A LIFE OF APPLES

Pristine

2011-08-15T08:17:00.000-04:00

The second variety to come ripe in the orchard, this early season apple took me by surprise. Unlike many early varieties, I actually enjoyed eating this one. It has amazing texture for an apple that is ripe in August and the flavor is still very acidic, but also sweet. If it weren't still in the 80's I could almost be convinced I was eating a Goldrush.
Like its end-of-the-season counterpart, Pristine is also a product of the Purdue-Rutgers-Illinois (PRI) cooperative apple breeding program. It was released for commercial planting in the mid '90s and luckily for me has shown resistance or immunity to Apple Scab, Fireblight, Powdery Mildew and Cedar Apple Rust.

The other added benefit of this variety is that it has amazing storage properties for an early apple. Even after days without refrigeration the apples still retained a great texture that varied only slightly from the first one I bit into straight off the tree.

Early Harvest

2011-08-08T23:10:00.000-04:00

The first harvest of the season happened this past week at the orchard. The variety aptly, if not creatively called Early Harvest is similar to Yellow Transparent in size and date of maturity. The apples are small and only suitable for eating if you appreciate tartness. I imagine these small early apples would be more suited to pies, sauces or chutneys.

It was very satifiying to harvest the first apples. After a spring and summer of hard work, anticipation and a healthy dose of skepticism, it felt very rewarding to see the first fruits of my labor. This is only the beginning of the season and I am looking forward to all the surprises yet to come. With so many varieties in the orchard, it is sometimes hard to find any information on a certain cultivar in order to ascertain even an approximate harvest date. The only logical alternative is to walk the orchard on a regular basis, looking for those trees with a few fallen fruits around their trunk and tasting lots of apples. My time could certainly be spent in less desirable ways.

Catching Up

2011-08-03T11:35:00.000-04:00

The summer has flown by and although this blog has been idle since bloom, the orchard has been a bustling place. Spraying, mowing, thinning and summer pruning have taken up much of my time, while the apples have grown and the plums have ripened. Rather than spending what feels like precious minutes or hours this time of year, writing about the past several months in the orchard I have put together a photo journal of sorts. As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words, so this will by far me my longest post yet!

Fruit set, the miracle of pollination

Baby Pears

A freshly mowed orchard

"Silver Tree" Good coverage of Kaolin Clay

Almost time to thin


Adolescent Pear. "They just grow up so fast"

Thinning Time

Infested apples are thinned and removed from the orchard

Sometimes you just can't pick one

Prune plums

The first plums

So many plums

Summer Bounty

Apples are getting big!

Freedom. A very prolific variety with beautiful fruit

Showing some blush


Paula Reds. These will come off the tree within the month

Clapp Pears. Starting to color up, but they still need a few more months.

Bloom

2011-05-18T13:07:00.000-04:00

Although the rain has returned, the blossoms are out. I went out to visit the orchard yesterday after not being out there for several days and was struck by the chorus of trees almost all at some stage of bloom. All shades of pink, white and red brightened the fog veiled drizzle. The cool wet weather is a far from ideal for pollination. The majority of pollinators prefer the warmth of the sun and a calm wind. I was happy to see a few bumble bees buzzing around the wet violets and dandelions under some of the trees, but I am hoping for some drier warmer weather before the petals fall.

Some of the early blooming varieties already have a light carpet of petals under their branches, signaling the need for the first spraying of the Kaolin clay, which will hopefully help protect the young fruits from European Apple Sawfly, Codling Moth and Plum Curculio all of which tend to find their way into the orchard during or soon after bloom. If I had more time and resources I would have traps out to monitor the pests and their arrival, instead I will have to rely on the less accurate, but sill useful degree day tracking method to estimate when the first of these insects may pose a threat to the developing fruit. In an ideal world, I would already have made the first application of the Kaolin clay, but the rain makes applying it almost impossible and if there is one thing I already knew before I got into all this, it is that the reality tending an orchard is more often than not, far from ideal. Once in a while though, when you are surrounded by blossoms, flitting birds and the aromatic spring air, you forget all that and just appreciate it for what it is.

King Blossom

2011-05-08T21:32:00.000-04:00

Early Spring in the orchard

The first blossoms opened yesterday on the Summer Scarlet, the earliest variety in the orchard to bloom. Every fruiting spur on an apple tree produces a cluster of six buds; five centered around a central blossom known as the King Blossom. This blossom is the first to open and pollination of it is key in insuring good fruit set. The fruit of the king blossom is often larger than the others in the cluster and is selected at thinning time if one is thinning by hand.

King blossom on Summer Scarlet

The orchard is finally drying out after a very wet April that has left Cayuga Lake (Ithaca's Finger Lake) above flood stage. With several sunny days under our belt and forecasts for the same, my mind is able to rest a bit, not having to think about spraying sulfur for scab again until the next predicted rain. The maples have burst in the past week as have the dandelions, laying out a yellow carpet for the bees in the orchard. There is a trade off when it comes to managing the understory of an orchard in the spring. The more flowers that are blooming along side the apples, the more there is to tempt the bees, but the same flowers that attract the busy pollinators to the apple trees, also compete with them for attention.

Pink

I piled up the last of the winter prunings this past week, cutting the branches into manageable sizes and piling them as neatly as possible throughout the orchard. Once I can find a way to get the trailer load of prunings out of the mud, where it has sat for several weeks, I can slowly continue moving the prunings out of the orchard where they will ideally be burned to keep any diseased wood from spreading canker spores around the orchard.

Emma looking the trees over, checking my work

Some of the plums already have a blanket of pedals under their branches and the two lonely pears look ready to burst. The next several weeks will bring new trees blooming every day as the hundreds of apple varieties in the orchard each take the stage.

Clap Pear Blossoms

The Orchard

2011-04-30T10:58:00.000-04:00

Another winter has passed and although it may be shy in its arrival, spring is upon us. The new season has brought with it not only green buds on the trees and blooming forsythia, but also new developments in my life. This past winter I stumbled upon an opportunity I could not pass up: an orchard in need of a caretaker. One of a Kind Orchard was owned and cared for by Ray Reynolds and his wife Barbara for many years until Ray passed away nearly a year ago. For several years now the more than 500 trees comprising almost as many varieties of heirloom and traditional apples have gone untended. Not wanting to see such a treasure lost, Barbara has graciously allowed me to tend the orchard and take from it what fruit the harvest provides as my compensation.


Winter Pruning

Taking on such an endeavor feels like going from 0 to 60 in the matter of a few months. The knowledge I had of organic apple growing has already increased ten fold and I have come to appreciate the value of learning through necessity. Having taken on this project in mid-February, I spent the slow cold days of winter with my head in books on pruning and organic apple production, taking some of the "warmer" days to venture out to the orchard to make my first pruning cuts and walk in the knee deep snow, up and down the rows slowly getting to know the trees. March brought more pruning. As I become more accustomed to the saw and loppers and more confident in my cuts I moved through the trees more quickly, especially on those days when a friend or two would come out and lend a hand.
April brought a cool wet spring that put the trees almost two weeks behind last year (an exceptionally warm spring). April also brought a scramble to purchase the sprays and equipment I would need to make my first foray into organic apple production. A twenty-six gallon sprayer, a 19.5 horsepower used lawn tractor and lots of kaolin clay were among the purchases. Now in these final days of April, I have made my first application of sulfur and piled up most of the branches left strewn around the orchard from winter pruning. After an exceptional burst of April showers that will no doubt bring a plethora of may flowers, the rivers and streams are swollen and the ground saturated. Small ponds and mud abound in the orchard, making walking a messy business and getting around with any type of equipment almost impossible.

The early varieties have reached Tight Cluster, with the laggers still showing only a green tip. With scab season off to a wet start, the possibility of drier days ahead brings hope. The first plum in in full bloom, setting the stage for a symphony of pink and white which will grace the orchard in the coming weeks.

The first plum blossoms

Jonny Appleseed

2011-03-11T12:09:00.001-05:00

Today is Johnny Appleseed day! An icon of American folklore, Johnny Appleseed, born John Chapman, played an integral role in the establishment of frontier communities, but also in the evolution of the apple in the New World. To understand Johnny Appleseed, it is first important to have a basic understanding of the genetics of an apple and the means by which they reproduce. Unlike modern-day orchards which are almost always established using grafted trees with known varieties, John Chapman sowed the seeds of diverse orchards and nurseries where no two apples where alike.

John Chapman was born in 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts. Historians know little about his childhood. They do know that he learned about apple growing as a young man, while working for a neighbor who owned an apple orchard.

Around 1797, Chapman moved west. He gathered sacks full of apple seeds from cider mills in settled areas. Then he headed for the frontier, keeping just ahead of westbound pioneers. He begged, borrowed, bought, or rented land near creeks and rivers, then planted seeds there. He tended the seedlings until settlers arrived. Then he sold his seedlings or orchards and moved on. He kept this up for nearly 50 years. He started orchards in western New York and Pennsylvania as well as Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois.

Chapman spread not only apples, but also the teachings of a small Christian sect called the New Church. He opposed violence of all kinds. He got along well with Native Americans. He was a vegetarian. He lived frugally. He was extremely thin, went barefoot most of the time, and wore only discarded clothing.

Historians aren't sure exactly when Chapman died. It happened sometime in March 1845 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His obituary in the March 22, 1845, Fort Wayne Sentinel reads in part: "The deceased was well-known throughout this region by his eccentricity, and strange garb. He is supposed to have considerable property, yet denied himself [...] the common necessities of life [...] He submitted to every privation with cheerfulness [...] believing that in so doing he was securing snug quarters hereafter."

-- From "The Writer's Almanac"

Although Johnny Appleseed takes on a largely mythological role in modern culture, the impacts of his work are very real. He saw every seed and every tree as valuable and worthy of existence. Although he may have taken a more spiritual approach to this appreciation, the genetic diversity found in his orchards had a very real biological significance. As we move towards large orchards with fewer and fewer varieties and the continued loss of many forgotten heirlooms, perhaps we could use another John Chapman.

Story of an Apple: Arkansas Black

2011-01-30T12:38:00.000-05:00

Arkansas Black is an heirloom apple that originated in Benton county, Arkansas. Quite possibly raised in the orchard of Mr. Brathwaite, the first fruit was harvested around the year 1870. In some cases Arkansas Black has erroneously been listed as identical to the variety simply known as Arkansas, due to the similarity in name and origin, when in fact the trees and fruit bear little resemblance to each other. Unlike the Arkansas, which is commonly accepted to be a seedling of Winesap, the parentage of Arkansas black is less certain although it is suggested that the Arkansas Black also has Winesap among it's ancestors. The name for the variety comes from the fruits deep red hue, which when ripe can appear almost black.

Arkansas Black, Cornell Orchards, taken beginning of September. Color becomes significantly darker prior to harvest in late October.

S.A. Beach in The Apples of New York describes the Arkansas Black as "one of the most beautiful apples." He goes on to say, "It is a good keeper and commands a good price in market." The variety was a popular cultivar in parts of Arkansas and Missouri during the last part of the 19th century. During this period it is believed that Arkansas Black may have comprised up 10 to 15 percent of the apples grown in the state of Arkansas. In the first decades of the 20th century, Codling Moth infestations, drought and the economic decline of the Depression all took their town on the Arkansas apple industry, which never recovered. Since then Arkansas Black has been grown in many regions of the united states, mostly in small quantities as an antique variety, used primarily for cooking and cider. More recently it has begun to make it's way into the commercial market. The other day I found it at my local food cooperative, the first time I have seen it for sale outside of an orchard or the farmer's market.

In the orchard the variety has shown some resistance to Apple Scab and Fireblight, as well as a strong resistance to Cedar Apple Rust. It is a good bearer, although a poor pollinator. It is harvested here in New York in late October or early November and will keep for many months in storage.

Warmer Days Ahead

2011-01-05T09:32:00.000-05:00

The winter season is often a time to hunker down, do some good reading and thoughtful contemplation. Reflect on the year gone by and plan for the coming seasons. It is also a time to take a trip to warmer climates, for some of us lucky enough to find the time and means to to travel. For the next few weeks I will be taking a hiatus from the blog and from the blustery weather of central New York, to travel again to Mexico and Guatemala. To be honest, this hiatus may go largely unnoticed, being as I have not been as active in posting on my blog as I had imagined I would be in the slower winter months. My apologies.

New York Winter

In other news, I have been giving a lot of thought to the coming spring even if the days are still short and there are still apples in the cellar. I have been scheming with a few friends and planning a small orchard of sorts to be planted this coming spring on some land just outside of Ithaca. With the wheels in motion, I have ordered a small number of dwarfing and semi-dwarfing rootstocks on which I hope to graft my first apple trees. The whole process from the graft point up will be a huge learning experience. Much of it is still in the planning and researching stages, but I am still excited to think ahead to sloppy March thaws and May blossoms.

The Golden Apple Part III a.k.a. Goldrush

2010-12-27T11:56:00.002-05:00

Unlike my first two posts about the golden apple, this is not a story of mythology, but rather one of a tangible fruit. The Goldrush apple is a product of nature, but also of science, more specifically of apple breeding, which has been the source of many new apple varieties over the past century. Unlike the Baldwin, McIntosh or Red Delicious, which all originated as chance seedlings, the Goldrush is the progeny of several existing varieties including Rome, Golden Delicious and a variety of crab apple, which were all intentionally crossed and recrossed over a series of generations to eventually yield what would become the Goldrush.

The Goldrush Family Tree from: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/pri/coop38-3.html

All of these crosses were performed by the Purdue, Rutgers and Illinois (PRI) breeding program, which developed the Goldrush as part of their ongoing attempt to breed scab resistant apple varieties.

Almost all of the varieties released by PRI under this breeding program, which include Enterprise, Redfree and Goldrush among others, contain a single scab resistant gene V_f derived from Malus floribunda, a species of crab apple. The original tree that bore what would become Goldrush apples was planted in 1973 on the Purdue Horticulture Research Farm in West Lafayette, Indiana. It was one of many trees that were planted with seeds resulting from a cross between a Golden Delicious as the seed parent and a variety known as Co-op 17 as the pollen parent. Its official location on the farm was in block HE row 4, tree 16. In October 1980 the tree was selected for further testing under the name Co-op 38. Not until 1994 was the variety finally released to growers under the name Goldrush.

Because of it's scab resistance, Goldrush is a good variety for organic growers, who often struggle to control scab in varieties that do not have the built-in genetic resistance. I had not heard the name until this fall when I picked at Cornell Orchards. During conversations about the picking season, Goldrush would often be mentioned as the variety that marked the end of the season, the final apple to be picked, often in the cold, sometimes snowy days of early November. Like many late season apples, Goldrush are particularly good keepers, often needing additional time in storage to fully ripen. In fact, several people I have spoken to, do not recommend biting into a Goldrush until at least a month after they have been picked.

I chose them as one of a few varieties to store in my basement for the winter months. My basement, although cooler than the house, is not a true cellar by any stretch of the imagination. I have found it takes truly good keepers to stand the test of time with my storage methods. Today I dug out a Goldrush to test the flavor and texture. Although it was slightly soft to the touch, when cut open the texture of the flesh was firm and amazingly crisp with no mealiness. It tasted strikingly sweet, yet there was a distinct zing hidden in the complex flavors. Of the storage varieties I have encountered this is one of my favorites. We will see how it holds up in February or March, but for now I can say this apple excited my taste buds and added a little sweetness to a cold and very snowy December day.

First Snow

2010-12-12T10:42:00.001-05:00

Winter's first snow is always a thing of excitement for me. Like the sight of the first Robin or the taste of my first apple, I feel as though it serves to mark the season. This past week the flurries and flakes flew in the Finger Lakes region, blanketing the ground with a dusting some places and up to a few feet in others.
After a few weeks back in Wisconsin for an extended Thanksgiving visit with family and friends, I returned to Ithaca last weekend. With flurries in the air this past week, I also returned to the orchard to help with some fencing work.

Slowly, over the past several years, the orchard has been replacing the archaic chain-link fence that has surrounded the Lansing orchard since before the first trees were planted. November and December are usually the only months slow enough at the orchard to allow for time to build the fence and that is only if there is not too much snow on the ground to prevent the tractors to from getting around the orchard.
So this week, with highs only in the mid-twenties, I dug out my long underwear and fleece-line boots and headed out to the fence line.
The trees in the orchard are almost all bare. Here and there a few leaves still cling, mostly on the later varieties like the Ida Red and Gold Rush. The trees left naked, dozing off for their winter sleep, appear so much smaller than they did in their full regalia. Those that seemed to tower above you in October now have a more modest reach towards the sky. The fallen, half rotten apples still show their rosy cheeks through the dusting of snow upon the ground. The apples missed by the picking crew, those camouflaged by the leaves, now hang like forgotten ornaments on the tree. The Golden Delicious, which were so well hidden a few months ago now stand out in stark contrast to the dark branches and snow the flies through the air and blankets the ground.
Building fence is not something that can be rushed. Stretching three hundred and thirty feet of ten-foot tall wire mesh, requires close attention to detail in order to maintain proper tension and work out any kinks that form as the fence conforms to the contours of the land. The key is finding ways to keep warm, moving as much a possible. Taking breaks for a cup of tea or hot chocolate never hurts either.

After Apple Picking

2010-11-14T11:29:00.000-05:00

My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
Magnified apples appear and disappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear.
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.

And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.

-Robert Frost

Post Harvest Clean-up

2010-11-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

Henry David Thoreau wrote in his book Wild Apples a simple yet bold sentence: "All apples are good in November." In the past week I have had many opportunities to test this assertion. We are in the midst of the post-harvest clean-up of the orchard, raking apples, cutting suckers and mowing weeds and high grasses. This tidying of the orchard has allowed me to glean those hidden apples of all varieties and after a great deal of sampling I would have to say I respectfully disagree with Mr. Thoreau. Perhaps Thoreau was not graced with the pleasure of biting into a McIntosh that has defied the laws of gravity since mid-September. Some varieties, those picked only a few weeks prior, give to the pallet a sensation very similiar to the flavor and texture they had the day I picked them. Others seem only to worsen with age, becoming soft, mealy and in some cases overly sweet. There are those however that when bitten into have a taste that seems only possible this time of year. For this apple, I must wholeheartedly agree with Thoreau when he says the November air "is the sauce it is to be eaten with.'

The days are colder, but still of an enjoyable temperature to work in. The key I have found is to dress in layers, which can be peeled off as the body and the day begin to warm. Many of the apple trees have begun to turn in color, most to various shades of yellow and gold, a few to orange or even a deep crimson.
Putting the orchard to bed is hard but satisfying work. In some ways raking the apples out from under the trees feels much more physically strenuous than picking the fruit. The job is messy with apples being crushed under foot and the sent of fermenting fruit in the nostrils. As a crew we slowly make our way up and down each row. Some varieties leave little work to be done, with only an apple here or there to be found, others have yellow and red carpets under them. This is a part of the harvest season I have never been a part of before, but I am greatful to learn what goes into preparing the orchard for winter. It is a good reminder that the work does not end when the apples are off the trees.

Raked apples

Apple picking day 43: The Last Apple

2010-10-31T10:05:00.000-04:00

Goldrush

As I near the end of a picking season I always find myself experiencing a mixture of sadness and relief. Sadness that the season and work I love is coming to an end and relief that my body will soon get some much needed time to rest and heal from the strenuous days of picking.

As the final day nears, I often think about the last apple of the season. What variety will it be? What part of the orchard will it be in? Will I know it is the last apple of the season? I suppose I never really remember my last apple after the fact. There is no ceremony to it, but somehow the last day of picking does take on a special meaning.
The first part of the past week we spent in the Fuji, some of the longest rows in the orchard that seemed to stretch on and on, compelling you to glance down to the end of the row each time you dumped your bucket, past the empty bins waiting to be filled. Although there were only three rows, the crop was heavy and it took three of us several days to pick the trees clean. By Wednesday all that was left in the orchard was the Goldrush and a few cider apples.

Bins lined-up in the Fuji

The day was warm, in the high seventies and in many ways it felt much more like the first day of picking rather than the last. It was not the cold windy November day that I envisioned picking the Goldrush in. It was, none the less, very pleasant and the bare trees of the surrounding forest, the honking of the geese overhead and the golden leaves of the Goldrush trees were a sufficient reminder of the season.
The pace of the day felt slower than most. We worked steadily, but it felt as though there was no rush to reach the inevitable. Instead I felt a desire to savor the final moments of a long season. Taking the time to sit under the trees and share a lunch with fellow pickers or pause at the top of a ladder to take in the view of the lake and the maples as they let loose their final leaves, leaving the stage to the red and russet oaks.
Although the crew was spread out for most of the day in different parts of the orchard picking a few remaining cider apples and beginning clean-up, we all converged in the last of the Goldrush by the end of the day. Call me sentimental, but it felt rather symbolic to have the entire crew share in the last of the harvest. As I walked away from the trees I felt many things, but mostly a sense of gratitude for the harvest and for the opportunity to partake in such noble work. As the last of the bins were loaded onto the truck to be hauled back to the orchard, I took comfort in knowing there will always be another season.

The last load of apples for the season

Although the picking is over there is still a lot to do in the orchard to prepare it for winter. The apples have to be raked out from under the trees, all the suckers cut and the isles between the trees mowed. This work should take another few weeks, time I will be happy to spend among the trees.

Goldrush on the last morning of picking

Picking Day 37: Geese

2010-10-20T00:36:00.002-04:00

I walked in the door tonight with my hands full of cider, a jar of grape jelly from a co-worker and a picking bucket of heirloom apples. It was one of those moments where it struck me how wonderful the season is and how lucky I am to be blessed with such work. The end of the day is my favorite time, especially when my hands are callused and my feet sore.

Morning in the Goldens

Geese few over my head many times today, rounding up any last stragglers as they make there journey south. One small V would fly over, than a few minutes later a larger one would appear from the direction in which the first disappeared. There is talk of snow, although I have my doubts.

Romes

We picked the last of the Golden Delicious this morning. It started out cold and wet, the hands numb, not wanting to grip the apples. I could see my breath as I filled my first bin. Without much warning the sun broke through, striking the apples in such a way they almost seemed to glow. By mid-morning we moved on to Cameos and then Romes and few last Jonagolds. We fished the day picking a couple bins of Ida Reds, which seemed to be some of the largest apples in the whole orchard. Unfortunately there are only three short rows of them and before we know it they will be gone.
Most of the maples have lost their color, although one outside my living-room window is still stuck in mid-summer. The oaks still have awhile, as do the apple trees, which almost always seem to stay green long after the woods around them have turned.

Apple Picking Day 31: Shorter Days and Cold Nights

2010-10-14T07:03:00.002-04:00

Ida Red

The nights have been getting colder, bringing out the reds and yellows in the maples, making some of them almost neon. Frost is still to come here in the Ithaca Valley, but up at the orchard the grass was coated in the first frost of the season this morning, creating a shimmering silver blanket as the long rays of the early morning sun brushed across it. The Golden Delicious were cold to the touch this morning, making the hands partially numb for the first hour of picking. By mid-morning the sweater was peeled off and my lunch I was in a t-shirt, welcoming the rays of what I might consider an almost perfect October day.

Golden Delicious

After a morning in the Golden Delicious, we moved into the two rows of Ida Red. They were big and easy to see compared to the Golden Delicious and Mutsu which have a habit of hiding in the thick foliage. Picking the Idas always marks a turn toward the end of the season. With only a week or a little more of picking left, the orchard is beginning to look bare.
We finished the Mutsu yesterday, picking the last of the softball size fruit felt like a bit of a letdown, but there was also a satisfying sense of accomplishment as we enter the last push to get in the the harvest before it falls off the trees. Although many are on the ground, there is still a good number of empires left on the trees, probably most of a days work. There are still more Golden Delicious, Fuji, Rome and of course Gold Rush left to pick as well.

Roxbury Russet

Northern Spy

The Northern Spy where picked at the end of last week a long with all but a smattering of Jonagolds. Fortunes also came in off the trees as did a few of the heirloom varieties including the Roxbury Russet.

Jonagold

This is the kind of fall weather I like, the late afternoons are cool, the mornings chilly and the colors of the maples are absolutely exquisite. Each apple that falls to the ground or is placed in my picking bucket is a reminder of the fleeting nature of the season. I begin to find a comfort in the sight of a tree that still has apples on it, but I also have an all to keen awareness that this harvest season, like all others will end. What a wonderful reason to enjoy every day that is left.

View from the Mutsu

Apple Picking Day 23: Pressing Cider

2010-10-07T18:56:00.002-04:00

For the past week were were in the midst of typical Ithaca weather -rain. Several days last week were rained out and the first part of this week was not much different. Usually we do not pick in the rain since the moisture makes the apples softer and easier to bruise. It also makes the ladders treacherous and any slope becomes a little more challenging for a tractor hauling a half-ton bin of apples.

The sorting table

Last Thursday we enjoyed the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole which dumped upwards of five inches of rain on most the area. With little work to be done outdoors, most of the crew found work in the shed sorting apples, making grape juice or pressing cider. I was lucky enough to take part in the latter.

Apple on their way to the grinder

The cider room is a rather small room attached to the rest of the shed with a few not so complicated looking pieces of machinery. It has a cement floor and every thing is washable with hoses, making for easy clean-up. The apples are first dumped from a bin unto a conveyor belt where any rotten or bird-pecked apples are sorted out. This was my task for most of the day and although it was nothing glorious, I found it very enjoyable and felt lucky to be dry on a such a day, even if it meant trading my picking bucket for a sticky apron and earplugs.
From the conveyor belt the apples go through a washer which gets off any grime, such as the remnants of the aforementioned rotten apples. From there they go into a hopper where they are taken up a second conveyor and dropped into a grinder. Once ground they are taken via a vacuum pump through a hose to the pressing table where the slury is deposited in layers. Each later is wrapped in a poris cloth and separated by a sheet of plastic. As soon as the layers start to grow cider begins to drip like sweet nectar out of the lower layers from the weight of the ones above. The stack will continue to grow until it reaches about twenty layers, at which point it starts to sway a bit. At this point it is rolled onto a hydraulic press and slowly squeezed. The cider drips into troughs and then is pumped into a tanker truck outside. Each stack contains roughly thirty-five bushels of apples and will yield around one hundred gallons of cider.

The stack before pressing

The stack after pressing

After each stack is fully pressed, it is disassembled and the remnants of the ground apples, which are now almost bone dry are discarded. The process is repeated over and over again becoming one deliciously sticky mess. Not a bad way to spend a rainy day.

Apple Picking Day 22: Hard-working Hands

2010-09-29T23:02:00.001-04:00

My hands have been showing the wear and tear of several weeks of picking. The scratches, welts and calluses that come from picking thousands of apples a day. The trees always seem to be able to reach out and find the same cut or banged-up knuckle over and over again. It is especially bad with apples that spur a lot, where the constant motion of knocking the spur off the apple can wreak havoc on your cuticles.

After a day of picking Cortlands

Wounds that won't seem to heal

Today we can add to the list of battle wounds, a swollen wrist I got from picking a little too enthusiastically in the first of the Mutsu. I may have picked the most bushels of any day so far this year, but I also picked myself right out of the orchard and into an Ace bandage. After applying Arnica and a heat rub, I hope this will be a temporary setback, only a reminder to slow down and listen to my body. Picking apples can be very hard on your body, especially when you put all you have into it, which I have a tendency to do.
Tomorrow I expect a reprieve from picking as we are expecting more rain. Instead I will spend the day under a roof helping press cider. I hope with a day of rest my wrist will be ready to face the trees when the sun shines again.

Waiting to pick the Empires in Lansing

After about a month of picking we are in the thick of it. The equinox passed about a week ago and at the orchard it seems we have also reached a point of equality, with many trees already picked bare and a similar number still laden with fruit. All of the McIntosh and Cortland have been picked and we have put a good dent in the Empires as well as the Jonagolds . Still ahead lie the Mutsu, sitting there like the promised land, along with Golden and Red Delicious, Ida Reds, Liberty, Fugis and Northern Spy as well as a handful of lesser known varieties. Last will come Goldrush, in late October or even the first part of November.

Cortland in the early morning

Picking Apples Day 14: Cider Apples

2010-09-20T20:33:00.001-04:00

Chisel Jersey

For many people cider is a sweet fresh pressed juice that can be found at any orchard in the autumn months. Historically however, the term cider referred to hard cider, which was the only kind of cider for centuries until refrigeration and more recently pasteurization allowed cider to be kept fresh for weeks or even months. Today's fresh cider is pressed from the very same apples that we are used to eating, ones like McIntosh, Cortland and Honeycrisp. Hard cider on the other hand can be made from a wide variety of apples, many of them seedlings.

Cider apples are rarely consumed fresh, many of them are lovingly referred to as "spitters," due to the high concentration of tannins and generally unsavory texture that makes them unpalatable. Historically hard cider was made from almost any apple in the orchard and early cider orchards were often planted from seeds and did not require the grower to have mastered the art of grafting.

At Cornell Orchards there is a far corner block of apples with names like Summerset Redstreak and Chisel Jersey. This is the cider block where they cultivate a handful of different apples that have traditionally been used for making hard cider. Last week we took a few afternoons to pick some of these apples. It was a nice change of pace from the usual picking. One does not have to be nearly as gentle with the cider apples being as they are going straight to the press. Unlike other apples cider apple drops can also be collected since the fermentation and alcohol will kill any unwanted bacteria.

picking cider apples

First we picked up the drops under the trees with five gallon bucks, the apples making a fun "ker-plunk" as we dropped them into the empty buckets. The drops went into a separate bin from the ones that came from the trees, but all will find there way to the press. What cider apples lack in taste they make up for in appearance: they are beautiful colors and a single variety can range from green to yellow orange and red depending upon their ripeness. They are also varied in their texture, some are very firm while others feel almost spongy. Picking cider apples feels much more relaxed than picking where one is getting paid per bushel. The crew moves together though the trees, stripping the apples from the branches. There is usually conversation and banter and sometimes even a bit of singing when the tractor is not around.
We will revisit the block a few more times this season as different varieties come ripe. When it is all said and done and the apples meet the press, I hope to get my hands on some of the juice and try my luck at a batch or two.

A full bin of Chisel Jersey ready to be hauled away

Picking Apples Day 11: The Standard

2010-09-14T21:50:00.001-04:00

At Cornell Orchards there is a small collection of very old trees known as standards. This term refers to the rootstock, which in the case of these trees was grown from a seed. Almost any apple tree in a conventional orchard is grown on a particular rootstock bred to produce a certain size tree, such as dwarf tree which will only grow to be eight to ten feet tall . Prior to the propagation of particular rootstocks, all apple trees where grafted onto seedling rootstocks which would grow to the height and size of a wild apple tree. These standard trees could easily reach eighteen to twenty feet in height and a similar breadth. They are a whole different breed of apple tree, anachronisms in an age of controlled breeding and dwarf trees, magnificent stalwart giants of a time largely gone by.

The rows of standard trees at Cornell used to stretch for almost a quarter mile, all the way to the treeline. Now, rows of grapes and dwarf trees grow where these trees put down roots for almost a century. Less than a dozen standard trees remain, mostly Cortlands and one McIntosh. Today I got to pick that McIntosh.

Sixteen-foot straight ladders (eight foot in background)

After a morning of picking dwarf Cortland trees with eight foot tripod ladders we broke for lunch under the large McIntosh tree, surrounded by fallen apples. Leaned up against the tree were two sixteen-foot straight wooden ladders waiting for us. Finding the right nooks and crannies of the trees in which to place the ladder requires a lot of thought and a little intuition. I felt as if I was picking apples they way they were meant to be picked; with thought and care and at the top of every climb up the ladder, an awe-inspiring view. The tree took two of us about half an hour to pick and yielded only half a bin of apples, although I suspect there was another half of a bin on the ground under the tree. High in the upper most reaches of the tree there were a few apples even our sixteen foot ladders and six foot bodies could not reach, as if the tree was reminding us that we can not always attain every fruit.

After we were done I took an apple from the bin, call it a reward if you will. As McIntosh goes it was incredibly delicious, one of the best I have tasted. The horticulturist in me knew that this could have little to do with the rootstock and much more with the particular variety grafted onto that rootstock, but I would like to believe that only a tree such as this one could yield such delectable fruit.

Apple Picking Day 9: Rainy Mornings and McIntosh

2010-09-13T19:04:00.010-04:00

The last few mornings have been wet and rainy, coating the trees and the apples in small cool droplets that work there way up your sleeve and drop into your eyes as you pick the upper branches. It has also been much cooler, making me grateful for long sleeves, dry shoes and the morning cup of coffee I take out into the orchard with me. It certainly feels like fall has come to stay and every day I see more and more maples with tinted tips.
We have moved into the world of Macs, some tastier than others, but all soft easily bruised. The rain only exacerbates these traits making the apples ever so easy to blemish. McIntosh are otherwise very enjoyable to pick. They come off the tree with only a small flick of the wrist and many of them are very sizable, almost reaching the proportions of a Cortland. Although the days have started out cool and wet the sun almost always shows it's face by the afternoon.

Elaina donning her rain gear on a rainy apple morning

The forecast is for more rain and more Macs as we move into mid-September and closer to the autumnal equinox. It feels wonderful to be picking in the cool air upon which rides the nostalgia that makes this my favorite season. I am cool damp and content.

The morning cup of coffee

Picking Day 8: A New Variety

2010-09-09T19:06:00.001-04:00

The weather has turned toward autumn, much to my delight. For the last two mornings I have worn a long sleeve shirt into the orchard and armed myself with a hot cup of tea. Rain has also threatened for the last two days. We have been picking in the Lansing orchard where one can see the rain rolling over the western hills across the lake. The lake kept most of the rain on it's western shores, as mist and a few rainy gusts were the only inclement weather that intruded upon our picking.
We have moved past the Galas and into Macs and Honeycrisp as well as Jonamacs. Today I picked Shizukas for the first time; a sister apple to the Mutsu that ripens earlier in the season. If I had not been told otherwise I would have had little trouble believing I was picking Mutsu.
Unfortunately I did not carry my camera with me today so the following picture was taken after the fact. Tonight we are baking the first apple pie of the season with some Galas and Honeycrisp.


Shizuka 2010

Mutsu 2009

Picking Day 4: Heat Wave

2010-09-03T07:31:00.001-04:00

All I can really say about the last few days is hot hot hot. Although the nights are cool September nights, the days have been stuck in August or maybe even July with ninety plus days all week. Yesterday I picked out at the Lansing orchard for the first time having spent my first two days at the Ithaca orchard. Both are owned by Cornell and used for research. The Lansing orchard along with apples also has grapes, pears and pawpaws. It sits on the eastern bluff of one of the finger lakes providing a stunning view of Cayuga Lake - a tempting proposition when one is standing at the top of a ladder in the hot sun at three in the afternoon.

