The fruit on many of our “wild” apple trees seems to be maturing faster than usual this year, perhaps because of the drought.
The two apples from two trees that I tasted were gag-grade tart/sour. I haven’t seen any deer eating the apples yet, but that’s probably because many grasses remain succulent and better tasting.
As you know from reading these posts, our wild apple trees actually are mostly abandoned trees that were planted by settlors and subsequent residents, who made food products, brandy, and cider out of the apples. Now, many of the trees are surrounded by undergrowth, which makes it difficult for humans (and sometimes even deer) to get near them.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on September 8 [tree] and 9 [individual apples], 2022.)