Welcome
Welcome to Out On A Limb Apples. We are a small, off-grid homestead farm and experimental orchard in central Maine. We grow several hundred apple varieties, most of them unusual, historic or rare. Many are un-named seedlings that we are trialing or species apple selections from around the world. We collaborate with the USDA, the Maine Heritage Orchard, Fedco Trees, and with growers, collectors and institutions around the US and Europe. Our goals are to:
track down and preserve rare apples,
learn how to use them and grow them, and
make fruit and trees available to the public.
You can purchase our apples through our Apple CSA (community supported agriculture) that focuses on rare varieties. For $175, our members receive five shares of apples every other week from early September to early November. We offer pickup locations in Belfast, Clinton, Portland, Trenton, and on our farm in Palermo. Each week's share contains 4-7 varieties based on what is ripe that week. We publish an online newsletter that provides information about the apples, their histories and recipes. Sign-up for the 2024 season opens May 1st.
If you are interested in unusual apples for your farm stand, restaurant, or catering business on a regular delivery schedule or for a one-time event, please contact us. We are happy to work with wholesale customers from the Portland area to Bar Harbor. We can also supply 2nd quality apples for commercial or home food processing or cider making.
We have a limited number of trees available for purchase from our farm each spring. You can find a list of what is available for 2024 here. We also offer scionwood from many of our discoveries and trials . Please email us with questions or to order. Trees can be picked up at the farm in Palermo. We can ship quantities of 10 or more. We also do custom grafting upon request. If you have purchased a tree from us or someone else, here are some tips on how to plant it and to care for it before and after planting.
We do apple identifications. Our expertise is apples of the northeast US. We do not charge for this service, although we do ask that you make a donation of any amount to the Maine Heritage Orchard. Please write "Maine Heritage Orchard" in the memo line to ensure the gift is used for orchard expenditures. Because we are an ID staff of one, our capacity is limited. If you’re interested in having an apple identified, click here for instructions on what to do next. We are currently working on an “interactive apple ID key” that we hope to have up and running in the next year or two. It will aid users in identifying about a thousand varieties grown in the northeast US during the past 400 years.
To learn more about John’s work tracking down, identifying and preserving rare apples, consider purchasing his book, Apples and the Art of Detection. The book is also available in a number of area bookstores. If you are interested in purchasing wholesale quantities for your farm stand or bookstore, please email us.
Speaking Engagements:
John speaks about apple history and does readings year round. You can see a list of these and other apple gatherings on our Events page. To arrange for a speaking engagement, please email us. No group is too large or too small.
Contacting Us and Visiting:
We would like to hear from you, but please beware that our first priority is to care for our orchards and gardens. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We are unable to give tours, and we do not have a farm stand or a U-pick orchard.
