From early spring when we saw the first blossom on the old Pippin apple tree, we began to look forward to apple drying time.
The old tree rarely failed to give us all the fruit we needed. In early August, when the days were long and the sun hot, and it was the light of the moon, we began our drying. We children were always a part of the task. We could gather, peel and slice, so we thought, as well as anyone.
The apples were never picked from the tree, but allowed to completely ripen and fall. It takes a lot of apples to make 50 pounds of dried ones, and we gathered, washed, peeled and sliced the Pippins by the hours.
Mother was not too particular about how we peeled, but she cautioned us to slice them thin and evenly, so they would dry faster.
We had to work hard, as the time was short for proper drying. We prayed for sunny days.
After the apples were prepared, we carried them by the bucketsful, up the ladder to the roof of the woodshed. We felt we had the ideal roof to dry apples on, as it was fairly flat and high enough above the area where flies and bugs traveled, so they were not bothered by these pests.
We covered the roof with clean papers or cloth, and then spread the apples evenly on the roof.
We had to use rocks for weights to hold the papers so the wind would not blow them away.
We left the apples in the hot sun for 4-5 days. We would stir and turn them several time a day.
We did not take them in at night, as Mother felt the early sun and dew gave them their unusual flavor and texture. Sometimes we had to get up in the middle of the night to rescue our apples from a wind or rain storm.
If we lost them, we just made another batch, as we usually had plenty of Pippins.
The drying was complete when the apple slices became a nice color, and got a soft texture. We gathered them up and placed them in muslin sacks to be stored in a dry, cool place.
We used them for snacks, pies and in many other ways. They were much sweeter than the fresh apple.
We never used any preservative with this method of drying, and we did not use anything on them in storage. They never lasted long enough to spoil. But if everything was just right – the apple, the sun, the moon and the weather – we always had beautiful, luscious dried apples all winter.
They were stored close by my bedroom, and I don’t believe any kid has eaten more dried apples than I have after I was supposed to be asleep.
