Shake, Shake the Apple Tree

Did anyone else sing a silly song back in the early days of elementary school that went:
Shake, shake the apple tree
Apples red and rosy
Shake, shake the apple tree
Apples red and rosy
One for you, one for me
Shake, shake the apple tree

I remember singing that song with my friend Alberta waaaaay back when. I think maybe we were in first grade. Ah, the funny little memories that stay with you...

In my situation today, the apples are not red and rosy, though. They are nice and green, tart Granny Smith apples, and I have LOTS!! My brother lives about 40 minutes away and he has an apple tree in his backyard. For whatever bizarre reason, they will NOT eat the apples from the tree. I have to assume it is because the fruit is very much "organic" and tend to have patches of little brown speckles on them and some are not perfectly shaped, like the chemically-altered ones they buy in the store.

Since they loathe this poor tree and it's bountiful harvest, the kids and I drove over today to pick the tree. It's pretty tall, so a lot of shaking had to be done, as well. Apples were falling everywhere to be collected. I came home with two large coolers full, as well as 3 good-sized boxes and a large Target sack. I've seriously got some apples!!!

What does one do with such a mass quantity of apples, other than go insane and have nightmares of being buried under a pile of the little green balls? What I intend to do, and as I have done in the past, is make bags of apple pie filling and lots of applesauce for the freezer. I will also turn some into thick apple butter that I will can to eat over the next year or so. I love how the house smells while the butter cooks...and I've already had three people ask me if I would be willing to give them a jar or two. Apparently I've become a grandmother before my time....lol

I'm having company for dinner tomorrow, so I'm not sure I will get much processing done before Tuesday, but I will probably spend pretty much my entire days on Tuesday and Wednesday working with my gleaned fruit. I will likely cook my apple butter overnight on Tuesday so I can get it canned first thing on Wednesday. By the end of the week, I will have all sorts of relatively free food in my freezer and canned on the shelves. It's only going to cost me the sugar and seasonings.

Yes, these apples are sometimes imperfect, but once they've been peeled, cored, and sliced, nobody can tell the difference. And my kids think homemade applesauce is the BOMB!