's shaded by yet a third tree. Despite a total lack of any pruning or water or care, the apple tree throws out pounds and pounds of what seem to be Golden Delicious apples every year.

This year, I asked one of the people at the apartment if it would be okay if we picked up the falls to make applesauce. The response? "What apple tree?" Permission was granted. But as the kids and I gathered apples, another resident came out and fussed at us. It was "Okay this time," but no more, because this was their house.

Hmmmm, I thought. I knew the landlord wasn't in residence, but okay, I sort of get it. Except that the apples carpeting the ground suggested that no one was really all that interested in the tree or its gift of fruit. We took our picking home and resigned ourselves to leaving it alone. I hate to see that much fruit going to waste. And it made delicious crockpot apple sauce.

Yesterday, I noticed that the apartment facing the tree, the one the objecting residents had occupied, was empty. So I asked another tenant again. Permission granted. We went in the evening and picked twelve pounds of mostly-fallen fruit. The season, you see, is over for the year.


Last night I made half of them into apple sauce. I bet the kids are going to eat it this morning with cream for breakfast. I'd like to be on good terms with the residents next year, so I can once again receive these wonderful gifts from this tree. I imagine making apple sauce, giving apple tarts to the people who live there, eating fresh apples for months. Maybe I could even do some pruning.