To think people would want free apples?

[MsFannySqueers]

We have one apple tree in our garden. Some years we get barely any apples but this year we have had a large amount of apples. They are large organic cooking apples with not a blemish on them. They are very tasty when cooked. I have peeled, chopped and frozen about 50 of them so far. I will use them over the coming winter for pies,crumbles, muffins etc. I have given some to one neighbour who wanted them.
So to my AIBU. I then left a big pile of them in a container on my gatepost for days. Put a sign up for anyone to help themselves. How many have gone? Two! Two apples. I even left paper bags out to put them in! So!

YABU People can’t be bothered with all that faff, they are busy and haven’t got the time/additional ingredients to prepare and use apples even if they are free. Plus how can they afford to cook them!

YANBU It’s free apples, a bit of preparation, a few added basic ingredients and you could have some tasty treats. The cost of cooking them will be somewhat offset by the fact they were free.

Well only if the money IS going to charity.

Having seen that some people’s sheds look like miniature chemical plants and some liberal applications of over-concentrated Roundup 😱, I do admit to having concerns about what pesticides and chemicals people may use, so putting pesticide/ chemical free might help!

As PP, I also love marrows 👍

@ZeroFuchsGiven maybe it’s a bad year for rhubarb. I wanted to buy some the other day and it is £8 per kg from Ocado!, so perhaps there is a shortage.

A neighbour of mine used to give them to the local Nursing Homes and meals on wheels service. They were always delighted with them

I wish you were near me! I’d be making apple crumble every night! (Dp would be very happy about that too!)

Thanks all! I have enjoyed reading your replies and some very good tips! I am currently looking at recipes for Dutch Apple Baby.

In times of yore, people were jailed for stealing apples from trees. I passed by a cardboard box of apples about a year ago with a sign saying 'free' but I was on my way off somewhere which wouldn't have been a place into which you brought a load of apples (I was going on a date). I did spend time thinking about it though and didn't know how many apples might be an acceptable amount to take. Was I allowed to take 1? 2? The dithering meant I didn't take any but on my way back, there were no apples.

I would feel like somebody rejected me by rejecting my apples lol

Apple Dutch Baby !

Yes @Heswipedright I did feel a tiny bit rejected ha ha!

I dont think many people climb fruit trees to spray them

If you can eat then raw too, store some in the shed for later.

I would say 5-6 was the norm, a crumble or pies worth :)

We have a tree that produced lots and lots of very excellent eaters. I've put half a dozen in paper bags, put them on drive in a box with a "bags of apples, please help yourself" and they all go really quickly! This is in London suburb-ish.

In our village, someone (not sure who) puts a massive crate of apples by a bench right in the middle of the village with a sign saying 'free cooking apples'. They usually go within a day, I'm always annoyed that they're gone by the end of the day. Next time I'll stop the car dead in the road to get some 😂. But maybe this works better because it's not directly in front of the givers' house and therefore no one feels judged by the amount they take?

but it's shocking (to me!) how few people seem to know how to make basic apple crumbles from scratch these days. My DD for example would be clueless.

Young people do now how to cook if their parents bother to teach them.

Stick a sign on saying they're 50p each and I bet they'll disappear.

I wish I lived near you!

There’s a house about a five minute drive from me that I pass most days. For the last week, they’ve had apples out with a sign saying
“Free Apples for our NEIGHBOURS”

”Neighbours” is indeed underlined and written in bold.

I keep debating with myself as to whether I count as a neighbour.

It just feels a bit Tubbs and Edward. Local apples for local people.

Oh, and our very fancy local bakery barters for fruit! They exchange pastries and bread for all types of fresh fruit and veg.

You’d clean up on croissants with all your apples.

I've got a tree full of pears I need to pick.

Just havent found the time yet.

I wouldn’t say I’m weird but I live in a city and wouldn’t be picking up loose food from the pavement - I don’t know where it’s been. I don’t know if it’s hygienic. I don’t know if it’s been tampered with. If it hasn’t been tampered with, a passer by could have coughed on it, a bird could have shat on it - it’s exposed to the elements isn’t it.

As opposed to the apples made in a sealed factory that you buy?

I would be delighted.

@JohnsShirt 😁

Congratulations on missing the point. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat food the random members of public could have messed with. Food left outside someone’s house isn’t hygienic.

If you lived near me, DH would forever be bringing them home from his walks and expecting me to bake something with them. I can’t stand baking 😅