Old Method of Storing Apples.

Some of the older people in West Cork used to preserve apples as follows.

The apples would be placed in a pyramid and covered in a mixture of grass and earth from under the apple trees.  The mound was then covered with hessian cloth from sacks which had been soaked in pickle,  This kept the snails at bay.

The method was broadly similar to potato pits.

Present by Daniel Sullivan, Berehaven, West Cork, to Richard Boyle, The Great Earl of Cork, c 1636 of Harvey Apples, Bon Chretien and Bergamotte pears, Arbutus for his new garden at Stalbridge Park, Dorset and Irelands first horticultural export The Strawberry Tree’ (Arbutus unedo) from 1580s.

Inventory of plants grown by Gaelic Irish 1620 prepared by Philip O’Sullivan Bere, and early 19th century cultivation of grapes and pineapples by Timothy O’Donovan Magistrate of O’Donovan’s Cove, Durrus, West Cork.

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