Bad Apples- what to do with them?

[giraffe326]

I bought a new house this spring. It came with several fruit trees. I have two very large mature apple trees. They haven't been properly pruned and there are hundreds of small apples, many filled with bugs and worms, and some have been pecked by birds. Not edible. I've been reading up on pruning, so I am learning what to do going forward, but I have to deal with the apples I have now. They are starting to drop and the dropped apples are becoming mushy.

What is the best method to handle this? Do I pick what I can BEFORE they drop?

Do I just let them drop and then clean them up?

What is the easiest way to clean them up? Especially if they are mushy? Shovel?

What do I do with all of them? I live within city limits. Do I just put them to the curb as yard waste?

Earlier in the season, when it was evident I was going to have more apples than I could possibly handle, my dad mentioned my uncle and cousins may want them for deer hunting. Would they still be useful for that purpose or not? If so, would it be best to pick them?

Any advice on how to deal with this mess the easiest and cleanest way possible would be appreciated. I want to get a handle on this before bugs (or even worse- rodents) take over my backyard.

Thanks!

 

[Robert Cummings]

You could purchase a machine which is basically an outdoor garden vacuum on wheels such as MTD or Billy Goat these machines will such up anything bottles litter even stones and some come with a wand which is an extending hose which you connect to the machine especially useful for going under shrubs and hedges. These machines can also be purchased with self drive to the wheels or push along but from experience apples get heavy so unless your really fit go for self drive, your local garden machinery store should be able to advise you or just Google Billy goat garden vac or similar.you could compost the apples or let your folks have them..

 

[Belmont]

I just let the apples sit where they fall, doesnt look great but I doubt it hurts amything.

 

[Purrfluff]

Do you have the option of composting them?

If you cut open the apple and most of it is still good you could cut out the nasty parts and make apple sauce or apple butter. Even fairly mushy apples will work for this.

 

[Beth_B]

I'd maybe advertise them free on craigslist if you're comfortable with that.

House I used to live in had some apple and pears trees out back. They attracted deer, which was nice. But when they were left on the ground and started fermenting they also attracted lots of wasps, which wasn't so nice.

 

[MKoZ]

Hi,
If you're still trying to figure out what to do with those apples, let me tell you my story. We moved into a house with a huge apple tree, but rather than get rid of them, we cordoned off a corner, piled the apples there, and lightly covered it with some dirt, and a tarp, and left it alone.
By the next year, we had the darkest, sweetest smelling dirt you could imagine, which I used for my garden!

 

[alp]

According to the programmes that I have watched, you can prune the inner and crossed and deceased / diseased branches so that a bird can fly through. That way, you can let the light in and reduce disease. Also buy a wasp trap.