Apple Orchard
Over the past two years, we have managed to reclaim about an acre of forest and convert it to orchard. Eventually, Lockehaven will have an orchard that provides both cider (sweet and hard) and table apples to be happily managed by our Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs.
Table apples are the most familiar names, as most Americans have grown up with them. They include varieties like Macintosh, Honey Crisp, Cortland, Red Delicious, and Granny Smith. These apples are fine for snacking and most general cooking, but they don't hold up when it comes to hard cider.
Hard apple cider has been a tradition on family farms for centuries. Years ago in England when cash was hard to come by, orchard workers were paid in hard cider. Hard cider was a staple because, unlike water, it was always safe to drink. In addition, it provided a nutritional supplement in winter to folks who needed it.
Similar to our appreciation for heritage breeds, we've developed an appreciation for the older varieties of apples. There are hundreds of varieties that at one point each had a specific purpose. Modern demand for generalized fruit, a shippable fruit, a fruit that will always look the way it should, and fruit that is "easy" has driven the heirloom apple off our grocery shelves. Many of these heirloom varieties are just as endangered as heritage breed animals. Again, we see it as our job to fix it.
Table apples are the most familiar names, as most Americans have grown up with them. They include varieties like Macintosh, Honey Crisp, Cortland, Red Delicious, and Granny Smith. These apples are fine for snacking and most general cooking, but they don't hold up when it comes to hard cider.
Hard apple cider has been a tradition on family farms for centuries. Years ago in England when cash was hard to come by, orchard workers were paid in hard cider. Hard cider was a staple because, unlike water, it was always safe to drink. In addition, it provided a nutritional supplement in winter to folks who needed it.
Similar to our appreciation for heritage breeds, we've developed an appreciation for the older varieties of apples. There are hundreds of varieties that at one point each had a specific purpose. Modern demand for generalized fruit, a shippable fruit, a fruit that will always look the way it should, and fruit that is "easy" has driven the heirloom apple off our grocery shelves. Many of these heirloom varieties are just as endangered as heritage breed animals. Again, we see it as our job to fix it.
Current Plantings:
For our purposes, a "cider" apple implies hard, not sweet, cider. Sweet cider can be made from most any table apple.
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Apple Information
There is quite a bit available to someone interested in growing apples. We have found these sites very useful in our research and shopping:
- Big Horse Creek Farm - A mom and pop shop in North Carolina. Ron and Suzanne have a huge supply of apples. This is a true custom order: pick your rootstock and your scion wood, BHC will graft them and send them a year later when the tree is ready for planting.
- Fedco Seeds - A co-op garden supply store located in Waterville, ME. Fedco has a large supply and excellent resources for learning about heirloom variety plants.
- Walhowdon Farm - The Patch family has been farming this land in Lebanon since 1775. They produce apples, cider, and maple syrup for their farmstand and local grocery stores. Additionally, they milk about 100 cows.
Pears
Nearly everything we've said about apples can be said about pears. Perry is the pear's answer to hard apple cider. While this is very uncommon in the United States, it is fairly well known in the UK, where there is still a viable market for it. Pears are slightly less tolerant of the New Hampshire winters than is a proud and honest apple tree so the diversity available to us small. We have decided to give pears a shot and have started with:
- Red Clapps Pear
- Commice Pear
- Early Gold Pear
