or anyone else who understands why this is even a question.
I have one gravenstein apple tree, it produced an extraodinary crop of apples this year, they're unbelievably good and crispy and sweet. I picked most of them 5 or 6 weeks ago and filled up a refrigerator with them, and I've eaten many apples that weren't in the fridge over the last two months.
Since I don't spray the tree, almost every apple has a fat worm in the middle. I don't mind sharing, I just cut the apple away from the core, and throw the core out on the compost pile, it's apple worm heaven.
Well, I've run out of the unrefridgerated apples, I just ate the first one out of the fridge, and naturally, there's a worm in it, but the suprising thing is that it's still alive. I had assumed the cold would kill them, but now I know there's a refrigerator full of very cold, live worms in my house and I'm feeling a little weird about it.
Any advice?
ThePhiant
10-08-2007, 09:24 PM
unless you like mealy, mushy apples, Gravensteins don't keep very well.
since you moved the worms home already once, I'd say you give them back to nature,
there is a lot of hungry animals out there
Willie Lumplump
10-08-2007, 09:42 PM
What kind of advice are you looking for? A recipe perhaps? African natives sautee them in palm oil, and they are very nutritious although somewhat too nutty and greasy to suit my tastes.
Does it help to know that the "worm" is actually a caterpillar, i.e., the larval stage, of a pyralid moth called the navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella?
If this information doesn't help you, you may be stuck.
Clancy
10-08-2007, 09:49 PM
What kind of advice are you looking for? A recipe perhaps? African natives sautee them in palm oil, and they are very nutritious although somewhat too nutty and greasy to suit my tastes.
Does it help to know that the "worm" is actually a caterpillar, i.e., the larval stage, of a pyralid moth called the navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella?
If this information doesn't help you, you may be stuck.
Hmmmmmnn... seems odd that a moth called the navel orangeworm lives in apples and not navel oranges!
Actually, I'm trying to figure out a way I can keep these delicous, sweet, crispy apples in the fridge despite the fact that all these little creatures are suffering because of it, and I guess I can't find any way to do that, so I'm about to take them out of the fridge, let them come up to room temperature, eat them the way I was doing, and let the worms have the cores, outdoors, where they can become moths.
Willie Lumplump
10-08-2007, 10:29 PM
Hmmmmmnn... seems odd that a moth called the navel orangeworm lives in apples and not navel oranges!...
Entomology is full of such peculiar names. There is a family of beetles called the "pleasing fungus beetles," but they are not pleasing. There is a family of beetles called the "death watch beetles," but the beetles don't watch anything, and especially they don't watch death. There is a family of insects called "Dobsonflies," but nobody knows who Dobson is.
Your navel orangeworm larvae are not suffering; they are merely in diapause, a temporary suspension of development and activity that is a natural part of their life cycle. They don't know that they're in a refrigerator. They merely think that it's cold outside. If you want to cheer them up, slip a half-gallon container of Tropicana orange juice into the refrigerator with them.
Clancy
10-08-2007, 10:40 PM
Your navel orangeworm larvae are not suffering; they are merely in diapause, a temporary suspension of development and activity that is a natural part of their life cycle. They don't know that they're in a refrigerator. They merely think that it's cold outside. If you want to cheer them up, slip a half-gallon container of Tropicana orange juice into the refrigerator with them.
Thanks D...uh...er...I mean Willie. You actually made me feel better about this, gave me a laugh and shared some interesting and unusual info all at the same time.
ThePhiant
10-09-2007, 08:37 AM
I'm trying to figure out a way I can keep these delicous, sweet, crispy apples in the fridge
the Ignorance-button is bliss
LOL
gravensteins that stay crisp. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
are you from NY?
Braggi
10-09-2007, 09:13 AM
gravensteins that stay crisp. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
are you from NY?
OMG, here I am agreeing with ThePhiant!!
Make applesauce and apple butter. Stomp the little worms so they don't grow up to infect my apples. They'll compost very well if they're dead. If you don't want to do the deed, spread out the cores on the ground and let the blue jays do it. It's all natural.
Gravs don't keep well. They'll get mushy and mealy all at once. At that point the applesauce won't even be very good.
I harvested about 50 pounds of apples from my young little apple trees this year. Not a single worm (so far)!!! No spray.
Not sure why. Two years ago we had a few worms.
- Jeff
Clancy
10-09-2007, 10:56 AM
Gravs don't keep well. They'll get mushy and mealy all at once.
Yes, I know, but this year they are far sweeter, crispier and larger than any of the last 12 years I've enjoyed this tree, so I put as many as I could in the fridge to keep them that way as long as possible.
ThePhiant
10-09-2007, 01:43 PM
had to try that Gratitude Feature,
but then I noticed a new feature, you get to take the gratitude away as well,
this is better and bigger than real life
I don't have to make up my mind, I can go back and forth, back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,
OMG, here I am agreeing with ThePhiant!!
Make applesauce and apple butter. Stomp the little worms so they don't grow up to infect my apples. They'll compost very well if they're dead. If you don't want to do the deed, spread out the cores on the ground and let the blue jays do it. It's all natural.
Gravs don't keep well. They'll get mushy and mealy all at once. At that point the applesauce won't even be very good.
I harvested about 50 pounds of apples from my young little apple trees this year. Not a single worm (so far)!!! No spray.
Not sure why. Two years ago we had a few worms.
- Jeff
mykil
10-09-2007, 04:18 PM
:idea: Malady er dude; if they are going to go to waste, may I have an APPLE PIE PLEASE???? I'll even come and pick it up if you make it!
terriann
10-10-2007, 11:40 AM
Here's an alternative answer (though it's really more pertinent to the ongoing veggie vs. omnivore debate): How about eating that worm? We miss out on a great source of nutrients because of our abhorrence of eating "bugs". My college entomology prof told the tale of a visiting professor from India. His wife prepared him the same vegetarian fare she always had in their home country. After a few months, he complained to his doctor of increasing tiredness and his doc determined that he was malnourished. Guess what? India didn't have the standards for minimum number of bug parts in foods meant for human consumption that we are blessed with in the USA. So . . . he wasn't getting his RDA of protein!
Chew on that one Trolls.
--T'iann
...
Well, I've run out of the unrefrigerated apples, I just ate the first one out of the fridge, and naturally, there's a worm in it, but the surprising thing is that it's still alive. I had assumed the cold would kill them, but now I know there's a refrigerator full of very cold, live worms in my house and I'm feeling a little weird about it.
Any advice?
terriann
10-10-2007, 11:50 AM
I beg to differ re: the applesauce solution. My grandmother kept her Gravs in cold-storage in her basement and they made great applesauce midwinter. It would be interesting to make a taste comparison between sauce made from crispy vs. wrinkly apples. One thing though, if you like to keep the peel on, and if you like your sauce chunky (i.e.:not pureed), you'll find there is a textural difference--the crispy peel being, to my senses, less pleasing.
--Terriann
OMG, here I am agreeing with ThePhiant!!
Make applesauce and apple butter. Stomp the little worms so they don't grow up to infect my apples. They'll compost very well if they're dead. If you don't want to do the deed, spread out the cores on the ground and let the blue jays do it. It's all natural.
Gravs don't keep well. They'll get mushy and mealy all at once. At that point the applesauce won't even be very good.
I harvested about 50 pounds of apples from my young little apple trees this year. Not a single worm (so far)!!! No spray.