Apple Rain ….

Apple harvest time has begun. At Zittrauerhof, too, the moment arrived to bring the ripe fruit down from the trees. We are very happy that this year brought a very abundant harvest of very sweet apples.

But what does working with apple trees actually involve? After the annual pruning, bees are brought in to pollinate the trees. They come from a beekeeper and are meant to ensure a rich harvest. Over the course of the summer, the fruit ripens and enriches the beautiful sight of our garden. As soon as the first apples fall from the trees, the garden must be walked every day to collect them. To make this work easier, we got ourselves an apple roller. This device picks up the apples in no time and saves your back. And then in autumn, the time comes. The apple harvest is on. This year we had to postpone it by a few days because the first snow came. But this morning the time had come. The men got ready to climb the trees and shake and knock the apples down, and we women collected them from the ground—here it is especially important to sort out the rotten apples. Of course, this doesn’t all happen just for fun, because you like climbing trees or picking things up off the ground. The apples are then used to make juice, schnapps, and cider.

Part of the apples is processed into apple juice, giving us and our guests apple juice for the whole year. Another part of the harvest is used to make schnapps, which our grandfather distills every year. And the especially beautiful apples are placed in crates and stored, so you have your own apples for eating, cooking, and baking all winter long.

So the fruit is a true treasure throughout the year!