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TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
A box of the amazing Knobbed Russet at Scott Farm, Dummerston Vermont, October 2024
I spent much of the day indoors working on apple ID’s. Despite the sparse crop in central Maine, there is still much to identify. We received more much-needed rain. It’s been quite dry since Labor Day, and the ponds are all low. The ducks were very happy to be out in the rain all day.
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
Scott Farm’s Heirloom Apple Day
Laura Sieger and I gave two talks at Scott Farm’s Heirloom Apple Day to large, enthusiastic crowds. We each selected our four favorite apples and then related them to our own lives and the history of apples. It was a rainy day in Vermont, but the event was well attended and everyone was in good spirits. It was great to be there.
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
Erin Robinson and Casey Darrow in front of a Northern Spy tree planted by Casey’s great-grandfather in 1918
Alyssa Gavlik and I spent much of the day with Erin Robinson of Scott Farm in Dummerston, VT where they grow dozens of rare varieties including many I’d heard of but never seen. We spent hours exploring their orchards, looking at apples they haven’t been able to identify since the past manager left, and talking about all things apples. Later we were joined by Laura Sieger and Sean Turley. The five of us went to Green Mountain Orchards in nearby Putney, Vermont where Casey Darrow and his family have grown apples and small fruit—particularly blueberries—for multiple generations.
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
It was a picture-perfect Maine fall day - clear skies and cool temps. The trees were singing. It was one of those moments when it felt like there was no one else on Earth. We picked some of the many unusual varieties fruiting at the Finley Lane orchard for the first time. Some may have great potential for fresh eating, cider or cooking.
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
Not far From the Tree
This evening I traveled to North Yarmouth to give a talk to the North Yarmouth Historical Society. The theme was how apples will save the world. I was sad to be missing the Stevie Wonder concert in NYC that ran simultaneously, but the forty of us at the Olde Town House had a good time. And we’re saving the world one old apple tree at a time. I even attempted to sing one of my old favorites: Apples Never Fall Far From the Tree. “If you want to save the world, I’ll tell you what to do: just be thankful that your kids are not the same as you!”
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
Firewood put to a good use.
Laura and I weeded the first year trees in the nursery for the last time this season. The weeds had come back with a vengeance in the last month. We also inventoried the trees. In the afternoon we brought in more firewood. We’re nearly done! It was a beautiful day on the farm, including a brief surprise “downpour” in the middle of the afternoon. Haven’t seen any Canada Geese yet this year. They should fly by heading south in a day or two.
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
It won’t be long.
Big crowd on the farm today mostly packing up the apples for the CSA. I met with MOFGA’s new development person and others to discuss funding for the Maine Heritage Orchard. Later in the afternoon Cammy and I harvested beans, tomatillos and other odds and ends in anticipation of the First Frost, due tonight or tomorrow night.
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
Job opportunity??
We received some much needed rain: 1/2”. We’ll take it. I did a pile of ID’s, and later did some reading in prep for my trip to the UK in November. Several of the people we’ll be visiting are authors, and I thought it would be fun to find out what they have to say before we meet. I started with Gabe Cook’s “Ciderology.” It’s wonderful! I’m already a third of the way through and thoroughly enjoying it. At one point he even quotes Confucius, “Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work again!”
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
Sweet apple, Presque Isle, Maine
Cammy and I drove up to Presque Isle in Aroostook County to attend an apple seminar at Northern Maine Community College. We stayed at one of the farms where the Hayford Sweet was historically grown. A year ago Sean Turley and I visited the farm and collected fruit from one of their old trees. It was a true “sweet” apple. Whether it is the Hayford Sweet or not is an ongoing project. On Saturday I took part in a panel at the seminar. I went first and gave an overview of Aroostook apple history. The second speaker talked about Henry David Thoreau’s wonderful essay, “Wild Apples”. The third speaker talked about growing and cultivating apples. I thought we made a great team.
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
Cubbyhole Wow, possibly Walbridge, 10/03/2024
Today I spent much of the day doing apple ID’s. There is a backlog! I spent more time with the apple Todd Little-Siebold found on North Haven Island on 09/28/2024. I like the phenotypic match with Bussey’s description of Walbridge. I'm especially drawn to the distinctive stripes which make sense since Walbridge was once known as Redstreak. It’s almost as distinctive as St. Lawrence. As far as hardiness, North Haven Island is in Penobscot Bay which is milder than many parts of the state. This fits with Bradford’s statement that Walbridge is not hardy. I have offered to do a presentation of the apple later this fall to the working group. Todd left a dozen or so apples with me, and I still have 8 of them to identify.
