Old Greening tree, Bailey’s Orchard, September 29, 2026
The rain continued until about noon, and we spent much of the day indoors. Skylar and Cammy were fine-tuning our apple ID instructions and information forms. It promises to be a big ID season ahead.
Later in the morning when the rain began to letup, Skylar and I ventured out to Bailey’s Orchard in Whitefield, about a twenty minute drive from the farm. Rod and Kay Bailey have been running it for 51 years, now with both of their kids helping out. It’s not large for a commercial orchard, and there was no one else there this morning. It’s made up of old, free-standing trees, tucked back in off the road, well-kept and idyllic. It’s a magical spot. Rod walked out into the orchard with us to show us a couple trees I wanted to pick. I was collecting apples for the College of the Atlantic Apple Class that meets here on the farm once a week. Thursday is the next session and describing apples is on the agenda.
In the late afternoon I put airlocks on the cider we pressed a couple weeks ago. Trailman gets the award for most vigorous fermentation at this point.