TODAY IN THE ORCHARD

We attended the Apple Festival at the Valentine Farm in Bethel, Maine. We set up a display of 100 apples currently growing at SCF. Most people assumed that we had included every apple grown in Maine so they were shocked to learn that these 100 barely scratched the varietal surface. We didn’t include the huge Wolf River in the display since we don’t grow it; it is always the apple everyone gravitates toward. Today the apple that caught everyone’s eye was the beautifully striped St. Lawrence. It was a small but steady and enthusiastic crowd all afternoon. Nearby to our apple display was a beautiful pollinator garden that included several herbaceous perennials that look as though they should be introduced into our orchards. These included, Angelica silvestris (Vicar’s Mead), Verbena bonariensis (Vervain), and Chamaecrista fasciculata (Partridge Pea). Some of them might possibly reseed themselves once planted in the orchard. We’ll obtain seed this winter.