It has been the week of Galas, first color picking and then stripping. The stripping largely consisted of pulling small green marble size apples off the tress. There is no finesse involved in this kind of picking, as the tree seems almost as determined to hang on to these small spheres of joy as you are to pull them off, ideally getting them into your picking bucket. Paired with the hot temperatures, this kind of picking quickly leads to frustration and low morale on the crew, which in turn compounds the situation by making the task take even longer than it otherwise would. Today should be the last day of extream heat and also of the Galas, if all goes well. Next week still has highs in the seventies and eighties, but somehow I think it may feel just a little more like fall.

Rows of trees with the Cornell Orchard shed behind

Picking: Day One

2010-08-30T23:51:00.000-04:00

Warm and hazy this morning. If the last days of August were a competition between Summer and Autumn, summer definitly had the upper hand today. The small crew of only ten or so met not so promptly at eight this morning. I was given the choice of several unclaimed picking bags to choose from, no doubt the cream of the crop. Choosing the right picking bag can be the difference between a good season and a bad one. Shoulder straps can be too narrow, twisted or not padded. Also there are several different mechanisms for latching the bottom to the bucket; my favorite are two side ropes with knots that fit in a small "hook" on the side of the bucket. Several different knots along the rope allow the depth of the bucket to be adjustable.

We color picked the Galas today; a beautiful apple with a stunning blush that almost looks neon when very ripe. The thinning, which had been done by spraying, had been only mildly successful, which left lots of clumps of apples and entire apple "columns" jutting from the tops of some of the trees. The day was a hot one, with plenty of brakes in the shade. I have learned that the early season is not the time to push yourself. I took lunch under an old standard McIntosh tree grown from seedling rootstock nearly a hundred years ago. The shade was welcome. It felt really good to be out in the orchard, again at home. My day ended with an unexpected, yet predictable sunburn and a cold beer on the porch.

A New Season

2010-08-28T08:03:00.000-04:00

The air is brisk this morning; fifty-seven degrees, and the angle of the light seems a little more acute. The first leaves on the maples across the road have started to show an orange tint, although the tree still hangs proudly onto its leaves, as I onto the last days of summer. The apple harvest is here again. Yesterday I put on the picking bag for the first time this season, harvesting Galas and Honeycrisp up at West Haven Farm. The last of the peaches are still clinging to the threes, but the tops of the Galas are awash in a full blush. We are doing the first color pick on the Galas, taking most of the tops and skimming an outer layer of the trees. The Honeycrisp are a little slower to come on and less uniform. With ninety degree days predicted for the first part of this coming week, the Galas will probably be off the trees by Labor Day.

On Monday I will start working five days a week at Cornell Orchards. I am ready to be out in the orchard and my excitement is almost uncontainable at times. A good friend and fellow picker from Moose Hill has come to stay in our home and has already begun to pick. In this past week I have lived vicariously through the little snippets of her day that she shares. I look forward to having my own stories to tell. Happy picking!

Picking Peaches

2010-08-20T07:38:00.002-04:00

Peaches are the nectar that drips from the thick rich days of late summer. As I write this I am swimming in that nectar. I have spent several mornings this past week picking peaches up at West Haven Farm. The experience has been gastronomically rewarding and serene. Picking peaches for the first time I have discovered the act is much different from that of harvesting apples. Due to the delicate nature of the fruit, peaches must be picked slowly with a more gentle touch that allows the process to feel almost meditative. I started out picking some very ripe peaches, the flesh of which felt as if it could give in to the slightest pressure. Not sure of my skill in handling the fruit I only picked two or three before placing them into a plastic flat lined with paper bags. As I became more sure of myself I took small handfuls, balancing them in my open palm.

I found that stepping on a fallen peach was a much different experience from stepping on a carpet of overripe apples. The squish one feels when stepping on a peach feels almost sacrilegious, even if the flesh is half rotten. Although some of the fallen fruit had been on the ground long enough to be discovered by the bees, many of the drops were fresh. Having not the heart to tread on such perfectly ripe fruit, I ventured onto my hands and knees before picking a tree searching for the orange and golden orbs hidden in the tall grass. Returning home with more ripe peaches than I knew what to do with I spent all of an evening cutting, skinning and freezing bags of peaches. And when all the work was done, I sat down with a bowl of peaches and heavy cream drizzled with local honey. Although I have to say that I still prefer picking apples, picking peaches does have it's own charm. There are few things that compare to sitting on the back of a flatbed truck, watching the sun sink low as the inevitable excess juice from a freshly fallen peach drips down your chin.

Apples in Literature

2010-08-11T20:02:00.000-04:00

This is a quote for a book I am currently reading, I believe I will let it speak for itself.

life will break you. nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearnings. you have to love. you have to feel. it is the reason you are here on earth. you are here to risk your heart. you are here to be swallowed up. and when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could."
--Louise Erdrich "The Painted Drum"

Story of an Apple: Mutsu

2010-07-21T10:08:00.000-04:00

The Mutsu (陸奥ムツ) originated across the Pacific in Japan, at the Aomori Apple Experimental Station. It is a cross between the Golden Delicious and the Indo, a seedling of the White Winter Pearmain, which is grown primary in Japan and China. The Mutsu was first cultivated in the 1930s, but did not receive it's name until almost two decades later. After being exported to England it was renamed the Crispin in 1968. However, in most places other than the British Isles, it is still known as Mutsu. The apple was named after the Mutsu province of Japan (see map), where it is believed to have first been grown.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyagi_Prefecture

Although I had heard the name several times, I was not properly introduced to the Mutsu until this past fall at Moose Hill. For most of the season the Mutsu held almost a mythical place in conversations about picking and bushel counts. If you were going to make that two hundred bushel day....it was going to be in the Mutsus. The Mutsu is a pickers delight; it has the right combination of good size and a firm flesh that does not bruise as easily as a Mac. When it does bruise however, the golden skin does little to deceive the flesh beneath. Any good apple picker knows that golden apples reveal bruises much more readily than their crimson counterparts.
The Mutsu is one of the last apples to be picked, needing cold nights to sweeten and develop it's blushing cheek. Probably one of my favorite apples to eat while picking, one never goes hungry when there are Mutsus in the picking bucket; more than can be said for the Red Delicious. One of the Mutsu's downfalls, for the picker and grower alike, is it's tendency to bear a light crop the year after an especially heavy one. This was true for one of the blocks at Moose Hill, where some trees held less than a bushel of apples and a trip up the ladder felt hardly worth the energy expended.

Mutsu picking is often a good example of what pickers term "gravy." Everyone knows, but no one will actually talk about how good the picking is. There may even be secret accusations of gravy grabbing and you will rarely find anyone taking a break. In fact, it was a day in the Mutsu block at Moose Hill, the only day, when I and several others on the crew chose to take a lunch of Mutsu in the trees, entirely forgoing the hot food and cold water back at the bunkhouse, in order to try for that two hundred bushel day. I myself my have been called a gravy grabber that day, I have no shame in admitting it. At the end of the day however, walking past the long line of bins waiting to go back to the shed, a little humility goes a long way as you realize you and a crew of dedicated workers have helped bring in a magnificent harvest.

An Old Orchard a.k.a. The Farm

2010-07-12T11:33:00.000-04:00

A good friend and her parents, with a beautiful piece of land outside of Ithaca, have graciously given me the opportunity to cultivate my budding desire to tend fruit trees. The past few months I, with their help, have begun the resurrection of a few ancient apple and pear trees that remain from some long forgotten era of the farm predating the current inhabitants. This endeavor has allowed me to satiate some of my deep-rooted craving to tend the land.
For the most part, the work has largely involved the clearing of over-grown ground cover, and lots of honey suckle. We have also cut out lots of dead wood that has accumulated over the years from lack of care and sunlight. The more vigorous growing maples and ashes have grown up around the pear trees forcing them to concentrate their energy on growing their crown towards the remaining light. Only one of the six or seven pear trees is bearing fruit this year and most of it high in the upper reaches of the tree.

The two apple trees on the property are at this point mystery varieties. Based on their location on the farm I suspect they were planted, however I can not rule out without further investigation the possibility they are seedlings. Both have largely hollow trunks and one of the trees (above), we propped up with an old tire rim to relieve stress on the fragile trunk, which miraculously still transports nutrients and water to the substantial crop of apples. Although I have thinned and pruned the trees, I have not found the time or resources to do any disease or pest control. Despite this, some of the apples on the trees have so far shown little or no signs of infestation.
I suspect such a restoration project will take several seasons to be fruitful and may largely be a study in patience and visioning. Ground cover will have to be maintained and many of the surrounding trees removed to give both space and sunlight to the lower reaches of the trees. There is something very rewarding in working with such a relic -giving new life to an old body. Perhaps it fulfills that same niche in me that has dreamt of buying old rundown houses, only to fix them up and resell them. The reward is not always in the product, but also in the process. But, if a gallon or two of hard cider and a few pints of pear preserves are also a result of my labors, I will not complain.

Thinning Peaches

2010-07-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

Peaches in the summertime, apples in the fall

If I can't have you all the time, I won't have none at all

-- Gillian Welch

While working up at West Haven Farm, I found myself cheating on the apples, with another fond friend of mine, the peach. The trees were in desperate need of thinning as the heavy crop had already begun to weigh down the branches. It was my first experiencing delving into the world of peaches and although some may find it a bit cliche, I found myself dreaming of Savannah, and thinking with a slight southern drawl, as I plucked the small, not yet fleshy, fruit from their branches.
Thinning peaches is an entirely different ball game from apple thinning. Too many peaches can easily weigh down, or even break a branch. I was given the visual analogy of allowing for at least a soft ball size spacing between fruits. Again I found myself in the position to dictate natures course, doing so in a somewhat efficient fashion as to not spend all day circling a single tree.

Feeling as though I was dropping many more of the fruits than I was leaving on the tree to ripen, I began to wonder how symbiotic the relationship I was cultivating truly was, if at all. My days in ecology courses back in college left be with the understanding that humans have the capability to form a mutually beneficial relationship with the natural world around them. Lighting a spark on a prairie, for instance, served as a biological cleansing, before the dawn of large scale agriculture largely snuffed out the practice. Was I doing the tree, or the peaches I left behind, a favor by making space? Does sustainable organic agriculture imply symbiosis, or just a reverence and understanding for the gift that the land provides? For me, these are unanswered questions that would require many more meditative hours in the peaches. I am just thankful that my time in the trees gives me the space to mull over such inquiries.

Peach harvest should begin in a few weeks and I can hardly wait to bite into one of these jewels of the summer. With less than two months until the start of the apple harvest there are still some tops of trees up at West Haven waiting to be thinned. If all goes well this will be done before I pour some local cream over my first peach.

Summer Twilight

2010-06-20T08:35:00.000-04:00

The past week I went up to West Haven Farm to help with thinning. The farm has agreed to let me thin on my own schedule and keep track in the orchard log of the trees that have been thinned. For my labors they have offered me an exchange of veggies and fruit from the farm, a more than fair exchange in my opinion. The apples are sizing up nicely and many of the trees are showing a good crop. The sun has already left a red blush on many of the small apples, helping them to stand out against the clay coated leaves. I biked up late in the afternoon, the mile and half straight up the west hill of the Ithaca basin. It is my favorite time to work; the late afternoon. As I arrived the farm workers were finishing the last tasks for the day and heading home with a few quarts of fresh strawberries left over from the days labors. Soon the tractor was parked and the gate closed and I found myself alone, with the crows and the trees, and few evening peepers tuning up for their symphony.

My task was fairly simple; for each cluster of apples, (there are normally five blossoms in a cluster) I was to choose one apple that would remain and pick the others off. Sometimes the choice had already been made for me, as a number of the blossoms never reach fruit set, or fall off naturally. Other times there would be only two apples, one of which would show signs of infestations or deformity. However many times I found myself in a position to choose between more than one perfect apple. I felt grossly under-qualified to play god, choosing one apple to mature in the summer sun and dropping the others to the ground. As the shadows grew longer I methodically rounded each tree, my eyes darting from branch to branch. The first time round was always slow, yet no matter how thorough I felt I was being, a second and even a third walk around the tree would always yield new clusters, which I sometimes could swear were not there the first time. As I suspected, thinning apples is not unlike picking them. Although the apples are smaller and much less willing to let go of the tree than they will be in a few months, the motions and the rhythm feel very much the same. It was reassuring too realize that the feeling I get being in an orchard in the fall is as much a product of the trees themselves as it is the season.

Thinning Time

2010-06-10T08:11:00.000-04:00

Good morning! And a beautiful morning. The weather has been cooler the past few days, giving almost an early May feel and allowing some of the brassicas and peas in the garden to catch their breath after the stunning heat of the past few weeks. The long summer evenings have pulled me away from my computer and out into the garden (see photos) or onto the porch for a late supper.

Thinning has likely already begun or will begin soon at most local orchards. This morning I am headed up to West Haven Farm to meet the orchard manager and hopefully learn more about the art of thinning. Thinning is needed in almost all orchards in order to allow the apples to reach a substantial size. To over simplify, if too many apples remain on the tree, it does not have enough energy, nor the apples enough room to allow for mature fruit. Instead, an unthinned tree will usually bare a large quantity of gulf ball size apples. In some cases late freezes can do a bit of their own thinning, something many growers in New England experienced this past spring. Unfortunately mother nature is not so meticulous, and even if a grower looses much of their crop to a late freeze, thinning is often needed for the remaining apples. This sentiment was expressed recently in a posting I read by Michael Phillips on the growers forum of the Holistic Orchard Network.

In larger orchards, thinning is often done by spraying hormones or other agents that "force" the trees to drop a somewhat predicable percentage of their crop. However, in many organic or smaller orchards thinning is still done the old fashioned way; by hand.

I am excited to learn more about this aspect of apple cultivation; immersing myself in parts of the apple growing cycle other than harvesting. I wonder if it could almost feel like picking miniature apples a few months too early.

Story of an Apple: Macoun

2010-05-31T10:10:00.003-04:00

I was introduced to the Macoun (pronounced McCowan in some circles) for the first time this past fall picking at Moose Hill. Having come from the Midwest I was unaware of, but quickly discovered, the reverence that many New Englanders have for this apple.

The Macoun is a product of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York. It is a result of a cross between McIntosh and Jersey Black (also Black Jersey) and was introduced in 1923 to growers. The apple was named after a Canadian fruit grower, W.T. Macoun who was a horticulteralist at the Dominion Experimental Farm from 1898 to 1932, overseeing 24 different experimental farms across Canada. He was also the founder of the Ontario Horticultural Association.

The Macoun is a later season apple, usually harvested sometime in early to mid October. At Moose Hill it is usually harvested around the same time as the Goldens and only shortly before the Empires and Reds. When ripe, it has a deep purple or almost "black" hue, a quality reminiscent of one of it's parents. The Macoun has a short stem, which allows it to be "pushed" off the branch as the fruit reaches maturity. This creates a small window of time after apple shows it's true colors, but before it is a carpet under the picker's feet. The fruit needs direct sunlight to develop the dark hue it is known for. Because of this color picking is often needed to harvest an ideal crop. Even with color picking, there is marked difference in the color of truly ripe apples and those found in the depths of a large tree (see below).

Macoun apples: on the left are apples picked from a smaller open tree and on the right fruit from the

inner branches of a larger tree.

Perhaps it is the Mac in them, but Macouns are not ideal keepers, although new storage techniques have allowed growers to sell them through most of the winter. They can also be a challenge for growers in their tendency to give a heavy crop one year and then almost no apples the next. When they do bare heavily however, as they did the year I picked at Moose Hill, the sight of a tree laden with deep purple apples in the late October sun is one of the many sights that reminds me why I am an apple picker.

Story of an Apple: Mother

2010-05-23T08:16:00.002-04:00

I would like to tell the story of an apple, lovingly named the Mother, in honor of my own mother who was born 63 years ago on this day. My mom started picking apples near my home town while I was still in grade school. In many ways she probably inspired my own exploration into apple harvesting and for several years we picked apples on the same crew. Over the past 15 years or so she has been a picker at three different orchards around Gays Mills and although she no longer straps an apple bag on her shoulders, she can still be found among the trees in the fall as an employee of Sunrise Orchards. I am thankful for all that she has taught me over the years. Happy Birthday Mom!

MOTHER

This small to medium sized apple also known as American Mother originated in the mid 19th century in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The apple, prized as a good eating apple when fresh, but not a good keeper, found popularity during the 1920s and 1930s. It can be found in many old orchards dating back to those times, but has more recently also been grown by hobby growers.

The fruit has been described as having an almost "balsamatic aroma" or even a suggestion of vanilla. The Mother tree blooms late in the spring and is usually ripe by mid-September, although the they often require extensive thinning in order to bare fruit of significant size as well as to avoid biennial baring. The mother is also valued for it's resistance to both scab and mildew, which can plague many varieties.

