Now is the time to preserve apples. There are literally tons of apples ripening on trees here in the Fairpark Community. These apples might be in your yard, your neighbor’s yard or maybe even in a public park. Apples are great to eat fresh, and they will keep for quite a while in the fridge or a cold room. They are also great for making apple butter, applesauce or apple jelly.

One of my favorite things to do with a lot of the apples that I get this time of year is to make dried apples.

You need to get the apples into somewhat uniform thin slices. They can be up to 1⁄4 inch thick, but a little less than that is better. This can be done with one of the hand crank machines that peel, core and slice the apple. They aren’t too expensive and can sometimes be found in good shape at a thrift store. The slices they make are actually a long spiral that can be separated into the pieces you lay on your dehydrator screen. You can also cut, peel and core your apples with a paring knife,and make thin slices that way.

Once you have your slices, just arrange them on the trays of your food dehydrator, and in 5 to 10 days you will have delicious dried apples ready to store for the winter. That is if you don’t eat them all up! They are so good that it is easy to eat a lot of them. Kids love them and they make good gifts in small jars. Try sending some to school with the kids for lunch or snacks.