What's my apple tree - part 2

Glorious day on Saturday, but sadly I was a bit under the weather and didn't want to stray too far from the house. Feeling much better on Sunday, it proceeded to throw it down with rain all day.

Anyhow, moving on... Some people have their dog blogs but me and the mad cat lady of Sheffield seem to prefer cats, so after months of promising the kids some kittens and a tip off from said mad cat lady we're now the proud owners of two bundles of fur. Besides using the vegetable rack as a climbing frame and knocking the squashes on the floor one of them also seemed to take a liking to the apple I picked from my unknown tree, providing a nice background for a close up of the apple as requested:

Gingerbread (the cat) and ???

I picked this a few days ago (the apple!), but I wouldn't say it came from the tree easily - supposedly one of the signs they're ready. A few days later my guinea pig (the wife) and I had a taste:

It's quite juicy but sharp with it. It's not inedible, but whether it's an eater or a cooker the jury is still out. According to my Dad, brown pips are a sign it's ready though. So still none the wise. I'm looking for a local apple day to take them along to to see if anyone else has any ideas???

I also have another problem: there are a lot of apples on each tree, storing them could be a problem. The outhouse is largely full of potatoes and onions and without a serious clear out it's not going to get many apples in it. There's no heating in our bedroom though and space on top of the wardrobe...

Gratuitous cat picture follows:

Florence (front) and Gingerbread (back) lying on top of the shallots

Squash Review
Now Autumn has definitely arrive I think my squashes are over now. They did OK this year. I grew Defender and Goldie for my courgettes. Defender was its usual prolific self, but Goldie was very disappointing really. It produced lots of smaller courgettes - no bad thing - but with thick bitter skin. Don't think I'll be growing them again.

I grew Gemstore for the first time - this looks a bit like a round courgette but has flesh more like a pumpkin, a light yellow/orange colour. The plant has a kind of restrained, sprawling habit and the fruits are a great size to use up in just one meal and are prolific - 26 off two plants! The skins are also quite thick so I'm assuming they'll store well - they're coping quite well with the cats knocking them over as they clamber up the vegetable rack to get to the table.

I only grew Crown Prince for my large pumpkins this year, which is a bit disappointing as I do like the sight of a bright orange pumpkin on the plot. However, all is not lost there as we have several growing down at my Grandads - by all accounts there's a whole lot of different pumpkins down there that are likely to be coming our way as I don't think the rest of the family eat many. I only managed to get three fruits from two plants, and one of them is quite small, but hopefully the taste will make up for that. All three of them feel quite solid though so hopefully a good amount of flesh of them.

If you look carefully, one of the cats is at the top of the picture trying to get in on the action.