Later I collected several varieties from the Finley Lane orchard that are now ripe, including the French bitter-sweet cider apple, Launette, and the English sharp, Skyrmes Kernel. I also picked the remaining Norton Greening which I’ve been making into an excellent sauce. I’ve become very enamored with Norton Greening
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
Spent the morning with Todd identifying apples from old trees that he had visited on North Haven Island this past weekend. We were able to ID some of the more common heirlooms: Baldwin, Yellow Bellflower and Ribston Pippin. Several were mysteries. One may be the long-elusive Walbridge which apple colleagues from around the US have been attempting to locate for decades. That would be exciting.
Meanwhile Laura did a fireblight check and branch removal in the SCF orchards. There were some lingering strikes near the arbor and in the Finley Lane Nursery but not an alarming amount. The two of us picked several bushels of a russet growing in Chris Wildrodt’s orchard in Whitefield. The russet has been DNA profiled and, so far, has no match. So many mysteries.
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
Old “Deane” tree, Franklin County, Maine
I gave a talk in Wilton at the Senior Plus Center focusied on the apples of the town of Wilton and Franklin County. Wilton was an important apple-center for many years, and several apples originated there or in the surrounding towns, including the Deane apple in Temple. Two of the attendees at the talk were members of the Cyrus Deane family. That led to a long discussion about the Deane apple, DNA profiling, and the questions that arise as we attempt to identify these old cultivars. The Deane tree in the Maine Heritage Orchard has tested as “Milwaukee”, an apple that was not documented to have been grown in Maine. How could that be? Was the apple simply missed 120 years ago? Was the reference tree to which our DNA was compared incorrectly identified ? Or was “Milwaukee” a synonym or re-naming in Wisconsin of the Maine apple, Deane? The mysteries are endless.
Apple ID’s in progress
TODAY IN THE ORCHARD
Time to sit down and focus on the bags and boxes of apples that people have been sending my way. Today was devoted to apples from northwest Connecticut where the landscape has been largely left undeveloped, the farms have been spared the bulldozer, and the old apple trees have been spared the chainsaw. This means that the area remains an important sanctuary of old, potentially endangered, cultivars. One of the apples looks promising in that respect. It was labeled “Ives 2” and is one I don’t think I’ve seen before.
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.
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Alex, Emma and Dash at the Great Maine Apple Day, 2001
This evening I did something I rarely do - gave a talk with a power point presentation on a big screen at the Gem Theatre in Bethel. It focused on Black Oxford and the apples of Oxford County. I spent many hours searching through photos and historical references in order to prepare, but it was fun to do and well-received. The highlight was when an audience member (mycologist Greg Marley) identified the children on a slide as his son and two of his friends. I had never known who the children were and had never shown the slide before. Hi son was about 9 when the photo was taken; he is now 30. The wonders of life.
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CGF Apple/Pear Nerds: John, Todd Little-Siebold, Dave Fulton, Sean Turley and Lauren Cormier.
The last day of the Common Ground Country Fair and another huge crowd. The apple display of 250 apples and 38 pears continued to attract curious and excited fair-goers. Our team of identifiers was engaged in a steady eight-hour conversation about apples, old apple trees, apple history, apple challenges, and bits of apple everything with the occasional interesting pear tossed in. It was an excellent Fair. The one thing that was missing—all would agree—was that there were NO apples for sale! We’ll have to remember that for 2025.
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Today was the first day of fall and the second day of the Common Ground Country Fair. There was a huge crowd as always on a Saturday. The weather was mild and overcast, and the apple display continued to attract a steady stream of curious fair-goers. It was a perfect day for sitting outside and talking about apples. The second apple tasting featured a surprise winner: Wealthy. (Ribston Pippin took second and Canadian Strawberry came in third.) Because of the sparse apple crop throughout central Maine, there were not a lot of apple-mysteries to solve at the Fair, although the apple team at the display tent was busy all day with questions and possible leads for new discoveries.
Sean and John and the apple cutting crew at the tasting
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Day 1 of the Common Ground Country Fair at MOFGA in Unity, Maine. We attended along with about twenty thousand others. There were many highlights. The apple display put together mostly by Laura Sieger and Lauren Cormier is fantastic. The apple tasting emceed by Sean Turley and I was a big hit. A couple hundred people voted Canadian Strawberry (aka Roy Slamm) as the winner. The apple crew at the display tent had many conversations with fair-goers. We’re looking forward to conversations and apples to ID all weekend.
The best tattoo of this year’s Fair so far: Baldwin
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Collected the last few apples for the Friday and Saturday tastings at Common Ground Fair. I will emcee this year’s tastings with Sean Turley. We’ll taste about 10-12 different apples each day and vote for our favorites. It’s a wild and fun event. Hope to see you there.
The Common Ground Fair apple tasting cutting crew, 2017
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I collected apples at Sandy River and at Murph’s orchard in New Sharon for the apple display at the Fair. The display is the number one attraction for apple lovers at the Fair every year. Come join the apple geeks of Maine. Stay all day! It’s fantastic.
The small 1993 apple display at the Common Ground Fair. It's gotten bigger every year.