A Sweet and Tart Apple Harvest

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Anna Apples

It’s hotter than he**  (dare I use the word “hell”?) outside in June and while most desert dwellers can be found hibernating indoors enjoying air-conditioned temperatures in the 70’s – you’ll find a few of us darting outdoors to pick apples.

June is apple harvesting time in the desert

While parts of the country wait until late summer and on into early fall to harvest apples – June is apple harvesting time in the desert.

June is apple harvesting time in the desert

apple harvesting

Many people don’t realize that apple trees can grow in the desert Southwest – so do apricots, peaches and plums.  

The key to growing these types of fruit trees is our relatively cold temperatures.  They need a certain number of “chilling hours”, which are when temperatures are within 32 – 45 degrees F.  

When summer temperatures are hovering in the 100+ range, it’s hard to recall what cold winter temperatures feel like, but it’s those chilly temps that make it possible to grow apple trees.

family farm

In the past years, I have harvested my apples from among the several apple trees located on the family farm.  

But, not this year.  

June is apple harvesting time

Three years ago, we transformed our side garden, creating a “potager”, which is a French term for a kitchen garden filled with fruits, herbs, vegetables alongside ornamental plants.  

In the potager, we have the largest of our vegetable gardens, blackberry bushes, two peach trees, an orange tree and two apple trees.

blackberry bushes

The apple trees are located toward the end of the garden with the blackberry bushes growing against the wall.  

This was what they looked like 1 1/2 years ago.  Since then, they have grown quickly and are filled with apples, ready for us to pick.

A Sweet and Tart Apple Harvest

Today, we will head out in the morning and pick our apples.  There are so many growing, that I won’t need any from the family farm.  

Normally, I make applesauce and an apple pie from apples.  This year, I will make those but will add to it.  We will also be making apple chips and apple sugar.  Who knows?  If we get a ton of apples, I may need to find more things to make with them.  

My daughter, Ruthie, and niece, Sofie, will help me along with a very special friend who is their “orphanage sister”.    

**Next time, I’ll share their special story along with all the goodies we make along with helpful links so you can make them yourself with apples from the supermarket.

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Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."