Frugal Apple Picker

[OldForum]

Mo
I have made a tool for picking the fruit that grows out of reach.
All you need is a plastic bottle and a stick.
A small bottle for plums & small apples, 1 litre size for cookers. Cut the bottom off the bottle. Fix the neck onto a pole (a broomstick is heavy and too short for a high tree, I've got a short one on a metal stick that came from a broken long handle dustpan & a long one on 8' of narrow plastic pipe). A notch in the rim helps catch the stem of the fruit, then a twist and if ripe it falls into the bottle.
You may still need to climb to reach and position the picker, but its a lot quicker.

Richard
That's brilliant that Mo!!

Wish I'd have known that before all the stings from the nettles I wade through to get to the 'wild' Apple Trees I use.

At least my method of climbing and throwing them down to Leo gives him wicket keeping practice !!

That is seriously good - nice one,

Mo
Not my idea originally, but very useful
The notch in the rim develops into a slit, which allows the picker to expand to fit extra large apples.

Apples are then graded for use
today 6
this week 5
next week 4
soon 3
next 2
store 1
grade 7 is given to hens and horses
8 on the compost heap
2/3B (too small to eat) is stored for the birds in frosty weather
grade 6 & 5 are used or given away at the folk dance clubs that i go to, they'll get better ones later

Well I hate to waste anything, (frugal is a much nicer word than mean) I had a war-time up bringing.............

The rest of my apple picking kit;
2 broomsticks with a cuphook at the end (1 large, 1 small), for bring the branch & twig within reach
2 knapsacks to pick into
1 soup ladle on a broomstick, for picking up windfalls
1 inherited Sholly to push them, and the pruning equipment round the orchard, and to gather up the prunings in.

Only 2 trees to pick now.