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Apple Zoo grafts, anyone?
This orchard was originally our trial orchard, with the earliest grafting way back in the '70's - we were looking for apples that would grow to their highest quality here on this hill. The traditional Northeast apple industry was embattled by west-coast Red Delicious, then Granny Smith from the southern hemisphere, then Gala ditto, all of which were expertly marketed to stores and to the public. Across the region, magnificent, multigeneration orchards were "growing houses." So in this orchard, looking for ways to avoid that fate, we tried out all sorts of heirloom delights, in order to choose a few for serious planting. Also, we tried out specialized "bittersweet" and "bittersharp" cider apples for fermenting - they're the apple version of wine grapes. They guided us toward what became Farnum Hill Ciders. A lot of recently-planted cider orchards in the U.S. have used grafting wood from here.
Old Apple Zoo news from October 23, 2022
Our locally famous "apple zoo" opened October 1 so as usual it's been heavily picked by now.
The Two Below the Barn Variety chart, found right HERE, shows where the various varieties have been grafted. (You will see that each tree is numbered.) Apple and cider nerds will still find it interesting. People who might want grafting wood this winter for your own apple-growing projects - take a look! But it's not longer an opportunity to taste scores of different varieties.
This orchard was originally our trial orchard, with the earliest grafting way back in the '70's - we were looking for apples that would grow to their highest quality here on this hill. The traditional Northeast apple industry was embattled by west-coast Red Delicious, then Granny Smith from the southern hemisphere, then Gala ditto, all of which were expertly marketed to stores and to the public. Magnificent, multigeneration orchards across the region were "growing houses." So in this orchard, looking for ways to avoid that fate, we tried out all sorts of heirloom delights, in order to choose a few for serious planting. MIxed in you'll find specialized "bittersweet" and "bittersharp" cider apples for fermenting - they don't taste great but it's interesting to try them! And they guided us toward what became Farnum Hill Ciders.