Foragers' Diary - Part Four

Windfall Apples

Friends who were away on holiday were kind enough to lend me their house in London at the weekend for a late summer break.  Looking out of the kitchen window on their small urban garden, I noticed that the lawn was covered with apples and pears from their neighbours’ fruit trees.  So of course I happily gathered them up and brought them inside.


When I mentioned this to my friend he told me that one of his neighbours had actually come round and specifically given him permission to make use of any windfalls that fell over the wall.  I must confess my first reaction was to laugh.  It wouldn’t have occurred to me to do anything else than to use fruit which had landed on my property.  But then I got to wondering what the legal position actually was.

It seems the neighbour was quite right.  Under English law, specifically the 1968 Theft Act, the trees and any fruit belong to the person who owns the land where the tree is growing. Even if the fruit hangs over your side of the fence, even if it falls off and lands on your ground, it still belongs to the owner of the tree.  If it’s causing a nuisance you are entitled to collect it from your property but then you are required to offer it back to the owner.  Hopefully most people get on better with their neighbours than that, but it is worth bearing in mind the next time you see a tempting little bounty hanging over the hedge.

If you are lucky enough to have some windfall apples or pears, use them quickly.  They invariably get bruised when they land on the grass and this small blemish will rapidly spread to ruin the entire fruit.  Then you know what they say about one rotten apple spoiling the whole barrel?  Well apparently it applies to apples too!

Windfalls spoil quickly

If you have too many to use all at once, stewed apples (or pears) can be easily frozen.  It may seem like a chore now when there is a glut, but you’ll be glad of them in the winter.  Alternatively, if freezer space is limited, apple sauce can be bottled and keeps perfectly well in sealed jars.

Apple Sauce has many uses

Apple sauce is an essential accompaniment to roast pork.  It also makes a healthy and delicious dessert served on its own or with cream or custard. 

It can be added to breakfast cereals or pancakes and a friend of mine likes to eat it on toast.  As a child I remember my mother making something called Apple Snow.  I'm not sure I appreciated it back then, but it may be worth a second chance after forty odd years.