When we returned to Budapest we left almost all the plums on the trees because they were not fully ripe yet. A week and a half later we returned to harvest the plums, but also the apples and the rest of the pears only to find that our sweet neighbours had stolen all our fruit. We managed to scrounge up about 15kg of apples and plums and then went into processing mode. There is a traditional wood-fuelled fruit drying oven in the next door village of Perkupa. Use of the oven is free if you provide your own wood (about ¼ cubic meter). It fits 6 trays, each holding about 15 kg of fruit. However, you have to be there for 8 hours to feed the fire and warm the oven to 80 degrees C, and then another 4-5 as the fruit dries. While we had the time, it was not an effective use of the oven with only 1 tray of fruit. Luckily, Krisztian from the Bodvaszilasi Friendship Circle who runs the oven, as well as one in Bodvaszilas came to our rescue. Not only was he full of good advice and local history, he and his father were using the oven that weekend and we could just throw our one tray in with theirs. 

We spent the morning coring, slicing and chopping apples, and then took 3 buckets of fruit over to Krisztian. The Bodvaszilasi Friendship Circle has lovingly restored several houses in Bodvaszilas, and has also planted 30 varieties of apple trees behind the Fruit House where the fruit drier is. The Fruit House also has a gorgeous attached summer kitchen.

The group will conduct a fruit tasting walk through the nearby countryside on September 21, picking fruit off older and forgotten varieties of fruit trees in the area. On October 19^th they will host a cabbage festival.

We were very impressed with the amount and quality of the work the group has devoted to the town. They have even produced a book on how to faithfully restore the traditional houses, and keep a database of photos of the old houses in their original state to guide you.

We returned the next afternoon for our dried fruit. The apple chips were wonderfully crunchy. The plums were in that in-between state we like best - a crunchy outside and gooey inside. The thicker apple slices were quite hard but also tasty. All the fruit will become softer quite soon as it absorbs moisture from the air. We took our baskets home, layers separated by baking paper, and packed everything into jars. Next year, the garden and forest willing, we want to try drying mushrooms and tomatoes.