Apple Season in New England
Fall has arrived in New England, and so to have the bus loads of students, and van loads of families, heading into the hills to pick apples. The annual apple picking trip has become a tradition for many in the region, and a connection to our history as a place where apples are grown.
But today, apple orchards are under increasing pressure, because of real estate development and larger factory farms from outside New England, like the Pacific Northwest. This Friday at 1, we’ll take a look at this iconic industry.
And check out David below, showing off some of the rare Massachusetts heirloom varieties we’ll be talking about, along with some fancy local apple wine.
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My favorite orchard in Massachusetts is the Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown, which is run by the University of Massachusetts (www.coldspringorchard.com/).
Besides selling excellent apples and pears to the public, and besides offering a spectacular view, the orchard is the site of superb research on tree fruit production. In particular, it has developed techniques whereby Massachusetts apple growers have very substantially reduced their use of pesticides, and current research promises even greater reductions in the near future. The orchard belongs to all of is, and the citizens of Massachusetts should be proud that they support such a worthwhile institution.
William Lockeretz
Brookline
I’ve celebrated my birthday by going apple-picking since I was in elementary school. There’s nothing like the sweet crunch of a Macoun to welcome Autumn.
We get a fruit share along with our farm share from and right now, I have a peck of fresh local apples on my counter. If they don’t all get eaten first, I’ll make apple cake this weekend. My favorite recipe comes from NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6521353
Our neighbor has a ‘wild’ apple tree in his front yard, and he lets us harvest as many as we want. Those are small, tart green apples that make terrific applesauce. It doesn’t get much more local than that.
I won’t buy apples from outside of New England, not with the bounty we have here.
Great show!
Totally enjoyed the enthusiastic apple show today! To bad there was not additional hour to your show today! We are a family of four that loves our local apples! We tend to go apple picking once a season, put frequent 2-3 local farms bi-weekly!
I loved hearing about the heirloom varieties, now I want to try some of those? Were would we go to get some out ordinary/ heirloom apples?
Wow! What a great show. Where to begin?
For all things cider, check out ciderday.org . It’s in western MA and has been around for several years.
As for the person with old trees, save them! I have 25 old Baldwin trees and love them. They produce 100 – 500 bushels a year. Consider talking with a local orchard for advice on pruning. My trees had been unattended for many years and took several years to get back in shape.
As for new trees, two very important facts. You will need to use a deer fence and you will need to use a mouse guard. I learned many times the hard way
Also, you will have to spray your trees, use dormant oil in the spring, then some fungicide and insecticide in for the new few months (once a week).
Great show! I really liked learning about some of the heirloom apples. Who cares what they look like if they have that REAL apple taste. Any that you think are especially adaptable to cooking? In Saveur Magazine they did a test to find which apples would bake up and retain their shape and flavor. They liked the Empire and Cortland, but said that a just picked apple is likely to hold it’s shape and taste best. Thanks for such a seasonal treat!
Hundreds of apple varieties are native to New England. Like wine grapes, many of these are completely unpalatable as they were bred solely for the cider mill.
MA has the history and the terroir for a reborn apple wine/cider/brandy industry. Unfortunately, we don’t have the proper legal climate. First off, it’s not even legal to sell alcohol at farmers’ markets. Some local breweries and wineries tried to change this and the bill didn’t live through the committee process. This seems to have contributed to the death of at least one popular craft brewery (Buzzard’s Bay Brewery): http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090917/NEWS/909170349
With a notable craft brewery going out of business, what chance does a winery with locally sourced apples have? Shipping laws and the new double taxation of alcohol sold in MA don’t exactly help either. Throwing more free money at farms is not going to save our orchards. Instead, let’s deregulate our industry and let that Yankee ingenuity celebrated in this program work for us like it always has. Premium wine and spirits, not pony rides, provide a potential future for our working farms.
My favorite local apple farm stands:
Noquochoke Orchards (Westport, MA)
Lots of heirloom varieties – they make it up to Boston area farmers’ markets
Dartmouth Orchards (Dartmouth, MA)
Their unpasteurized sweet cider is famous – down the road from UMass Dartmouth
I’ll have to check out that Nashoba Winery! Thanks for the great show!
Hi,
I’m listening to the re-broadcast on apples. Great show!
I think I am correct in stating that the reason Baldwin gave way to McIntosh is because the Baldwin only wants to bear every other year (with extra work, a smaller crop can be produced in the off year), whereas the Mac easily bears a full crop every year. It was a wholesale decision.
Also interesting to note: Shelburne Farm in Stow and Nashoba Winery in Bolton, both APR properties, were once owned by brothers named Clemens. They ran their business together growing in both locations, storing and packing in Stow.
I’m interested in planting a couple of fruit trees in my yard. Is the Baldwin apple available from a nursery? Would I need to have multiple trees for proper pollination?
I have a poorly pruned golden delicious that suffers from what I believe is plum ceruleo. Would treating the tree be sufficient, or would I be better off to get rid of this old tree and plant the Baldwins?
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