Source: www.treesofantiquity.com/images/large/Mother_LRG.jpg

Fruit Set

2010-05-16T09:12:00.003-04:00

This past Friday I made my way out to West Haven Farm, which is just a mile and a half up the road from me. When I say up, I mean it in more than one way, especially when the trip is on a bike. The apples, which are in the "back" of the the 3/4 acre orchard, past the peaches and apricots, were showing a promising crop. Most of the trees at the local orchards had petal fall a week or two ago. With fruit that has already set, they were able to pull through the cold nights of this past week that made it down into the high 20s. Most everyone I have talked to has indicated that bloom was about 2 weeks ahead of "normal" this spring. This could translate into an earlier harvest for many varieties. Harvest date seems be dictated much more by when a tree blossoms, than the variable weather conditions of the summer months. It is encouraging to know that the first apples will be picked in less than 3 months!

Apple-Cheddar Strudel

2010-05-10T22:03:00.006-04:00

In honor of my new job, I thought I would dig an apple recipe out of the original 1977 (hand written) Moosewood Cookbook I have sitting on my bookshelf. The recipe does not go so far as to recommend varieties of apples to use, but I would venture to guess that apples that pair well with cheese, such as Haralson, would do well in this recipe. In general I would go with apples that are not too sweet, but have good flavor. An assortment of varieties would probably be ideal.

APPLE-CHEDDAR STRUDEL

Filling:                                                          The rest:
            6 medium cooking apples                              1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter
1 cup grated cheddar cheese [sharp]           10 strudel leaves
            1/2 cup honey                                                   1/2 cup wheat germ
            1 tsp. cinnamon
            dash of salt
            1/2 cup chopped walnuts
            rind and juice from 1 lemon
            1 cup bread crumbs (fine)
     optional: a handful of raisins

Combine all ingredients, except butter, strudel leaves and wheat germ. Heat oven to 375. Lay a leaf of strudel dough before you (use a clean wooden or formica surface), stretching out lengthwise away from you. Butter it liberally and gently, using a pastry brush. Sprinkle lightly with wheat germ. Add another strudel leaf and repeat the buttering and sprinkling and layering until all six leaves lie assembled before you in a neat pile.
With the strudel leaves in front of you pile the filling at the bottom of the sheets and roll away from you, tucking in the sides. (optional: brush the folded sides with butter before you roll)
Carefully lift the roll (use spatulas to help you, if necessary) and place it on a buttered tray. Brush the top with butter and make several diagonal slashes, cutting (with serrated knife) through the top layer of dough to the filling. If desired, you can sprinkle extra wheat germ on top of the rolls. Bake 30-35 minutes - until golden and crisp. Cut it warm or cold, using a serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion. Serve warm or cold with ice cream or whipped cream.

Replacing the US apple crop?

2010-05-06T18:14:00.000-04:00

Just heard a blurb on NPR about a new bill U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants to introduce that would provide money in the form of grants and low-interest loans from the US Department of Agriculture. The bill is based on a similar Canadian program. Up to 20 million dollars could be provided to farmers as early as November of this year to pay for new trees to be planted the following year. The idea seems to be to facilitate the transition of "older" varieties such as McIntosh and Red Delicious to more "popular" varieties such as Galas and the beloved Honeycrisp. More info on the bill can be found here.

The government has a long history of dipping its wick in the agricultural wax so to speak, from farm subsidies to water rights. However, I hesitate to think this is all together a good thing. Continuing in a mono-culture mentality will only create the same boom and bust phenomenon that we have seen with Red and Golden Delicious. I think money could be better spent intoducing greater variety into the apple industry, through start-up grants to small farmers, further research into disease and pest management techniques and cultivation of the US and world palate to be more acepting of a greater variety of apples.
I understand that we live in a global age where "competition" with Canada and China is a real concern for many apple growers, however success can sometimes be found by moving outside of the accepted market rather than competing within it. This is all from the perspective of a non-grower, only my opinion. Input welcomed.

Story of an Apple: Ben Davis

2010-05-04T07:57:00.002-04:00

The Ben Davis is another important, but widely forgotten apple, popular during the 1800s. According to some accounts it had similar popularity to the Baldwin, but an even larger geographic range with orchards popping up over much of the southern and southeastern United States in the later part of the 19th century. In 1905 it was "unquestionably the leading commercial sort and the most popular apple grown south of the Baldwin region." The apple found its home in the "southern belt" a region that stretched east to west between the 32nd and 42nd parallels. For those of you like me, who have know idea what this translates into geographically, this is a region that stretches from mid Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia to northern Indiana and Ohio and very southern New York. Numerous Ben Davis orchards could be found as far east as Virginia and as far west as Arkansas and Illinois by the late 1800s. The apple, which needed a long growing season to reach its full potential of flavor and quality, thrived in more southern reaches and found only marginal success in the orchards of northern New York and New England, where the Baldwin flourished.

Although the origin of the Ben Davis is somewhat murky, the most commonly accepted history is that it's story began in Kentucky in the year 1799. That year, William Davis and John Hills left Virgina for Kentucky and settled near Davis' brother, Cpt. Ben Davis in Berry's Lick, Kentucky. Shortly after, Hills traveled back east to either Virginia or Carolina and returned with some young apple seedlings. Some of these were planted on the land of Cpt. Ben Davis and root shoots from one of these trees was later used to plant a small orchard. The apples in this orchard began to draw attention and as they gained recognition as a noteworthy variety, suckers from the original Davis orchard were planted around Kentucky and Tennessee. The apple found its way further north when the Hill Family moved to Illinois, taking trees with them to plant at their new home. By 1865 millions of Ben Davis trees could be found throughout the United States, especially in it's southern reaches.

The Ben Davis was not thought to have particularly exquisite flavor, especially in more northern climates, where the seasons where not long enough for it to reach full maturity. When grown in the south, it would ripen later and keep longer in storage. Its main draw was as a market apple, due to its ability to withstand transportation. It was described as being think-skinned, colorful, not showing bruises easily and having "a good appearance in the package after being handled and shipped in the ordinary way"
Growers also favored it as a dependable, hardy and vigorous variety that came into bearing relatively early in its life and bore heavy crops. It was easily propagated and would blossom late in the spring giving it an advantage over earlier blossoming cultivars that were more susceptible to late frosts and freezes.
Like many apples of its day the Ben Davis was pushed out of the orchard by new varieties that were seen as superior in flavor and quality. By the early 1900s shipping methods began to improve and varieties such as the Ben Davis, which were favored largely for their ability to travel well, were no longer as highly valued. Although the Ben Davis is for the most part out of cultivation, some of its qualities can still be found in the Cortland, one of it's progeny that is still popular today.

May Day

2010-05-01T12:04:00.000-04:00

A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener. So our prospects brighten on the influx of better thoughts. We should be blessed if we lived in the present always, and took advantage of every accident that befell us, like the grass which confesses the influence of the slightest dew that falls on it.

--Henry David Thoreau

Happy May Day! As we mark one of the Pagan cross-quarters, I often feel as though we are at the apex of spring. With the world around me in full bloom (especially this year when many flowering trees are days or even weeks ahead of "schedule") it feels as though the senses are often in overload. Seeds that have been planted are poking though the soil, (the weeds even faster) and the quality of the green around you feels almost surreal. The spring has it's own fleeting feeling. With each day their is something new to see, if you take the time to look. The next day it may be gone. It is a continuous reminder of the life that hides under the humus and within the bud.

Walk, put your hands in the dirt and inhale deeply.

Introduction to Ithaca

2010-04-26T12:30:00.000-04:00

The days are getting longer, the air sweeter and this past week I had a satisfying amount of time with my hands in the soil at the Ithaca Community Gardens. As I get settled in here, I am starting to make contact with some of the local farms and orchards. Little Tree Orchards about 8 miles outside of Ithaca, has been making a showing at the local farmers market and also presses cider that is sold at the food cooperative just down the street from me. They were still selling a few varieties from last years harvest including Northern Spy, which I grabbed for a snack as I perused the rest of the market this past Saturday. They also offer an "Apple a Day" CSA. West Haven Farm is located just up the road from me and grows organic apples as part of there larger market-garden and CSA program. They were also at the farmers market this past Saturday, offering some of last year's Ida Reds. Black Diamond Farm, in near-by Trumansburg or T-burg as it is called by the locals, raises as variety of heirloom apples and also devotes a section of their orchard to antique French and English apples grown for hard cider. They sell their crop at the farmers market during the harvest season.
Although I have recently come under the employ of the vegetarian classic Moosewood Restaurant here in Ithaca, I still plan on finding time to spend in some of the local orchards this summer. Come picking season I hope to find myself, at least some days, with a picking bag over my shoulders and an apple in hand.

On a side note, I went ramp hunting in the rain yesterday and returned with a good "crop." Ramp pesto, ramp Quiche and pickled bulbs are a few of the items on the menu. Hooray for spring!

Story of an Apple: Baldwin

2010-04-19T09:21:00.003-04:00

The Baldwin is a staple in the history of North American-born apple varieties. In it's time it perhaps held as much renown as the McIntosh has held in the later part of the 20th century. During the 1800s it become one of the most popular apples in New England and New York. Orchards upon orchards full of enormous Baldwin trees (see below) popped up all over the northeast as the apple became a popular export for the industry.

The Baldwin is believed to have originated as a chance seedling on the farm of John Ball, near present-day Wilmington, Massachusetts sometime around 1740. The "discovery" of the apple however, is commonly credited to a man by the name of William Butters, who later come into possession of the farm and named the apple the Woodpecker or Pecker for short, in honor of the many Woodpeckers he observed frequenting the tree. Even after it's naming however, the apple largely remained unknown until a local surveyor by the name of Deacon Samuel Thompson, encountered the tree and brought the apples to the attention of Loammi Baldwin. Baldwin a Colonel and an engineer on the Middlesex Canal, took a liking to the apple and is largely responsible for it's propagation and further introduction into other parts of New England. A statue of the Colonel at North Woburn is wreathed in apples and reads "Disseminator of the apple in honor of him called the Baldwin apple, which proceeds from a tree growing wild about 2 miles north of this monument." The original tree is believed to have perished sometime between 1817 and 1832.

By the early 1800s the apple had began to spread to other parts of New England and in 1833 the New American Orchardist said about the Baldwin, "No apple in the vicinity of Boston is so popular as this, at the present day. It is raised in large quantities for the market...and is recommended for extensive cultivation" By mid-century the apple had spread well beyond eastern Massachusetts and in 1852 a man by the name of Hovey published a description of the Baldwin in which he stated:

The Baldwin is the most popular apple of New England, and is cultivated to a much greater extent than any other variety. Several large and fine orchards are to be found in the vicinity of Boston, some of which produce about one thousand barrels of fruit every bearing year. For exportation it is much sought after; and the large number of f1fteen hundred barrels have been sent to the East Indies in one season

The apple held prominence in New England and other parts of the Northeast, including New York, throughout the 19th century. However, by the early 1900s the Baldwin began to loose favor as an eating apple, being replaced by the Jonathan. It's plight was not helped by an especially cold winter in 1934 that wiped out entire Baldwin orchards in many parts of New England. After this massacre, many of the orchards were either never replanted or were replaced by new cultivars. Because of its desirability as a cider apple, however, it can still be found in many parts of the Northeastern United Sates.


Baldwin at Cornell Orchards, early September

The Baldwin is generally known to have a good crop, but can be susceptible to biennial bearing. It is normally harvested in mid-October and can keep under normal conditions as late as April.

On the Move

2010-04-10T11:03:00.001-04:00

If I seem to be a bit remiss in my blogging as of late it is because most of my attention is going into moving myself and my few, but spread out possessions to Ithaca, NY. This move is the culmination of a rather long hiatus from routine and normalcy, which has been largely a blessing, but has also given me a craving for certain inalienable domestic habits and the desire for community. The next few days will be filled with packing driving (one more road trip) and the inevitable unsettledness that accompanies settling.

Ithaca Falls, Ithaca, NY

I am looking forward to being so near one of the epicenters of the apple world. The state of NY itself has a long relationship with the apple. S. A. Beach's Apples of New York, is a wonderful example of the magnitude and importance of that relationship. Cornell University in Ithaca NY has been the birth place of varieties such as Empire, Liberty, Cortland, Jonagold and Macoun among many others. With a number of orchards in the area I have little doubt I will be able to feed my picking addiction.
I also hope to explore the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva where, if I am lucky, I could wander down the many rows of wild and heirloom apple varieties.
With spring comes a new beginning. I am looking forward to putting may hands in the dirt! See you in New York.

Trees of Yore

2010-03-31T18:34:00.002-04:00

Doing some research into the Baldwin apple for a future post, I came across this photograph of a Baldwin orchard taken in Monroe County, NY. The source did not sight the date, but I imagine it was taken sometime in the last half of the 19th century or the early 20th century. The orchard pictured was owned by a man named Foster Udell.

These predecessors to the dwarf and semi-dwarf trees that make up many of the orchards today, reached heights that seem almost mythical. The pickers themselves seem truly dwarfed by these imposing trees; gatherers in a forest rather than harvesters in a field. The wild, unruly shapes taken on by the trees, allows me to conceive that there is in fact, a Kazakh relative deep in their genetic history.

My best guess as someone who has climbed my share of ladders, is that the ones pictured are well over twenty feet in height, perhaps 24 or even 26 feet (the tallest I have climbed is an 18 footer). The ladders seem to almost disappear into the tops of the trees, I can hardly imagine what it was like to reach into the depths of the tree, what green surprises you would find within; apples without the rosy blush of sunshine.
As I picker I love to pick in standard trees. In the time it takes to pick a large tree, even half the size of the ones above, you start to form a relationship with each tree. With a good crop on it, a standard tree can easily take half an hour to pick, yielding 10 or more bushels. On each trip to the bin, with a pregnant bag of apples, you notice the unique things about the tree; the knot in an outstretched limb, or the vines of creeping Virginia that wind up the center of the tree and spill over the top. The tree begins to take on a personality. You learn to approach each one differently. A skillful picker makes many choices when picking a large tree, much more so than a small tree, who's apples can all fit in one or two buckets. Their are choices about where to place the ladder, which limb to pick next or which way around the tree is the quickest back to the bin. You make note of where to put the ladder next and learn which apples are worth stretching for and which are best left for the next ladder set. It becomes a dance, in which the tree leads and the picker follows. I can only imagine what kind of tangos took place in the old orchards of New England.

Roxbury Russet

2010-03-25T17:49:00.004-04:00

The Roxbury Russet is believed to be one of the oldest apple varieties in the United Sates. Thought to have originated in Roxbury Massachusetts, near modern-day Boston, the apple has also been kindly referred to over the years as the Boston Russet, or simply the "roz."
The Roxbury was probably first discovered in the early 1600s, slowly making its way westward. It was introduced in Connecticut in 1649, and appeared in parts of Ohio by 1797, where it was more commonly known as the Marietta Russet or Putnam Russet. Another version of its origination is told my the descendants of a man named Joseph Warren, who they claim was the man to grow the first Roxbury Russet. However Joseph was not born until 1696 putting the dawning of the Roxbury sometime in the 18th century. Joseph met a rather unusual death at the age of 59, breaking his next after falling from a ladder, while picking apples in his orchard.
Regardless of its origin, the Roxbury became a very popular apple in the 18th and 19th centuries. As early as 1778 Thomas Jefferson planted a number of Roxburys at Monticello in his south orchard, calling them "russetings" after their tendency to develop a mottled, and rough skin. It found a home as far north as Ontario, where FRUITS OF ONTARIO 1906 reported it to be "one of the staple export varieties in many parts of southern Ontario." However it also found a home in warmer climates, being shipped to California in 1850, where it was planted in the Napa Valley. The apple was still the most widely grown russet apple in the Sate of New York in 1905. The Roxbuy's popularity was in large part a result of the it's reputation as a good winter keeper, but was also prized as an excellent cider apple.

Several factors contributed to the downfall of the Roxbury. First, as cold storage techniques developed and improved, an apple's ability to keep through the winter was no longer as highly valued, since almost any variety could be made to last through the winter. Secondly, with the push to cultivate and market apples for eating, rather than just for cider and cooking, the Roxbury fell victim to the desire for more pristine and cosmetically superior apple varieties, forgoing substance for vanity. Because of its tendency to russet, which does not in fact affect the flavor or the nutritional value of the apple, but does give it rustic look, the spotted, rough skin of the Roxbury could not compete with the iconic image of the apple, embodied by such varieties as the McIntosh or Red Delicious. Today the Roxbury is almost exclusively grown as an heirloom apple, but can still be found at farmer's markets, especially on it's native soil in the Northeast.
The Roxbury ripens mid-season, usually being harvested in late September or early October. It is resistant to scab and usually gives a heavy crop, although some sources site it as having the tendency towards biennial baring. With a similar appearance, the Roxbury is sometimes confused with the Golden Russet, however if examined closely they bare several distinctive differences.

Other synonyms for the Roxbury:
Boston Russet
"Leathercoat",

Reinette Rousse de Boston

Howe's Russet
Marietta Russet
Belfre Russet
Jusset, Warner Russet
Silvan Russet
Pitman's Russet
Shippen's Russet
Ruginetta di Boston
Belper Russet
to name a few...

Apple Genetics

2010-03-20T09:29:00.002-04:00

"Why do we need so many kinds of apples? Because there are so many folks. A person has a right to gratify his legitimate taste. If he wants twenty or forty kinds of apples for his personal use…he should be accorded the privilege. There is merit in variety itself. It provides more contact with life, and leads away from uniformity and monotony."

-- Liberty Hyde Baily

Apples are a mysterious fruit, a metaphor for the uncertainty that life has refused to relinquish to the human desire for predictability. I myself find the whimsical fickleness of the apple seed incredibly refreshing and even comforting in the face of an increasingly mono-culture. For centuries, the secret hidden within the apple seed has captivated the minds of everyone from geneticists to Johnny Appleseed. But the same phenomenon that instills such mystery in the apple, also gives it a fleeting nature. Here is how I look at it: Say I were to plant an apple tree from a seed I found, giving me a tree baring the most delectable, tasty (and yes taste is a matter of personal opinion and favor) apples I had ever sunk my teeth into. Year after year I harvested these apples and each spring the tree bore anew. Then one fall after the branches had been picked bare, a cold winter wind fell the tree. Knowing this I saved all the seeds from the fall harvest. Yet in all those seeds, not one would contain the genetic code capable of growing a tree that could reproduce the apple I had come to love. No matter how many seeds were planted, that apple would never again exist. Fleeting. The art of grafting fruit trees has allowed growers and breeders to have a say in how long of an appearance a particular apple variety makes on this planet, but the principle remains the same: inside each apple seed of every single apple that has ever existed, lies the potential for uniqueness.

Apples have a genetic property referred to as extreme hetrozygosity, meaning that alleles of a gene can be radically different from each other. Alleles are an alternative form of a gene that arise from mutation, but occur at the same loci or place on a chromosome. For instance, human DNA has three different alleles of the gene responsible for blood type; that for A blood type, B blood type and O blood type. The variation within an apple’s alleles, even if small, can affect everything from the color of its skin, to its susceptibility to a particular disease.

Humans, who also display hetrozygosity, do not show as extreme a difference in alleles, allowing for there to be resemblance among siblings and between parents and their children. This is not the case for apples. Alleles of genes can be radically different and almost always a seedling apple tree will bear fruit nothing like the apple from whence the seed came. Most apples that come from seedling trees are deemed "spitters" meaning one is prone to spit them out upon tasting. However the continual recombination of genes into new possibilities, can yield visually unique if not tasty apples worthy of the cider press, the pie pan or even greater gustatory distinction.
This phenomenon also allows the apple to easily adapt to new environmental conditions. A seedling apple tree may have the ability to thrive in an ecosystem where the parent trees could only cope:

“Whenever the apple tree goes, its offspring propose so many different variations on what it means to be an apple –at least five per apple, several thousand per tree –that a couple of these novelties are almost bound to have whatever qualities it takes to prosper in the tree’s adopted home.”
--Michael Pollan

The capacity of a seedling apple tree to find a home away from home is largely what shaped orchards in North America. Where many established European varieties struggled and died in unwelcoming winters, brutal heat, or spring freezes, seedling apple trees found their niche. It could be more aptly said, that the apple seed not the apple itself made the journey on immigrant boats to the eastern shores of New England, giving us many of the varieties we know today along with many heirlooms lost and forgotten in the cider orchards of a time fare removed.

In a world where it seems as though there are few accessible places humans have not tread, islands in the ocean that have not been discovered or waterfalls in the woods that have not been stumbled upon, the idea of taking a seed from the heart of an apple and placing it in the ground gives me an almost childlike giddiness.

Apple Pie

2010-03-15T20:25:00.001-04:00

"Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness."

-- Jane Austen

There are perhaps more recipes for apple pie then there are varieties of apples to put in them. By this time of year I find myself craving those fresh delights of fall that are the fruit of the harvest season. Each autumn as a picker, as the end of the season neared, I would make my way back into different blocks of apples that had already been picked and find those apples that escaped the careful eyes of my fellow pickers. Late on an October day, when the crew made its way back to the picker house and home to a weary, but well deserved supper, I would drive out into the gently sloping hills of Cortlands, Empires, Haralsons and Golden Russets, and walk down the long rows, picking bag slung over my shoulder. The trees, unburdened of their crop took on a new dimension, stretching their weary limbs, tired but proud. Strolling down the rows bathed in the auburn rays of the deep afternoon sun, I would peer under limbs and into the depths of the trees to the places where apples find their hiding places. It was like playing hide and seek; my eye would catch a glimpse of an apple two rows over, after ducking through outstretched branches it would deceive my gaze. I used to tell myself you needed a pickers eye to find these apples; the last of the crop. After a long day of picking this was some of my favorite time in the orchard, my own time. As the bag began to weigh heavy on my already tired shoulder, I would find a gap in the trees further down the slope and wend my way back in the direction I had come. Almost always, I would find a trove of unnoticed apples just as my bag neared full, forcing me to heap the fruit and lumber back to my car under the weight my winter store. By the end of the season a colorful assortment of my favorite varieties filled the trunk of my car. Inevitably the first days and weeks unoccupied by picking would be full of simmering pots of apple sauce, crumbly crisps and of course apple pies, many, many pies.

Apple Pie

I am a believer that any recipe serves only as suggestions subject to the creative license of its follower. Thus, proportions should be adjusted to taste and additions should be made thoughtfully. I am not a huge fan of sugar and like to let the apples speak for themselves, if you have a big sweet tooth, you may want to adjust the amounts of sweetener.

Filling:

6-8 Apples (at least two varieties, preferably with different colored skin)

2 T. Fresh Lemon Juice

1/3 C. Maple Syrup

1/4 C. Honey or Brown Sugar

2 t. Cinnamon

1 t. Ground Ginger

1/4 t. Ground Cloves

1/4 t. Ground Nutmeg

1/4 C. Unbleached White Flour or 2 T. Corn Starch

Crust:

2 C. Unbleached White Flour

1 C. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1 C. Soft Butter

1 t. Salt

1/2 to 3/4 C. Cold Water

For crust, cut butter into flour with pastry cutter or knives. Add salt. With fork, fold water into dough only until no loose flour is visible. Divide into two even balls. Let the dough sit, or chill it if you wish. Peel apples and divide into 8-12 slices. Cut the slices in half and place in large mixing bowl. After 6 apples pour the cut apples into the pie dish to gauge how many you will need. You want the dish to be slightly heaping. Pour back into bowl and cut more apples if needed. Add lemon juice (this will keep the apples from browning and add a little zest to the pie). Stir in maple syrup and other sweetener. Add spices. Add flour or cornstarch (this helps soak up some of the juices which will cook out of the apples during the baking).

Roll out the first ball of dough on a floured surface or between two sheets of wax paper until it is large enough to cover the pie pan (you can place the empty pan over the dough to judge this). If you are using wax paper peel the top layer off, place the pie pan on top of the dough and flip them both over. Peel the other layer of wax paper off and finesse the dough into the pie pan, leave 1/2 inch of dough around the edge. Pour in the filling. Roll out top crust in the same manner and flip onto filled pie pan. Fold the top and bottom crusts together around the edge and crimp with your fingers or use a wet fork to press the crust. Cut slits into the top crust in a pattern of your choice. Bake at 425 for 15 min and then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 35-45min more. Cool and enjoy!

Featured Blog: Adams Apples

2010-03-11T17:02:00.000-05:00

I wanted to introduce a fellow blogger in the small (but hopefully expanding) world of blogs relating to apples. Adam is a connoisseur of apples and has taken the time to sample and write about many of the varieties found in orchards around his home in Massachusetts. His blog Adams Apples has been a joy to follow ever since I started my escapade into web-based apple research. I find what he has to say insightful and always a good read.

The list of apples Adam has reviewed is quite impressive and discussions of a variety often go well beyond describing the intricacies of an apple's flavor or consistency. All the apple reviews are accompanied by a photo and often contain links to further resources about each apple. The blog also contains a line of posts detailing what varieties of apple are good to eat each month of the year, although I imagine that can be challenging this time of year. Some posts branch out into discussions of other topics apple related, some of them scientific, some humorous and all provideing something valuable for those peering into the world of apples. I imagine there are plenty of gems in the archives I have not yet taken the time to dig though, but don't just take my word for it, have a gander.

Addition to the Rome Beauty

2010-03-09T13:51:00.001-05:00

A picture of the Rome Beauty sent by a reader and fellow blogger has been added to my post on the apple. Just an FYI folks, didn't want you to miss it!

Story of an Apple: Rome Beauty

2010-03-06T12:40:00.004-05:00

Named not for the great Italian city, but rather for a small town in the southern most tip of Ohio, the Rome Beauty, also known as the Red Rome or simply Rome, like many apples of its time was discovered by accident. Joel Gillet (also spelled "Gillett" or "Gillette" by his descendants) encountered a seedling tree in a shipment of trees he had received from a nursery that did not appear to match the rest of the stock he had ordered. He gave it to his son Alanson, who chose to plant it on the banks of the Ohio River. That was the year 1817. Several years later the tree was found still alive and bearing deep red, slightly glossy fruit. His cousin Horatio Nelson (or H.N. Gillett) taking the initiative, took cuttings of the young tree and started a small nursery of the apple he called "Gillett's Seedling." The apple gained popularity as a good cooking apple as well as a staple in cider. A decade or so after it was first discovered, the apple was renamed the Rome Beauty after the Township from which it descended. The town of Proctorville, on the banks of the Ohio near where the original tree stood until the 1850's, calls itself the "Home of the Rome Beauty Apple."


Rome Apples, Cornell Orchard, October 2010

In the 20th century, the Rome's popularity as the "Queen of the Baking Apples" had made it a popular apple in the expanding market created by the Washington apple industry. Part of what the Washington Apple Commission referred to as the "Big Six" which also included Reds, Goldens, Winesap, Jonathan and Newtowns, the Rome also found a home in orchards of the eastern and mid-Atlantic Sates.
Though it has not made much headway in the ever expanding line-up of eating apples such as Fuji, Gala and Honey Crisp that have flooded the market over the past decades, the Rome as remained a staple for many growers because it is a reliable producer, not susceptible to biennial bearing which plagues some apple varieties. Romes also bloom relatively late in the spring putting them out of harm's way for late frosts which can turn a bumper crop into slim pickings (literally) for many apple growers in northern climates. The Rome has also found a following among growers in more temperate regions because it has a relatively low chilling requirement. This allows it to be grown in places that experience little or no winter. A grower in the warm valleys of California talks about his experience growing and harvesting Romes in his blog Apples and Oranges which you can read here

He had this to day about them, "Rome Beauty grows well in the tropics also, but doesn't have the same zing as in colder climates. The Rome you see in the supermarket is Red Rome, a better-colored but inferior-tasting sport."


Photo from Kevin Hauser, author of Apples and Oranges and owner of Kuffel Creek Nursery. Apples are from the mountains around where he lives in southern California

Apples in Mythology: The Golden Apple Part II

2010-03-03T13:03:00.316-05:00

After exploring some of the Greek myths involving golden apples, I now want to make a trip many miles to the north, where the apple found its way into Norse mythology. Many parallels exist between the apple's representation in Greek and Nordic myths, chiefly the belief that the apple offered immortality and youth to those who ate it. However the apple's association with fertility in Norse mythology also draws on similarities to other cultures.
As in Greek mythology, the Nordic gods kept the apples in a protected garden, where they were a great source of envy among mortals. The Norse goddess of spring Idun (also Iðunn) is believed to have been the guardian of the life-giving apples. The granter of youthfulness and fertility, most likely because of her association with apples, Idun was the wife of the skaldic god Bragi and grew her apples in the land of Asgard.
A paradise full of fruited fields, rolling hills and rivers that ran though lush forests, Asgard was also the site of a banquet held each year by Idun where she would serve apples to the gods allowing them to maintain their youthfulness. Mortal giants jealous of those who would never wither and die, ceaselessly made attempts to possess the apples by trying to lure Idun away from Asgard. This was finally achieved by a shrewd and witty giant named Thiaze (also Þjazi). Having the ability to take the shape of many living things, Thiaze in the body of an eagle swooped down amongst a gathering of gods feasting on an ox, where he was able to convince them to give him the choicest cuts of meat. One of these gods was the fiery tempered and mischievous Loki known for being a trickster. Upon realizing that he himself had been duped, Loki stabbed Thiaze with a sharp branch in a fit anger. Thiaze took to the sky and Loki, unable to release his grip from the branch was pulled towards the heavens. Begging to be let loose, Loki made a deal with Thiaze. In exchange for his release Loki agreed to lure Idun and her apples away from Asgard. He accomplished this by leading Idun to a nearby forest where he told her he had discovered apples that would be of interest to her. He told her it would be wise to bring along her own apples so that she might compare them to the ones he had found. Once out of Asgard, Idun was no longer protected and Thiaze still in the form of an eagle swooped down, snatching Idun in his talons and took her back to his home.

Thiazi flying away with Idun as Loki looks on

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Ejazi

In Idun's absence, the Nordic gods soon began to gray and turn frail. Knowing they must have the apples in order to maintain their youth, Odin the most knowledgeable and powerful of the gods, summoned the aging immortals to his hall for a meeting. It was quickly determined that Loki was the last one to see Idun and her apples. Odin decided to give Loki a chance to redeem himself by bringing Idun back to Asgard. He was told that if he could not accomplish this, he would be the first of the immortals to perish.

Loki knowing he only had one chance to to make things right, took the form of a falcon and made his way to Jötunheimr the land where Thiaze resided. He found Idun alone, as Thiaze was out hunting. He turned her into a nut and carried her back to the safety of Asgard. Thiaze upon returning gave chase, pursuing Loki all the way back to Asgard. Flying above Asgard Thiaze was caught in the flames of a great fire built by Odin, Thor and the other gods where he burned and fell to the ground his head crushed by the great hammer of Thor. Loki having returned safely turned Idun back into her true from, thus allowing her to feed bits of apple to the withering toothless gods slowly restoring their youth and immortality.

See: The Golden Apple Part I

Finding Your Orchard

2010-02-25T23:44:00.002-05:00

As some of you may have noticed the blog recently got a makeover of sorts. I had a lot of fun looking at the different templates they had available and playing around with fonts and colors, but I wouldn't even pretend to know how to manipulate html codes. I will save that for an incredibly rainy day. Among the changes, is the addition of some navigational links at the top of the page, which I hope will help people to navigate to areas of interest within the blog. One of the links leads to a part to a page that is not yet developed. "Orchard Listings" is something I recently thought up that I think would make a nice addition to the blog. My idea is to start a database of sorts, although initially it will just be a long list of orchards, with a short bio and orchard info. I realize the list could be interminably long being as there is a plethora of wonderfully unique orchards and growers out there. It occurred to me that a good place to start would be orchards I am already familiar with. This is where you come in. If you have an orchard or orchards in you neck of the woods that you adore, or ones you are aware of through other channels send me the name and info you have. I will do a little of my own research if needed to round out the bio and add them to the list. You can email me here. Alternatively you can just leave a comment on this post.
My hope is that eventually a listing of orchards in numerous states and bio-regions will be accessible to people looking for a local source of fruit or a fellow grower in their area. In the long run it is my hope that this listing could even serve to connect pickers with jobs and apple enthusiasts and educators with numerous learning opportunities. Why not aim high? I am interested in small hobby growers or large established orchards, organic, sustainable and conventional alike. I think some of the most interesting places might be something you would never find on a Google search, so I am depending on word of mouth. Spread the word!

On a second note, I attended the Hudson Valley Commercial Fruit Growers School yesterday. The four day school, two days of which are dedicated specifically to apple growing, is put on by the Cornell University Cooperative Extension. I was surrounded by apple growers, orchard managers, and educators who seemed to embody a interesting amalgamation of professionals and old farmers who had put on their Sunday cloths for the occasion. In between speakers numerous conversations about pollinators, the latest pruning techniques or fall foliar nitrogen applications could be heard around the large conference room.
The information encompassed a wide range of topics from soil and leaf analysis and integrated pest management to fruit marketing ideas. It was an informative and interesting glimpse into the commercial apple growing industry. I plan on going over my notes and different publications I gathered while I was there, hopefully finding some good material for some upcoming posts.

In the meantime put on your thinking caps!

Story of an Apple: Red Delicious

2010-02-18T16:50:00.032-05:00

The original Red Delicious which bares only a slight resemblance to the supermarket reds found all over the world today, has its roots in the soil of a farm in Peru Iowa. The owner of the farm Jesse Hiatt had been trying for several years to kill a young seedling tree, each year cutting it down to a stump. Every spring the rootstock would send up new shoots. After several failed attempts to kill it Hiaat gave in to the tree's determination and allowed it to grow for several years. In the autumn of 1872 the tree bore it's first fruit. Upon tasting the the fruit described as having "vermillian stripes...over a creamy base," he was quickly thankful for his choice to give into nature, perhaps already sensing the long lasting effect this one fruit would have on the apple world.

He gave the fruit a truly Iowan name, calling it the Hawkeye. Many years passed, with each one the seedling tree, which he had so desperately wanted to rid is land of, produced grater numbers of the sweet, almost perfume flavored apples. Twenty-two years after tasting the first apple, Haitt decided he could no longer keep this ambrosial fruit to himself and entered it in the Stark Fruit Fair. The Stark company, a prominent tree nursery during the late part of the nineteenth century, had decided to hold a competitive fair, with the hopes of finding a new apple to replace the Ben Davis. As the story goes, C.M. Stark after biting into the apple proclaimed "My, that's delicious - and that's the name fore it." Unfortunately for Mr. Stark the tag labeling the name and origin of the delectable fruit had been lost during shipping. Not having any clue where to even begin looking for it, he had no choice but to wait until the following year and hope it would again be entered in the fair. Jesse Hiatt having faith, foresight and some amount of good fortune, reentered the fruit the following year. Stark's adoration for the apple had not waned during the previous twelve months and upon tasting it again he decided to purchase the sole rights to propagate it and renamed it the Delicious. A few decades later the same nursery purchased the rights to an apple that would become known as the Golden Delicious. Wanting to avoid any confusion the original Delicious was renamed the Red Delicious. The two varieties together would become the quintessence of an apple in the eyes of many, sharing much more than just a name.

