Today in the orchard
The weather continued to be cold and raw as I drove to The Apple Farm in Fairfield, ME, home of the oldest Gray Pearmain trees in central Maine (or possibly, anywhere). I was in pursuit of a few good specimens of Ashmead’s Kernel and Northern Spy to use in a cider and apple tasting that I’ll be helping to lead at Table Bar in Gardiner, ME tomorrow. We have both of those varieties here, but The Apple Farm has many more trees and I was looking for a good excuse to go visit the owners, Steve and Marilyn Meyerhans. I also wanted to check out some trees I had topworked there years ago to see if they had any fruit left. I was not disappointed - Kingston Black, Roxbury Russet and Hudson’s Golden Gem hadn’t been picked. We’ll bring our ladders and boxes back tomorrow and pick them. The Apple Farm is located on a ridge with amazing views both east and west. They have a large collection of unusual cultivars along with the typical ones. It’s well worth making the trip.
In the afternoon we planted the garlic back on the farm. We grow two garlics: Phillips and German Extra Hardy. Both are excellent. At one point it began to snow - perfect weather for planting. We covered the bed with hay and made a bee-line for the heat. Another fall task complete.