Hedge Apple Hell

      I have always enjoyed seeing green hedge apples strewn across open fields. In fact, I like them so much that they made a guest appearance in my engagement photos. But my love was lost when I realized I had one of those prolific trees sitting it my front lawn.

"Let's make sure to not buy a house with a hedge apple tree after we get married." "Okay, I'll try to remember that."

     When we bought our house, I noticed that there were some hedge apples around the base of our front trees, working almost as a mulch. They eventually decomposed, summer came, and I didn't see any hedge apples for a few months. 

This is my second bin today.

     A handful of hedge apples started showing up in my yard a few weeks ago, but the squirrels made quick work of them. Unfortunately, the squirrels have not been holding up their end of our hedge apple bargain (many of my other trees have nuts of them now, so I get to enjoy the gentle crashes of discarded nut shells hitting my roof in the morning). My front yard, my driveway, my cul-de-sac, and my neighbors' yards are now covered in hedge apples (it doesn't help that I live on a hill!). While I would have probably let them mellow, I felt bad that my neighbors had to deal with my hedge apples, so I've started picking them up when I get home from work. I took a page from the previous homeowners, and I've been using the hedge apples as a pretty mulch (also I'm too lazy and cheap to buy mulch). 

fml

     Picking up the hedge apples has become more of an endeavor than I expected. Every time I think my hedge apple tree is done dropping its bundles of joy, I wake up to find my yard once again covered. But after getting two bins full today, I'm convinced they're almost all gone. We'll see.......

Please let this be the last bin of the season!