In the years following his purchase of the Red Delicious Stark made a substantial financial investment in promoting the apple to American growers. Spending upwards of ten million of today's dollars, Stark force fed the Red Delicious into the U.S. apple market. His efforts were not in vain, by the time World War II rolled around the Red Delicious was the most popular apple in the country.
Perhaps more than any other apple variety, the Red Delicious has been subject to the aesthetic whims of those who consume it. A preoccupation with the "perfect fruit" has created what some would consider a monstrous apple, turning the Red Delicious into the poster child for the cosmetic apple industry. The apple found today in school lunches and big box supermarkets has been scrupulously shaped, colored and remolded into an object that is much more the product of human desire than any single force of nature or genetics.
This phenomenon is largely due to the fact that Red Delicious trees are notorious for producing single-branch mutations called sports. These branches sometimes produce visibly different looking fruit, that may not only look or taste different, but might also ripen at a different time from the fruit on the rest of the tree. These branches, if bearing fruit with a desirable trait such as a redder skin, can then be grafted onto new rootstock and subsequently propagated as a new lineage of Red Delicious. This has allowed growers and breeders to choose mutations that may be redder or more "perfectly" shaped constantly moving the Red Delicious closer to an ever-changing ideal of a perfect apple, and further from what Jesse Hiatt first bit into on an October day in 1872.
The fate of the Red Delicious can not be completely blamed on the consumer. Sports of the Red Delicious have also been chosen for the ease of the grower. Ones that ripen earlier or are better for long term storage, packing and shipping have also be chosen and propagated over the years. In short the Red Delicious was shaped by, and perhaps also shaped the global apple market. Over 40 sports of Red Delicious have now been patented in the United Sates since it's introduction.
Red Delicious grown at the orchards where I have picked tend to be a later ripening apple. They are one of the last varieties to be harvested, usually in mid to late October. They are a very hard apple making them difficult to bruise, a plus for pickers. They are however also highly susceptible to stem pulls and thus need to be finessed off the branch. The opening in the apple crated by the absence of a stem introduces oxygen into the flesh of the fruit more easily and gives stem-pulled apples a shorter storage life.
I have never had a soft place in my heart for Red Delicious, I usually think of them as a rather tasteless apple that can be found almost anywhere. I have come to realize however that what I think of today as a Red Delicious, was probably nothing like Hiatt's Hawkeye. I would very much like to have a bite of that apple. I realize I can only make a partial judgment of the Red Delicious, which itself won't be impartial, until I take that bite.

Apples and Lovers

2010-02-14T22:03:00.001-05:00

In the spirit of the day I thought it would be appropriate to look into some of the myths connecting the apple to beliefs about fertility, temptation and the human desire to find true love. Although the shape and color of some apples could conjure up the image of a heart, the relationship between the apple and adoration runs much deeper. The white flesh and deep red skin depicted in imagery surrounding the apple plays on the dichotomy of purity and temptation, innocence and lust. Aside from these direct implications, different cultures have put emphasis on the apple's relationship to fertility or its ability to answer questions concerning one's future love.

In some cultures the apple can serve as a crystal ball, having the power to foretell the future of a person in search of love. In Sicily, a young girl can tell her amorous fate by tossing an apple out of her window. If the apple is picked up by a boy or young man she will be married within a year. If a women encounters it, she will have to wait a year to try her luck again. If, on the other hand, the apple finds it's way into the hands of a priest, the young girl will live her life a virgin.
Different parts of the apple are also believed to have their own prophetic powers. In France, a person twirls an apple peel three times around their head before tossing it. When the peel lands it will do so in the shape of the first letter of their true love's name. In Belgium, apple seeds placed on a hot pan lid play the role of oracle. Upon placing the seeds on the lid, a young women will ask a succession of questions such as, "Will I like him? Or, "Will my first child be a girl?" For each question to which the answer is yes a seed will pop.
Other myths endow the apple with the power to grant fertility. In Montenegro, a newly married woman may throw an apple against the side of her husband's house to encourage the birth of many children. In Kyrgyzstan, some believe that children are granted to infertile women if they roll around on the ground beneath an apple tree.
Lore relating the apple to good fortune in matters of love also made its way across the Atlantic. A Kentucky mountain saying claims, "Eat a crab apple without frowning and you'll win the love of your dreams." Or if that is not to your liking you might try this one: "If you can pull in apple apart with you bare hands, you can have any girl [boy] you want."
If you are away from the one you love, you could try sticking apple seeds to your forehead. The number of seeds that stick when you remove your hand is the number of days until you will see your sweetheart again.
Some out there may think these myths sound foolish, but for the skeptics out there, don't knock it until you try it. And, by all means, if it works, let me know!

Apple Recipes: Simple Apple Sauce

2010-02-10T17:50:00.003-05:00

By this point in the winter I start to think about what to do with the remainder of the apples I have stored up from the previous fall. Regardless of how good a place I found to store them, most the apples are inevitably soft and mealy by February. Personally, I get spoiled by gorging on apple after apple, ripe off the branch all through September and October. It therefore feels hard to bring myself to eat an apple that is a ghost of the crispy juicy taste of autumn it once embodied. I do however find these February apples perfect for cooking with. One can only make so many apple pies, cobblers and crisps however, thus I have found that a good simple apple sauce does a tremendous job of using up large amounts of apples while also preserving their flavor.

With the advent of large scale refrigeration and more recently controlled atmosphere (CA) storage used by most large orchards, many people have gotten used to crispy "fresh" tasting apples year round. Although crunching down on an Empire or Gala on a hot July day can be wonderful experience, it is a long way from an "apple season" when apples were consumed fresh, mainly during or soon after the harvest. This gave the fresh apple an anticipatory place in the cycle of seasonal foods, where the only way to have the fruit year-round was by drying or canning it.

SIMPLE APPLE SAUCE

Using a medley of apples always seems to give better flavor in my opinion, although there is some debate in the culinary world as to whether a one-variety sauce is more tantalizing to the buds.

Another question is always skin or no skin? In my opinion, if you own a food mill or have access to one, go with the skins (especially if you are using organic apples). The skin contains the majority of the nutrients found in apples and if you are using red-skinned apples, they also add a nice hue to the finished sauce. If you don't have a food mill or are concerned about what else conventional apples might be storing in their skins aside from nutrients, peeling the apples still yields an incredibly flavorful sauce.

Gather your apples. Generally two small/medium apples or one large one will yield a cup of sauce. I usually make a batch of 15-20 apples at a time.
Wash the apples (especially if you are leaving the skin on).
Peel if you wish.
Core the apples. This is most easily done with a corer/divider, but a small knife will also work fine. Large pieces are fine, they will just take a little longer to cook down.
Fill a large pot with about an inch of water. This will prevent the apples from burning until they begin to release there own juices.
Put the cut apples in the pot on medium heat.
Once they have begun to bubble turn the heat down to a simmer, cover.
Add cinnamon to taste (usually 1/2t. for every 5 apples)
Simmer for 2-4 hours, stirring occasionally. The longer you cook it the smoother and thicker it will get. As you cook off more of the water the sugars will also become more concentrated and the sauce sweeter. I fine it nice to leave a few apple chunks in the sauce.
Let cool and eat! (Note: If you cooked the apples with skins put the sauce through the food mill after it cools)

STORAGE

If you want to get back to basics, canning the apple sauce is a good way to preserve what you can't manage to eat strait out of the pot. With modern-day appliances, freezing is another good option, and generally less labor intensive than canning. As far as taste is concerned, canning will preserve the true flavor of the sauce, especially if you want to store it for a longer time. If you plan on eating it within a few months, freezing is fine.

Apples in Mythology: The Golden Apple Part I

2010-02-05T10:04:00.000-05:00

The apple has made its way into the traditions, stories and myths of many different cultures around the world. The apple is more heavily referenced as a cultural symbol in the northern reaches of of our hemisphere where the historical migration of the fruit itself makes its way across lands and through time much like the silk road. Widely believed to have originated in the heart of Eurasia in great forests of apple trees, the fruit made its westerly migration across much of Europe eventually into the new world finding a home in Greek and Norse mythology as well as the Garden of Eden to name a few. Fairytale and folklore from many different countries are full of mention of the apple. In this first look of many into apple mythology, I delve into some of the prominent Greek myths in which the apple takes the form of one particularly precious fruit: the Golden Apple.

My brief investigation into the Golden Apple has led me to believe it holds great power and significance in Greek lore. Possessing the ability to captivate gods and mortals alike, it was even believed to have the capability to grant immortality. Sought after by Heracles in one of is great labors, it is also believed to have played a significant role in the instigation of the Trojan War. Interestingly Greek stories involving the golden apple often also tell a story of deceit and trickery. Not being well enough versed in Greek mythology, I am not sure if this is a common theme throughout, or whether it is something that may relate more closely to this particular fruit. If anyone has any insight I would welcome comments. In addition elaborations or variations on the following stories are always welcome. Note: The Greek hero known as Heracles was romanised into the more commonly known Hercules.

HERACLES AND THE GARDEN OF HESPERIDES

One of the prominent Greek myths evolving the golden apple is the Eleventh Labor of Heracles. After his first ten labors it was decided that Heracles was to perform two additional ones. For the Eleventh Labor he was to steal apples from the Garden of Hesperides. The orchard belonged to Hera, the Goddess of women and the sister and wife of Zeus. In her orchard was a tree (possibly more than one) given to her by Gaia as a wedding gift when she accepted the hand of Zeus. On this tree grew highly prized golden apples able to grant immortality to those who consumed them. Hera charged nymphs known as the Hesperides with the task of guarding the apples and the garden.
The first task of the Eleventh Labor was to discover the location of the garden, not an easy task in and of itself. Although it involved the capture of a shape shifting sea god, Heracles was able to accomplish this with little trouble. Having learned the location from Proteus, his next and more complicated task was to actually retrieve the golden apples. According to one variation of the myth, Heracles did not steal the apples himself, but rather tricked Atlas into taking them for him, on the condition that he would hold up the heavens in his absence. Heracles believed Atlas would have better luck recovering the apples since he was the father of the Hesperides; a good assumption. Upon his successful return however, Atlas pronounced that he no longer wanted to hold up the heavens, and instead would rather deliver the apples himself. For someone who had been holding up the heavens for so long this proposition most likely seemed like a welcome alternative. Agreeing to this condition, Heracles asked Atlas to hold the heavens temporarily while he made his cloak more comfortable, however this proved to be but a bit of trickery and Heracles returned with the apples himself leaving Atlas with the burden of the heavens once again.

ATLANTA

Atlanta was the daughter of Iasius and Arcadia. A skilled hunter and a very fast runner, Atlanta was a free soul and wished not to be burdened down by something as mundane as marriage. Pressured by her father, who like every good Greek father wished his daughter to find a husband, Atlanta struck a deal. She would marry any suitor who could win in a foot race against her. Having great faith in her ability to outrun anyone who might attempt this challenge, Atlanta felt this to be a sound compromise with her father. Succeeding in besting many a suitor, Atlanta felt satisfied with her arrangement until the appearance of Hippomenes who, knowing he could not beat her fairly, turned to trickery. Having first prayed to the goddess Aphrodite, Hippomenes had been granted three golden apples and told by the goddess to use them during the race to distract Atlanta, thus slowing her down. Although Hippomenes had to run with all his might and speed, the plan went off without a hitch. As Atlanta would slow down to retrieve each of the apples he dropped, Hippomenes would run farther ahead. Although he gained Atlanta's hand in marriage, Hippomenes made one fatal mistake. Having forgotten to thank Aphrodite for her generous gift, Hippomenes and his bride were both turned into Lions.

THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS

Upon the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, Zues threw a banquette to celebrate the union. One not invited to the celebration however was Eris, the goddess of discord. In retaliation to this wrong doing she devised a scheme to do what she did best: create discord. Crashing the party alone did not seem like a good enough revenge. Arriving unannounced at the wedding, she delivered a golden apple, upon which was inscribed the words "for the fairest one." This immediately, as planned, caused disharmony as three of those present; Athena, Aphrodite and Hera, all claimed to be entitled to the fruit. Chances are any or all of them could have rightly gone home with the apple, however Zeus unwilling to put himself in the hot seat, passed off the task of deciding to a mortal by the name of Paris.
Charged with this daunting task, Paris found himself on the slopes of Mount Ida facing the three contenders. As seems to be the way in many Greek myths, persuasion and bribery ensued, each of the three contestants offering Paris such rewards as kingship and wisdom. However one offer grabbed the attention of Paris more than all the rest. In exchange for awarding her the ego-boosting Golden Apple Aphrodite granted Paris the love of the most beautiful woman. Without question this title belonged to Helen of Sparta. Although his decision did bestow upon him the love of Helen, it also put him in a place of malevolence as far as the Greeks were concerned. Their attempt to retrieve Helen from Paris became the basis for the Trojan War.

Journey's Return

2010-02-02T14:45:00.002-05:00

I have made my way back from the southern reaches of North America (yes, in case you were wondering as I was, the North American continent does stretch all the way to the southern boarder of Panama). Thrust back into the cold snows of the ever lingering Midwest winters from the volcano lined shores of beautiful Lake Atitlan, Guatemala in a single day was more than just culture shock. Having been back for several days now, any glimpse of the monochromatic gray skies, reflecting the snow clad earth of a similar hue, does little to aid me in conjuring up any recollection of the unbelievable blue of the Caribbean coastline or the deep green of the jungle covered mountains of the Guatemalan highlands let alone the festively painted chicken buses which swerve around the small roads of same mountains maintaining a centrifugal force that could cause one to almost lose the black beans, fried plantain and hand-made tortillas that made up the midday meal.
Conversely, few things in my travels served to remind me of my own origins. Life in an ecosystem that that never dies and renews itself, but rather sustains itself is very different. I found myself wondering if and when leaves ever fall from trees in the jungle. Were these some of the same leaves that photosynthesized when the Spanish encountered this land? Most likely not. The leaves then were in some perpetual slow shed and growth cycle. It served as a stark contrast to an ecological system based strongly in the changing of the seasons.
In a place where coconuts continuously fall from the trees and bananas ripen on a daily basis, what a different view of food there must be than in a place where a years worth of work goes into a two month harvest of an apple crop pressed upon on one end by the cruel summer heat and the other by killing frosts and freezes. I found myself again reminded of perpetual work that goes into an apple crop as I made my way home through the winding ridge road of the land were I grew up. I passed workers among the trees in the late February afternoon at the end of a long row of trees under which lay the unwanted branches, clipped from the trees had left behind. Winter pruning was in full swing.
Glad to be back, more soon!

Heading South

2010-01-09T14:48:00.000-05:00

After a few good hardy weeks of Wisconsin winter I am taking several weeks to travel through southern Mexico and Gutemala. Being as I hope to largely take a break from the world of internet and cell phones in order to explore and emerse myself into my new surroundings I will not be posting for several weeks.
When I return I will be making an attempt to land my feet on the ground Asheville, NC, a place my partner and I have chosen to call home. Upon my return I will continue my exploration into the world of apples. If anyone has any travel suggestions or places not to miss in the Yucatan, Chiapas or Guatemala don't hesitate to send me a line. Cheers!

Story of an Apple: Winter Banana

2010-01-03T21:28:00.004-05:00

I have currently found myself in the deep winter of Northern Wisconsin. With several feet of snow outside and below zero temperatures that make the otherwise deliciously picturesque wonderland that looks so appealing from beside the wood stove almost intolerable even when dressed in all the winter garb you came with, I thought it apropos to tell the story of the Winter Banana. I was introduced to this apple for the first time this past fall while picking in New Hampshire. Having a name which to some may seem contradictory in terms, the Winter Banana is considered an heirloom variety and although it has often been used for fruit baskets, because of its beautiful appearance it is more commonly planted today to serve as a pollinator for other varieties.

The fruit originated in 1876 on a farm owned by David Flory, near the town of Adamsboro in Cass County, Indiana. Although native to the Midwest, the apple was more commonly grown in Washington and British Columbia. Grown as a fancy specialty apple, the gorgeous fruit, which has stunning red blush against a waxy yellow skin found a profitable market in parts of England and was often shipped in boxes to private residences in London. By the 1920's the popularity of the Winter Banana as an eating apple had also made it a desirable apple in English gardens. Although it was an aesthetically pleasing addition to gardens for British horticulturalists, the fruit did not thrive well in their cool climate found in the British Isles. In other parts of Europe however, such as Germany, the apple is still valued as an ornamental garden fruit and is also used to make juice. Although Winter Banana is still sought after by a few apple enthusiasts it is largely planted as a pollinator. Some small orchards are making an attempt to bring it back, but it still has a rather small and select following.
At Moose Hill Orchard where I picked this fall, it could often be found planted among Cortlands and Red Delicious as well as Mutsus. The Fruit, which often is incredibly waxy to the touch can sometimes have the aroma of a banana (my girlfriend thinks they give off an olfactory sensation similar to Runts). The apple is very late to ripen, and cool frosty nights are needed to sweeten the flesh and make the texture more palatable. In New Hampshire it is harvested very last, usually after most of the crew has already departed. Often a small group of only two or three pickers will be sent out in the cold early weeks of November with a tractor. They will drive up and down the rows of trees stopping at each one baring the glowing spheres. The apples with bright crimson blush which looks almost painted on would still stand out even if they weren't the only apples left in the orchard. Often one bin is all that is required for the few people what will wander into the packing shed looking for Winter Bananas.

