This week’s cooler mornings and start of the school year have me thinking about fall, and our first substantial apple harvest is right on time. We’ve been checking the trees regularly; giving a gentle tug to see if the stem gives way with a satisfying pop, and taste-testing for sweetness. At long last, this week one of our earlier ripening varieties (Zestar) is ready to pick. Their beautiful red blush over a green background is another tell-tale sign that they are at peak maturity. We headed out to the orchard and donned our picking paraphernalia (a souped-up bucket with shoulder straps and a quick-release cloth bottom) and quickly filled 20 wooden bushels boxes.
We planted our orchard when we bought the farm in 2012. We had heard the aphorism that “the best time to plant an orchard was 20 years ago, and the second best time is now,” so we dove straight in and planted 250 apple, pear, peach and plum trees. Having heeded the proverb rather than the advice from our wise orchardist friends (who suggested we wait a year before planting in order to do a little research and install some important infrastructure like fences and irrigation) we were a bit wet behind the ears as perennial growers. It was a steep learning curve as we chased deer out of the young trees, discovered (too late) how to keep mice from girdling the trunks under the snow, and read up on pruning. But now, 13 years later, many of the trees need to be “headed back” to keep the tops within reach from our ten-foot picking ladders and the harvest is heavier each season.
We may have gotten slightly carried away when perusing the tree catalogs that first spring, and we ended up planting 40 different varieties of apples! From heirloom to commodity, early blooming to late, and every flowery simile you can imagine to describe the assortment of flavors, our 3 acre hillside orchard has it all. While this makes management a little tricky, it has been a wonderful way to learn about the world of apples and supply our CSA and farm stand with the most diverse harvest possible. The Zestars will be followed by Rambo, Ginger Gold, Cortland, Honey Crisp, and Ida Red (to name a few) and we’ll wait anxiously for the few coveted Cox Orange Pippin. Look for samples in the farm stand throughout the harvest season so you can start to experience the rainbow of flavors and textures!
Cheers
Norah and the Sweetland Crew
Week 15 Harvest Tomatoes Bell peppers Green cabbage Kale Lettuce Rainbow chard Cherry tomatoes Eggplant Zucchini Carrots Celeriac Cucumbers Corn Onions Leeks Shallots
What’s Cooking This Week
You can find ingredients for all of these recipes in our farm store! We source meats, dairy, grains, beans, sweets, and more from local and sustainable producers. Don’t forget to use your CSA member discount by entering your account phone number in our POS (member discounts are automatically applied to LocalLine purchases for off-farm delivery).