Today in the orchard
I remind myself every fall to minimize the days I’m off the farm. Ideally it would be none. But fall is the time to explore the world of apples beyond the farm. It’s the time to see other people’s trees. It’s the time to attempt to solve some of those apple mysteries that might just need one more visit to put it all together. It’s the time to spread the gospel of apples. Who can do it all? Luckily the answer is easy: no one.
It was a clear blue day and, instead of working on the farm, I went “Downeast” and visited apple trees. I was joined by Todd Little Siebold and Sean Turley. Todd planned the trip, and we had multiple locations to visit. He knew where we needed to go. It was a marathon but a good one. Our mission was to track down three old cultivars that were grown in Hancock County: Garden Sweet, Martha Stripe and Marlboro. it was pitch dark when I opened the door to the cooler back at Super Chilly Farm and slid in three bushel boxes filled with bags of apples. Somewhere in those boxes maybe we’ll find all three of those illusive apples. And a whole lot more.