Grower information about this apple is available here.

Apple Yoga

2009-12-31T11:26:00.002-05:00

I was asked by my significant other who has her own blog about yoga thejoyofyoga.blogspot.com to write a guest yoga sequence. I decided to write one that was was inspired by many of the strateches and stances I take on a usual basis when I pick apples. The sequence will be posted on her blog next week, but being as it was inspired by apple picking I thought it would be appropriate to also post it here. Hope you enjoy it, even if you don't practice yoga.

Apple Yoga

I have picked apples for nine seasons and in many ways it has become part of me and influenced my direction in more ways than I probably know. Having only begun to explore yoga a little over a year ago, it wasn’t until this past fall picking apples in the beautifully clad autumn of New England that I began to see how much yoga was involved in my daily life as an apple picker. I saw it in my physical movements, whether it be a balancing pose on a ladder to reach that one apple that seemed just out of reach, or placing yourself in a squat in order to retrieve those apples just above the ground. I saw yoga also in my simple presence among the trees. The meditative act of picking fruit hour after hour gave me space to clear my mind and relax in the solitude of the darkening days of autumn.

The sequence that follows in one inspired by apple picking, but I encourage you to also let it inspire you to reflect on all the ways yoga can be present in your life outside of the classroom or your personal practice. Finding your breath in a spare moment during your day or listening to your body and being conscious of your movements as you move through simple daily tasks or more strenuous physical activities can allow you have a continuous yoga practice. If you would find it helpful, try writing a yoga sequence that is inspired by a common task you perform or a work activity you do and see how it may change your actions the next time you perform it. Being present in every moment and being aware of both your body and your mind and how you choose to use them is, I believe, the essence of a yogic lifestyle.

Standing Meditation (3-5 minutes)
Tadasana (Mountain Pose) (stretch your arms up, pretend you are reaching to pick an apple that is just out of reach)
Bring your hands into prayer pose
Repeat 2 and 3 several times trying to reach a little higher each time
Twist gently to each side several times warming your spine
Anuvittasana (Standing Backbend) (gentle)
Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide-Legged Forward Bend) (6 breaths)
Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Utkatasana (Chair Pose) (focus on reaching arms up)
Uttanasana (Forward fold)
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward facing dog)
Repeat 8-11 twice more
Balasana (Childs pose)
Table
Balancing table (focus on stretching arms arm legs out)
Repeat other side
(Malasana) Squat, Hands in prayer pose (6 breaths)
Widen stance come into Bakasana (Crow pose)
Malasana (Squat)
Step or jump back
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward facing dog) (6 breaths)
Stretch right leg back, open hip
Low forward lunge
Raise arms (interlock if you want)
Lift knee, high lunge
Anjaneasana (gentle backbend)
Namaskar Parsvakonasana (Prayer Twist)
Virabhadra Mudra (Warrior Seal)
Downward facing dog
Repeat 22-29 other side
Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I)
Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
Viparita virabhadrasana (Reverse Warrior)
Parsvakonasana (Extended side angle)
Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III) (imagine trying to do this on a ladder high up in an apple tree)
Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
Adha Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing dog)
Repeat 31-38 other side
Matsyendrasana (Seated spinal twist)
Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head to Knee)
Lay on back
Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose)
Pavana muktasana (wind relieving pose)
Bridge into Wheel or inversion of your choice
Balasana (Childs pose)
Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby) (Hold for at least 6 breaths)
Shavasana (Corpse Pose)

The Apple Wassail

2009-12-24T12:50:00.001-05:00

Wassailing, I discovered recently is not just a practice of walking from house to house caroling during the holy days of the year, but is also an old practice, taken up in orchards in mid-winter by farmers and country folk. In his book Wild Apples, Henry David Thoreau recalls the following:

"On Christmas eve the farmers and their men in Devonshire take a large bowl of cider, with a toast in it, and carrying it in state to the orchard, they salute the apple-trees with much ceremony, in order to make them bear well the next season." This salutation consists in "throwing some of the cider about the roots of the tree, placing bits of the toast on the branches," and then "encircling one of the best bearing trees in the orchard, they drink the following toast three several times --

   Here's to thee, old apple-tree
   Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow,
   And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
   Hats-full! Caps-full!
   Bushel, bushel, sacks-full!
   And my pockets full, too! Huzza!

"They then shout in chorus, one of the boys accompanying them on a cow's horn. During this ceremony they rap the trees with their sticks." This is called "wassailing" the trees, and is thought by some to be "a relic of the heathen sacrifice to Pomona"

Apple wassailing is thought to have originated in the cider orchards of Southwest England. The first known mention of wassailing was in 1585 in Fordwich, Kent, a small town on the River Stour near Canterbury, England. The practice, which is thought to "bless" the tree, quite possibly originated from pagan roots, and may have evolved independently of the more commonly recognized form of wassailing. The general understanding was that the singing and noise made by wassailing would awaken the apple trees from winter sleep and scare away any evil spirits, making way for a good crop the following autumn.
Wassail bowls, which were used to carry the cider and bread to the orchard, could sometimes be very ornate. Often the shape of a large goblet, more elaborate ones would be decorated with silver decorations. More common however, were bowls made from white maple, which were commonly used by poorer peasants.
If one would like to wassail in the old way, the tradition is still very much alive in parts of England. If one were to visit Somerset or Devon in the Southwest of England on January 7th (the historic 12th night), they would find crowds of wassailers making there way from orchard to orchard, making general merriment in hopes of a good harvest to come.

If you find yourself in an orchard this season or just strolling past a scraggly crab apple, lonely in the deep dusk of a winter afternoon, give the trunk a good wrap. Look for the deep red of that one apple that never fell and still clings under the burden of the falling snow. Stand for a moment in the solitude of the coming darkness and let the thought of warm tangy cider on your tongue comfort you and the brisk wind that nips your face evoke the crisp of a late fall apple. Give a good shout and awaken the tree with this verse:

Stand fast root, bear well top
Pray the God send us a howling good crop.
Every twig, apples big.
Every bough, apples now.

Story of an Apple: Cortland

2009-12-13T22:45:00.003-05:00

The Cortland has been around since 1898, when it was born in Geneva, New York. After the advent of the McIntosh breeders began to experiment with hybrids through grafting. The Cortland was one of the first successes, the result of a union between a McIntosh and a Ben Davis. The apple was named after the city of Cortland, the county seat of Cortland County, New York.
A very popular apple in the 19th century, largely due to its properties as a good keeping apple, the Ben Davis was a favorite for growers since it would not fall from the trees until late in the season and could be counted on to produced a good crop year after year. With improvements in packing and shipping techniques in the 20th century, the Ben Davis fell out of favor being replaced by apple varieties that were thought to have better flavor. Today it is almost impossible to find a Ben Davis, however the offspring of this nearly extinct cultivar is still popular and can be found in most orchards.
With prominent green and red striations the Cortland is a larger apple with stunningly white flesh. Cortland trees, whether large or dwarf tend to show a distinct "droop" of the branches, that often remains even after the weight of the fruit is removed. They seem to also attract more vines than other trees giving them a particularly wild appearance. I have often imagined that a Cortland tree might bare a resemblance closest to what one of its ancestors may have looked like growing in the forests of Kazakhstan.
Cortlands are a mid-season apple, usually harvested after Macs but before later apples like Empires and Red Delicious. They are often a favorite of pickers because they are generally very large and do not bruise particularly easy. After weeks of picking delicate Macs that seem to fall from the tree when you breath, and bruise when you touch them, Cortlands are a welcome change. Cortlands often grow in pairs, stemming from either side of the branch (see above), which allows them to be easily picked two at a time if you can manage to fit both of the large apples in one hand. The biggest chalange when picking cortlands is spying the greener apples that skillfully hide in the dense foliage of the inner tree. Cortland trees often hang low to the ground requiring a lot of kneeling or bending over even in larger trees.

Picker Lingo

2009-12-03T17:23:00.001-05:00

I have been thinking lately about the different phrases and terms that are thrown around in the orchard. There seem to be a number of idioms and expressions that are innate to a pickers and orchardists (that itself may be my own term). Much of this lingo seems to have implanted itself in my brain without me even being aware, as if the act of picking apples was some how an unconscious course in linguistics.
Realizing this, I thought it would be fun to start a glossary of these words and phrases. I have only started with those that readily popped into my head, I hope to continue to add to this list and if there are other pickers out there reading this I welcome additions or revisions. If you are not a picker or familiar with terms I hope you will still find it entertaining.

Bottoms - all apples that can be picked without using a ladder.
Color Picking - selective picking of only rip apples, leaving green ones for a later pick or for cider. Usually apples taken during a color pick must be fifty to seventy-five percent red or blushed.
Drive Row - the space in between rows of apple trees where the tractor driver places bins for picking into.

Drops - apples that have fallen from the tree before an apple picker got to them. Ideally this is a very small percentage of apples, however especially among apples that hang loosely to the tree such as McIntosh, this can be quite a few. Traditionally drops were picked up and pressed for cider, however with the E. coli scare and the advent of more stringent standards, most orchards no longer practice this.
Escaladder - my favorite spanglish word from the orchard, a combination between the English and Spanish word for ladder.

Gourd Ass Green - this a phrase I have to include, it was coined by the crew leader back in Wisconsin. I hope I am remembering it correctly. It was used to describe apples that should not have been picked during color picking. I am not sure if the phrase made sense to me at the time, but it seemed to roll of the tongue nicely.
Gravy - incredibly good picking. Usually gravy is characterized by large apples on small trees that do not require any ladder work. Gravy however can also consists of more normal sized apples if they are easy to pick (don't spur) and do not bruise easily (so they can be picked faster). Good "gravy" varieties are often Cortland, Empires, Mutsu and Jonagolds among others. Note: Many seasoned pickers I have spoken to say they prefer lager trees rather than smaller ones when there is a good crop cause there is less bending over and a good ladder set can often yield a full bucket without moving from one spot.

Gravy Grabber - a picker who always seems to gravitate towards the best picking when given the opportunity.
Ladder Set - all the apples that can be reached from your ladder. Smaller trees often only have one ladder set, whereas larger trees often require four or five to reach all the apples. Knowing where to place your ladder is important for stability sake, but knowing where to place a ladder to maximize picking can also mean the difference between two ladder sets or five in a larger tree.
Marbles - unusually small apples, usually found on trees that are sickly or were not thinned properly during the summer. Picking marbles is highly undesirable because it takes much longer to pick a bushel and small apples are much heavier in the picking bucket.
Spurring - occurs when the "spur" comes off the tree along with the apple. This is undesirable both because it causes the picker to slow down and remove the spur (ideally) before putting it in the picking bucket and because the spur is the source of next years flower and subsequently fruit. If too many spurs come off the tree during picking the next years crop will be greatly reduced.
Stem Pull - a big no-no for pickers, especially when it comes to Red Delicious, stem pulls occur when the stem stays on the tree instead of coming off with the apple. Unlike spurring, stems pulls do not affect the tree, but with out their stems apples will not keep in storage as long.
Stripping - one of a picker's favorite words to hear. When you strip a tree you take all the apples, as opposed to size or color picking when you only take those apples that are suitable to be sold for eating and leave those that are too small or green for cider.
Tops - all the apples that can not be reached easily (key word) by standing on the ground.
Walking on Marbles - picking in trees where the majority of apples have already fallen prior to your arrival. In the worst cases so many apples have fallen that they form a solid layer under the tree, but have maintained enough structural integrity that they do not crush under your weight, but rather roll like marbles. I would venture to guess that every long-time apple picker has lost at least one bucket while walking on marbles.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-26T10:38:00.005-05:00

"All apples are good in November. Those which the farmer leaves out as unsalable, and unpalatable to those who frequent the markets, are choicest fruit to the walker. But it is remarkable that the wild apple, which I praise as so spirited and racy when eaten in the fields or woods, being brought into the house, has frequently a harsh and crabbed taste. The Saunterer's Apple not even the saunterer can eat in the house. The palate rejects it there, as it does haws and acorns, and demands a tamed one; for there you miss the November air, which is the sauce it is to be eaten with....These apples have hung in the wind and frost and rain till they have absorbed the qualities of the weather of season, and thus are highly seasoned, and they pierce and sting and permeate us with their spirit....To appreciate the wild and sharp flavors of these October fruits, it is necessary that you be breathing the sharp October or November air. The out-door air and exercise which the walker gets give a different tone to his palate, and he craves a fruit which the sedentary would call harsh and crabbed. They must be eaten in the fields, when your system is all aglow with exercise, when the frosty weather nips your fingers, the wind rattles the bare boughs or rustles the few remaining leaves, and the jay is heard screaming around. What is sour in the house a bracing walk makes sweet. Some of these apples might be labelled, "To be eaten in the wind."

-Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples

I read this passage for this first time the other day and found it speaking to me. The late November air outside my window has seemed to strip the last of the leaves from the trees. Only a few stubborn Oaks still cling to the brown remnants of their photosynthesizing extremities. Having always left the orchard when picking was done, I often try to imagine, not really knowing what the trees now look like. I imagine their are some fruit that manage to cling to the branch longer than the leaves around it. They perhaps have lost some of their luster as they hang from a leafless branch. To walk thought the orchard now would be a much different experience. Wandering among skeletons, the trees might seem much smaller now without their leafy cloaks. Perhaps there is, somewhere under a tree, the half eaten core of an apple enjoyed by a picker as they sat, back against their bin on a warm September afternoon. I think I can relate to what Thoreau speaks of, for that same apple if placed in the bin rather than eaten by the picker on that autumn afternoon would not, in my opinion have given the same enjoyment to any other palate no matter how well kept or preserved.
I think of all the supermarkets and all the apples that are the only apples that have ever been tasted by many souls and it makes we wonder how our idea of a desirable apple might change if we placed more emphasis on how an apple tasted in the crisp autumn air, eaten among the trees from which it came, and less emphasis on how well an apple travels across the country in a box or how beautiful it looks on the produce shelf once it has arrived.
I can only begin to imagine the complex tastes of one of Thoreau's apples found on a long walk some November afternoon. What I am assured of is that the apples I ate while picking, usually several times a day when hunger would encourage a mid-morning or afternoon break, do not compare to any I would take from the store of apples in the basement let alone any I have ever found on a supermarket shelf. I know that many foods taste better out of doors, but I do believe there is something that is even more exquisite about a fruit, taken from the tree not a minute before it is ripe and eaten in the grassy shade of that same tree.
It is now November and the only apples left on the trees are no doubt better suited to fall in their own time than to be plucked by my hand. The apples in storage, although perfect for sauce, butter or a crisp would not provide the same gustatory experience as they would have two months ago when my hand briefly grasped them between the tree and my picking bucket.
I am well aware that what I propose puts into question my own work as an apple picker, the thing that brought be to the orchard in the first place. I accept my place as a picker, a provider of fruit to those who do not venture out into the orchards, or the woods among apple trees wild and grafted. As we celebrate this time of "Thanksgiving" I find myself feeling cynical in my perception of what I believe to be a great detachment from the harvest and bounty that we are fain to celebrate and give thanks for. If one's knowledge of an apple goes no further than the produce section of the supermarket or even the local farm stand, are they really able to conceive the true nature of the apple, whether it be a wild one found on one of Thoreau's saunters in the woods or a Macoun, Pippin or Ida Red taken from a tree in the long rays of an October afternoon. I wish for every person who desires to feel truly thankful for what is continually provided to us to at least once in their life walk the circumference of an apple tree searching for that one apple that calls out to them, pick it and polish its skin with the inside of their shirt, lean against the trunk among the fallen leaves and half rotting apples and enjoy the apple in its juicy simplicity.

Story of an Apple: McIntosh

2009-11-19T13:02:00.002-05:00

Although it is not personally one of my favorite apples, I thought it appropriate to introduce the McIntosh apple, being as it is the parent by hybridization of many other apple cultivars. This apple dates back to 1811, to a tree discovered by John McIntosh on his farm in Dundela County, Ontario Canada.
John was the son of a Scottish immigrant, who was a loyalist during the American Revolution. Born in the Mohawk Valley of New York state in 1777, John moved to Ontario Canada in his early twenties. He settled in what was then Matilda township and began clearing his newly acquired land. During this process he discovered a number of seedling apple trees. He decided to transplant them to his garden, but by the next year only one had survived the cold Canadian winter.
After tending this survivor for several years the tree finally began to bare fruit. The fruit it bore - green apple with a distinct deep red blush - would ultimately be named the Red McIntosh by the man who discovered it.
In an attempt to propagate his new found apple John planted several of it's seeds, only to discover what many after him also would; that apples grown from a seed often show no resemblance to the apple from which they came (I plan to cover this phenomenon in detail in a later post). In the 1830's John and his son Allen welcomed a visitor to their farm who as luck would have it, was able to show them how to graft a cutting from his prised McIntosh tree onto the base of another apple tree. With the new found ability to propigate the McIntosh through grafting, the family began to develop a full fledged nursery and by the late 1830's John's sons Allen and Alexander had taken over the family business.
The original tree which John had transplanted into his garden survived the nineteenth century, although it was severely damaged by a fire in 1896. In 1908 over a hundred years after the tree had been discovered in bore it's last crop.
In the years since the McIntosh has gained significant popularity around the world. In its homeland it accounts for over half the apples grown each year.
Today many different varieties of the McIntosh exist. Among them are:

Hampshire Mac
Linda Mac
Marshall McIntosh
Mor-Spur McIntosh
Pioneer McIntosh
Rogers Red McIntosh
Scotian Spur McIntosh
Summerland Red McIntosh
Spotted McIntosh

The McIntosh or Mac as it is often called is a fairly early season apple, usually one of the first of the popular fall varieties to be picked. For pickers it can be a very frustrating apple to pick due to the fact that it is incredibly soft and very easy to bruise. It comes off the tree very easily however, which makes them easy to pick quickly, but also allows them to fall to the ground if you even look at them the wrong way. Picking a branch of Macs can often be like playing Jenga; if you reach for the wrong apple first you may loose half the branch. Thus the skill of a good seasoned apple picker is often evident in their ability to pick Macs well.

