Allotment Diaries Part 14 - How to Dry Apples at Home and a Plot Update
Tutor: Rachel Moore, print artist
Join Rachel for the fourteenth instalment of her Allotment Diaries series!
Join keen wildlife gardener, allotment grower and resident VVH print maker and artist, Rachel Moore, for the latest instalment in her Allotment Diaries series. Rachel has been working her Kent allotment for nearly 20 years.
In this episode, Rachel takes us from the plot to the kitchen and shows us how to make the best of a bumper apple harvest by drying them for winter.
How to dry apples at home:
- Core and thinly slice your apples.
- Soak them in a lemon-water solution to prevent browning.
- Thread onto oiled sticks and leave somewhere warm and dry for around a week or use a very low oven for several hours.
- They’re ready when they look and feel like chamois leather.
Over on the allotment, this month has brought both wins and challenges. The tomatoes are ripening, the dahlias look amazing, but the beetroot has been a letdown, and the giant pumpkin is still slow to grow.
This video was recorded in July 2025.
In the Allotment Diaries series, join Rachel throughout the year as she shares tips for growing your own produce, along with the successes and challenges she faces each season. You’ll gain insight into what happens on an allotment, the unusual vegetables she's growing, and the wildlife that visits.
As Rachel says: “Don’t expect pristine produce or immaculately weeded, straight rows of veg!”
Video time
8 minutes
Catch up on last month's Allotment Diaries
Don't worry if you missed the last episode in Rachel's Allotment Diaries series, you can watch part 13 here!
