ST SWITHUN IS CHRISTENING THE APPLES
Brand, Popular Antiquities, 1813, i, 342
There is an old saying when it rains on St Swithin’s Day, it is the Saint christening the apples. Apple growers ask St Swithin for his blessing each year because they believe …
Rain on St Swithin’s day ‘blesses and christens the apples’. No apple should picked or eaten before July 15th. Apples still growing at St Swithin’s day will ripen fully.
This is good to know with school holidays coming up. And since the gutters over my study are spouting forth Noah’s flood I’ll wager the apples’ll be positively saintly. Happy birthday Nick 
