Discarded Apple Cores.

Discarded Apples Cores.

Apple trees. I have fond memories of scrumping for apples at the local orchard. I never knew who owned the orchard - when when you were a kid you didn't really care. It wasn't like we had to climb over fences or anything to get the them. The orchard was just at the bottom of the field. No one seemed to look after it or collect the apples, so we thought we would help ourselves. They were turned into delicious apple pie, apple juice and various other apply dishes.


That's a little background on my memories of apples from my childhood. Scroll forward a few years and I start thinking about apple trees again. This time from my car. What got me thinking was the fact that I throw apples cores out of my car and into the hedgerow. Food for the hedgehogs I call it. I'm not a litter bug. Far from it. I actually pick up litter when I am walking out in the hills. I figure that the odd apple core will be fine.

So then I started thinking, what happens to all those apple cores as thy get eaten or rot down into the hedgerow? There must be literally thousands every day tossed out the car windows of sales reps and commuters. Do they grow into new apple trees? I was thinking this in the summer. By autumn I was pleasantly surprised so see a fair number of apple trees at junctions and along the road. You have to wait until autumn because that is when you notice the apples.

I wonder if kids nowadays will hunt down these apple trees and steal the apples?  I think probably not but as I drive by, I do think about stopping and filling up a bag of apples again, to take home and make those delicious apple treats.

Moving this onto the next logical stage in my thinking. As I said I go out walking in the hills a fair amount. I still toss apples cores away - but ensure that they are tossed out of site. Can you imagine the mess there would be on the Pyg Track in Snowdonia if every apple core was just dropped on the track. It is important to take hide away this rubbish or take it home with you. Apple cores rot down and as they rot down the seeds go into the ground.

As they go into the ground why don't they grow into new trees. Again there must be dozens of opportunities for the apples trees to sprout up. I'm guessing that on the Pyg Track there isn't the right type of conditions for an apple tree to grow. But on the South Downs and other such places there is great conditions for it. So I want to know - have you seen a random apple tree growing anywhere? One that is likely to be from an apple core discarded by a hungry walker?

If you have seen one - send me a picture of it! It would be great to see and I will give you a £10 voucher to spend on www.walkandtravel.com. As long as I deem it to have grown from a discarded apple core!

In the mean time I will try and get some photos of the apple trees on the roadside and share them with you.

Long may the apple tree live!