End of the Season

2009-11-10T12:20:00.001-05:00

Picking bags have been hung up for the season, ladders collected from the orchard. Pickers have gone on their way, heading to places like Pittsburgh, Asheville, Portland (Maine) and Hawaii. Some not sure where they will even end up next as they pack up their belongings and head off in cars, on buses or motorcycles. "The trellis" is always the last block of trees to be picked, mostly cider apples some of them being sold to other orchards. It was a very good crop this year. I spent my last afternoon picking a few good Mutsu apples that were left and then Macouns, slightly overripe and small, but still perfectly good for cider. The air was cool and as clouds rolled in as the day drew close to an end far before it seemed like it should, as the light faded I headed out of town moving on to my own unknown place.

The past few months all of a sudden seem to have passed more quickly than I thought. Being one of the last to leave the bunkhouse felt very empty as I packed up a car full of possessions that had made my little corner of the otherwise bare bunkhouse feel like home to me. Trudging through leaves that had not even shown a tint of color let alone any hit of falling when I first arrived, I feel a certain melancholia that one often feels when leaving a place or people that have come to hold significance. If even for a short time, this place, the bunkhouse, the long rows of apple trees, the picking bag hung over my shoulders, have all grown to feel familiar, stability in a fleeting world.

All the apples are in and the last of the leaves are falling to the ground covering the apples that have already begun to decompose. I wonder how many times some of the molecules in an apple have been recycled as a tree nourishes itself with it's own fallen fruit.

Turning Leaves Falling Apples

2009-11-03T18:21:00.004-05:00

"When the apple is ripe it will fall." -- Irish proverb

Its amazing to me sometimes how quickly the light changes this time of year. Not just the length of the day, but the quality of the light. It seems as the days grow shorter the shadows longer and the light more golden. The past week has felt very fleeting as many of the remaining leaves have fallen off of the trees. Many of the apple trees have also begun to turn a burnt golden, creating a great contrast with the dark reds and purples of the apples remaining among their branches. Those apples that somehow hid behind the leaves in September can no longer camouflage themselves among the leaves that now so exquisitely compliment their hue. Below many of the apple trees lies a blanket of overripe apples, which can make picking difficult. Scrambling between trees with a half full picking bucket while walking on a layer of partially decomposing apples is like trying to keep your balance on marbles. The pungent smell of vinegar wafts up occasionally greeting your nose with an odor that provides a gentle reminder of the cyclic nature of life. When you go to dump your apples into the bin you often discover that the number of leaves that have fallen into your bag often out numbers the apples.

I have never picked into November before. The long rays of the sun have begun to remind me too closely of a crisp December day and the temperature at dusk too closely mimics that of a winter evening. All of the crab apple trees that are planted for pollination in among the Empires have lost almost all their leaves. While a golden carpet surrounds their trunks, the crab apples themselves still cling to the branches, their red clusters stark against the brown branches of the tree, which reach out, almost begging for the first snow to cover them.

These first days of November feel very peaceful in the orchard. The early morning seems to blend right into the late afternoon and midday starts to seem like a distant summer memory. Reaching into the flaxen leaves to pick an apple, I know not whether to treasure more highly the leaves which will tomorrow turn brown, or the apple which almost seems to fall into my hand as I grasp it.

There is only a few more days of picking and the word in the orchard is that they may run out of bins before they run out of apples to put in them; the consequence of a good crop. It gets dark at five now and the walk home in the dusk is often filled with the sent of wood smoke. It feels good to be part of the last days of harvests, there is something very rewarding about getting in the last of the fruit. There is also something very lonely, almost haunting however about seeing all the empty trees around you. There is a comfort however in remembering the fruit they once bore, for it is a reminder of what is to come.

Rainy Days and Honey Crisp Cider

2009-10-29T13:14:00.000-04:00

Another rainy day in the bunkhouse. The rain on the tin roof seems almost therapeutic. The squirrels made there way into the rafters a few weeks ago, I imagine they will probably stay for the winter. They love to run back and forth above me, on rainy days like today it seems like we all get a little stir crazy. Looking outside however, watching the rain fall and the last of the suborn leaves finally let go and fly away, I feel glad to be under this tin roof, the smells of a caramelized onion tart drifting up from the kitchen.

The bunkhouse at Moose Hill

The bunkhouse at Moose Hill Orchards is from what I understand an old barn, probably built sometime in the nineteenth century. It is called the evaporator, owing to the fact that it used to be used to dry apples before storage. It has since be renovated to house the picking crew during the fall. The few brave souls that stay for winter tree pruning make there home in one side of the bunkhouse where they can be close to the barrel stove, the only source of heat in the cold winter months. The kitchen on the first floor has become the place to socialize as the evenings have gotten colder. The first floor also houses the room with the barrel stove where pickers often spend time playing the piano or guitar, or just drinking beers and telling stories. The second floor houses several private rooms along with a library of books; shelves and shelves of them, collected and left by pickers over the years. The third floor is sleeping quarters for those not wanting to spend their nights in a tent somewhere on the hill behind the bunkhouse.

On rainy days like today pickers can be found all over the bunkhouse, watching one of the many movies that have also seemed to accumulate in the library over the years, carving a pumpkin, or reading a book next to the stove. Some just take the day to nap. One can often find someone in the kitchen taking on a special baking project or heating up some leftovers for lunch.
The desire for a rainy day is a conflicted desire by this time in the season. Earlier in the season when the days are long and the picking plentiful, a rainy day comes as a welcome reprieve from a six day work week, a lull in the storm that is the harvest. By this time in the season however, as conversations turn to where people are headed next and when the last day of picking will actually be, a rain day just means one more day to wait.

Honey Crisp Apples

They brought up some special cider from the packing house today, made only of Honey Crisp apples. It was unlike any cider I have ever tried before. Most cider is dark in color, due mainly to the dark red color skin that many apples have. The Honey Crisp on the other hand has a much lighter skin and makes a cider almost the color of a white wine. Not as full bodied as most cider I have drank, it almost tastes as though it could be champagne without the bubbles. On a cold rainy day the thought of mulling this cider and drinking it hot sounds like the perfect afternoon along with a bowl of popcorn and a good book.

Late Apples

2009-10-27T08:24:00.003-04:00

"We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

With only a week or two to go in the season, we have started picking all the later season apples. The Mutsu, Golden Delicious and Red Delicious are some of the last apples to ripen. With lots of apples still scattered here and there waiting to be picked for cider, morale of the crew felt low at the beginning of this past week. Cider apples are traditionally all those apples that were either not big enough or red enough to be picked and sold as "fancy". They are often scattered around a tree most of them on the inside and hard to reach. All this does not make for very good picking when only cider apples are left. With the first two days of last week dedicated to cleaning up several different orchards of Empires, Cortlands, Macouns and Galas picking the remainders of all for cider, the promise of the late season apples was still only a promise. Come Wednesday morning after an all night rain, I awoke to a foggy morning, one of the only ones I have had here. Hoping for a late start in order to let the trees dry out, pickers slowly made there way down to the kitchen to get that first cup of coffee. Waiting for the roasted potatoes and fritata to be ready, standing out in the cool blanket of fog, the word came; we were headed for the Mutsus.

An apple I have never picked until this season, the Mutsu was always promised by veteran pickers to be a great apple to pick, and for an apple picker that usually means a large apple that fills the bin quickly and doesn't bruise to easily. The morning wasn't ideal, the fog held in the moisture, sometimes seeming to make the trees wetter rather than dryer. Every time you would reach for an apple, you would be showered with drops of water cupped in all the leaves on the branches above you.
By the early afternoon, the clouds began to clear and the sun burned through. It was good picking and nobody seemed to really want to go to lunch, for me, lunch ended up being an apple as I sat on my picking bucket taking a break. The promise had had been fulfilled, the Mutsus were a great apple to pick.
As the bins filled the day moved forward and the sun fell lower in the sky. By the late afternoon we had moved to long east/west rows. As the sun reached the horizon I could peer down the row at one of the more beautiful sunsets I have seen since I have been here. Each time I returned to my bin to dump another bucket of apples into the bin, it seemed as though the colors had gotten a little deeper and more brilliant, till finally it began to fade, as did the light. By this time bins were being topped off and hands rubbed together as the chilly night air moved in with the deepening of dusk. After seeing my breath, I knew I was glad to be heading back to the bunkhouse for some hot food and a good dark beer.

Story of an Apple: Golden Delicious

2009-10-24T16:32:00.002-04:00

The Golden Delicious is one of the most well known apples in the United States along with its companion the Red Delicious. Unlike many popular apples today which are the result of an intentional hybridization of existing apple cultivars, the Golden delicious was a product of nature, a chance seedling.

Found in a pasture on a farm in Clay County, West Virginia, it is believed to be a cross between a Grimes Golden and a Golden Reinette, neither of which is commonly grown today. The following is an account of the discovery:

“I was born in 1876 on the farm where that apple tree later became famous. My dad was L. L. Mullins, who owned the farm. "Now one day, when I was about 15 years old, that would have been about 1891, dad sent me out with a big old mowin' scythe to mow the pasture field. "I was swingin' away with the scythe when I came across a little apple tree that had grown about 20 inches tall. It was just a new little apple tree that had volunteered there. There wasn't another apple tree right close by anywhere. "I thought to myself, 'Now young feller, I'll just leave you there,' and that's what I did. I mowed around it and on other occasions I mowed around it again and again, and it grew into a nice lookin' little apple tree and eventually it was a big tree and bore apples. "Now my dad later gave that piece of the farm in a trade to my brother, B. W. Mullins, and later still he traded the farm place to Uncle Anderson Mullins. "Uncle Anderson had a brother-in-law named Gus Carnes, and one day Gus and Uncle Anderson decided to send some of the apples to the Star Brothers nursery to tell what kind of apple it was. And that was when the tree became famous and started the Golden Delicious apple line, for it was that tree that has produced every last one of the Golden Delicious apple trees that have ever grown anywhere. "The Starks sent a man to look at the tree, just like you've heard, and they bought the tree and the ground for 30 feet around it, and eventually they fenced it. They were to get all the fruit from the tree, down to the last apple." [i]

Starks Nursery who bought the propigation rights to the apple began to market it in 1914 as a companion to another one of it's apples, the Red Delicious. The original tree, which was purchased from Mullins for a sum of five thousand dollars continued to produce fruit until the early 1950's when it finally died. It has since become a very popular apple and is grown from New England to Washington state. It was also named the state apple of Virginia in 1955.
The Golden Delicious is one of the later apples to be harvested. From a pickers perspective I find it to be a fun apple to pick. Usually large, it is not as easy to bruise as a Macintosh, but if bruised, the golden skin will show it very readily. When very ripe they often develop a blush where the sun hits them, especially those that have exposure to the early morning rays. When over ripe they can be a little waxy to the touch and are very aromatic once in the bin. Although I don't personally find it to be a great keeper, fresh off the tree it is very sweet and if not overly ripe, very crisp. A great snack on an October afternoon.

__________________________________________________________________________________

[i]"Dunbar Man 'Discoverer' of Golden Delicious Apple". Charleston Daily Mail. October 18, 1962

A Background

2009-10-21T19:37:00.003-04:00

"What a healthy out-of-door appetite it takes to relish the apple of life, the apple of the world, then!" -- Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples

I fee like perhaps it is appropriate to begin with the story of my life, maybe not my whole life just now, but at least the part that has lead to a bunkhouse in New Hampshire, where I now sit next to a barrel stove writing this.

I was born in Chicago Illinois, although I wouldn't consider myself a city kid. By the time I was old enough to be out exploring my surroundings to any great degree, my mother and I had relocated to rural Wisconsin. It was a small town in the hills called Gays Mills surrounded by orchards on one side and the Kickapoo river on the other where I spent most of my childhood.
I feel as though I have always loved being outdoors, but more than that I think I have always loved working outdoors. From a fairly early age this proved to be true, I worked on an organic farm for three summers during my high school years. It was also then that I got my first taste of apple picking. I worked with a few friends at Flemming Orchards, one of the smaller orchards on the ridge outside of Gays Mills (there were six orchards at the time two of which have since closed). Even my first experience picking was a solitary one. I would often get sent out on an ATV pulling a small trailer with crates, filling them as I went. Occasionally I would get to pick into larger bins, usually twenty bushels, which would require me to wear a picking bag. From time to time I would also arise at two in the morning on a Saturday and travel with the owner of the orchard to the farmers market in Madison Wisconsin selling pecks and half pecks of apples as well as fresh pressed cider.
By the time I was a senior in high school I
had "graduated" to one of the larger orchards on the ridge, Kickapoo Orchards, another family owned orchard. There I picked with a crew of people, mostly local, some of whom only worked seasonally or the occasional odd job. I had finished most of my required classes in order to graduate, so I would spend the morning in classes and the afternoon in the orchard. It was during this time that I began to fall in love with the apple harvest. After spending all morning in a stuffy classroom, the fresh crisp air of an October day felt amazing. Climbing a sixteen foot wooden ladder to the top of a Cortland tree and observing the surrounding valleys and bluffs cloaked in their autumn blanket would always give me pause.
After high school I attended a small liberal arts college in Iowa. The schedule which worked on the block plan allowed me to take a month off per year and still be a full time student. I didn't have to think twice about which month I wanted to take off. For two out of four of my college years I spent the month of September in the apple trees before returning to school, with some extra money which I had no trouble finding a use for.
With four years of higher learning under my belt, I took a post graduation road trip, which at the time almost felt like a requirement. Even after a trip British Columbia and the Olympic peninsula, the apple trees and autumn air pulled me back to Wisconsin and come September I found myself once again with a picking bag strapped over my shoulders, this time at Sunrise Orchards; the largest orchard on the ridge and the largest family owned orchard in the state of Wisconsin.
By this time the rhythm was set, I knew where I wanted to be when fall rolled around. The following year I hopped off the Appalachian Trail after hiking for four months and headed back for the apple harvest. Although I moved to Madison and worked at a cooperative bakery for the next two years I still found time to come up to Gays Mills for at least part of the season. After two years in Madison however my wanderlust lead me to the road once again. Having left Madison this past May I embarked on a long distance bike ride from New York to Michigan and than another across Iowa. With this summer also came the fulfillment of a long time dream of mine as I made my first journey to Alaska. Upon my return however summer had made it’s way to a close. As the warm summer nights gave way to brisk autumn mornings I made one final journey to New Hampshire where I would pick apples for the first time away from my hometown. My destination was Moose Hill Orchards, a place I had herd much about from several different friends who had picked there ten and twenty years before.

Here I now sit next to the barrel stove in the bunkhouse at Moose Hill Orchards. With apples still left to bring in and frost on the pumpkins, I can't think of may places I would rather be. Cheers!

The Apple Seed

2009-10-19T13:56:00.000-04:00

I have been an apple picker for nine seasons. In that time I have learned a great deal about the apple, how it is grown, tended and harvested. But in that time I have also spent countless hours out among the apple trees, many of them solitary. All this time has given me the opportunity to think more about the significance of this fruit, how it has worked its way into the fabric of our lives. More than that however, I also think about the apple as metaphor, as myth.

During these seasons, the apple harvest has worked its way into my own life. If I was not out in the trees picking, climbing ladders, listening to tractors off in the distance hauling off full bins of apples, I would feel like a part of me was missing. I know this might sound cliche, but an orchard in the fall seems like the only place that feels like home.
I don't keep a journal, I never have been very good at that, but I wanted a way to share some of my experience as an apple picker, the "culture" of apple picking you might call it. My idea was to keep a daily journal of the approximately two month long apple picking season. However, more than that I wanted to share the many things I have learned about apples as well as the my own thoughts and realizations about the fruit.
The apple has made its way into out literature, mythology, and cookbooks not to mention our bodies for centuries. I would love to explore this more, and I hope to learn as much by doing this as will anyone who chooses to read what I write.
The apple has been taken from the tree, remade, polished and placed in a little box labeled "Red Delicious." I want to open that box and examine what is really inside. Through my stories and journal keeping I also hope to give a glimpse into the lives of fruit pickers or more broadly food growers and harvesters, people who have been largely marginalized and forgotten.
Like an apple seed which will almost certainly not produce anything like the apple it came from when planted, I do not know exactly where this will lead, or what will come from it, but I hope it is something that is compelling, slightly nostalgic at times, informative and entertaining. Let the seed grow!