Losing apples from my tree

[Jugula]

I have an apple tree in my garden. It's now 4 years since I planted it.
In its second year it gave us a dozen or so delicious apples, then last year we only got 4 or 5. This spring it was absolutely full of blossom, and not long after I counted about 40 small apples forming. Suddenly though, about half of them have dropped off - they're about golf ball size.
Why?
We've had a few windy days recently - could that be it? Or could it be because the ground is poor - our house is only 5 years old, and not to far down is what was builders rubble - mind you, below that is the original soil that the houses were built on; it used to be farmland.
Any ideas anyone?

[Alice]

Hello Jugula, it's normal for apple trees to loose fruit in June. It's known as June Drop. You can read more at the link below.
http://http://ppdl.org/dd/id/june_fruit_drop.html

[shirlthegirl43]

Hi, I also have loads of little apples hitting me everything I go in the garden - it is like the apple tree imps are trying to discourage me from looking forward to a crop this year

I was going to start a thread about June drop but hopefully since you have started one, you won't mind me asking a question....

Can the little apples that have come off be used for anything? I know they are too sour to eat but can they be made into puree to use for cooking or anything else? It seems such a waste.

[Palustris]

Must admit to never having bothered and in any case many of our dropped ones are damaged in some way or have codlin moth in them. They certainly would be exceedingly sour.

[SueA]

Hi Jugula, as Alice says it's June drop & my apple trees in pots have just decided to join in & drop a lot of theirs. As your tree is still young you probably will get uneven crops, the 12 in it's second year was probably too much for it so it took a year off so to speak the next year & only produced 4, this year will probably be more of an average crop. They tend to drop anything they can't support, if you find a lot of fruit still on the tree after 'June drop' it's probably best to remove any small or damaged ones so that those left are evenly spaced.

[Palustris]

Had a search through all our books on food growing and so on. There are plenty of ideas for windfall apples (ie. bigger ones later on), but nothing specifically for June drop ones.

[shirlthegirl43]

Thanks for that Paul. Might see what happens if I gather a load up and make a puree. Will let you know (in case anyone else has loads of apple trees). Our house is actually named Apple Grove (in Welsh though)

[mellonmellow]

Have you tried tasting what they're like?

[shirlthegirl43]

Have you tried tasting what they're like?

Not a chance I know they will be very sour!

[rustylady]

Have you tried tasting what they're like?

Very hard and very sour I would think. I suppose you could cut them up and stew them down, but I can't think what you would use them for. Maybe adding pectin to jam ingredients?

[valmarg]

Like you suggest rustylady, stewing them up to make mint/rosemary/parsley jelly. I should imagine they will be extremely high in pectin.

I must admit, the June drop apples we have are extremely small, but nothing ventured, etc.

mellonmellow, I think what we have on the ground would not be edible. I think they would be so sour, that they would do what my great aunt Polly used to say, 'drag your arse to your elbow.'

Didn't mean to be offensive with great aunt Polly's saying, and going a bit off thread, have any of you got similar old family expressions/sayings?

valmarg

[mellonmellow]

Just asking because I had horseapples fall off a tree in my backyard and I tried them (the same day of touching the ground). They were sour but edible and refreshing. But maybe that's just me because I love pleasuring my tastebuds with something sour.

[Jugula]

Thanks for your replies, folks.
'June drop' it is then, at least it doesn't seem to be anything serious! I still have 20 or so fruits to look forward to anyway.
By the way, I did eat a couple of the fallen ones and yes, they were a bit rough!