The 2011 Apple and Pear picking season IS OVER.

Our pick your own Apple and Pear orchards are ready for picking beginning early September and ripening continues through early November. We grow Bosc and Bartlett pears and over twenty varieties of apples. Remember pears ripen off the tree while apples ripen on the tree.

Most of the apples available in local supermarkets are grown and marketed because they are easy to grow and store (9 months is not unusual), they can be picked early (before they are ripe), and provide large yields. The apples most widely available are sturdy, beautiful, large tasteless fruits - 3 or 4 varieties have been widely marketed and unfortunately this small sampling represents for many the totality of their “apple experience”. In our opinion, the commercial apple industry is a perfect example of what is wrong with corporate agriculture and why it is important for us to pay attention to our food supply and support local producers.

Our purpose is to grow apple varieties that taste great. Nothing gives us more pleasure than watching a child discover that all apples don’t taste or look alike and that they are “really good”. Some of the apples we grow were popular hundred of years ago (i.e. Spitzenberg - Thomas Jefferson’s favorite) and some have been recently introduced (Honeycrisp). Many varieties are “heirloom” varieties because they are older cultivars that are not widely grown commercially and are rarely available. Over the years, we have planted more of these “boutique” apples and believe that it is important as well as interesting to keep them available - and lets not forget the great taste..

Pears ripen earlier than apples and are ready for picking around Labor Day.

The following is a list of the apples we grow arranged by approximate ripening order: