A Walk Through the Past, or a Glimpse of the Future? Some of us have worked at the farm for 10.. 15… even 20+ years. Yet there’s always more to learn about this piece of land, which has history dating back to the 1700’s built into its stone walls, as well as new history being made each and every day through new additions to the soil. The beauty of a new season, as we witnessed this past weekend with the … Keep Reading
So is it currently winter or fall? Days like yesterday make it hard to tell. Boston saw nearly 5 inches of snow, shattering the previous October record of less than an inch in a day. It isn’t the first time we’ve seen snow in October, though. Here’s proof: a photo of our staff harvesting apples wearing snow boots, circa that historic winter of 2011. Between the snow yesterday, and the end of daylight savings time tomorrow, we’re all going to … Keep Reading
For the first time, we’re holding a pumpkin carving contest here at the farm! Drop off your best jack-o-lantern by noon on Halloween Day. Our panel of judges will select the top 5 entries, which will each receive a $25 gift card to the farm! Here are the details: Creative, spooky, silly, and “farmy” entries encouraged!
We’re now halfway through October, and pumpkins have taken their rightful seats on the front porches, kitchen tables, mantle places, and lawns of homes all over town. You’ve got your classic “Jack-o-Lantern” pumpkins, comparative giants next to “mini” pumpkins. Both are decorative cultivars whose sole missions in life are to breathe “fall charm” into the world. Their quirkiness, and in some cases downright ugliness (in the ugly-adorable sort of way), makes them endearing. So endearing, in fact, that every year, … Keep Reading
Google “Big Three Apples” if you want to read about rivalries between Apple, Microsoft, and Google. But here on the farm at least, “Big Three Apples” refers to our three most prized pick-your-own varieties: McIntosh, Cortland, and Macoun. If we’re lucky, for a couple magical weekends each year, these apples ripen simultaneously. This happens to be one of those magical weekends! These three apple varieties have more in common than their popularity and their harvest dates. Genetically, McIntosh is a … Keep Reading
No matter where you look . . . whether in old cookbooks, or modern farm catalogues, or random pockets of the Internet … descriptions of apple varieties seem to always assign them to the same main categories: fresh eating, cider, pie, and sauce. Of these, sauce is the most overlooked. Apple sauce is often relegated to the kids’ section of the fridge, or reserved for a once-a-year fall cooking project. But it shouldn’t be! We’re here to tell you that … Keep Reading
Think of a perfect peach: It’s relatively small and perfectly round; its opaque yellow flesh enrobed in velvet skin. This is very likely to be a Red Haven peach. We started harvesting our Red Haven peaches on the farm last week, and are now in somewhat of a Red Haven heaven! Typically we’d advise you to wait for a peach to soften before diving in for a bite, but with Red Havens, ripe fruits remain firm to the touch. Just … Keep Reading
What do all the apples below in common? They’re all the same variety! Williams’ Pride. Also, they all taste like fall. These stunning apples turn a deep, purple-tinted shade of red when ripe. Like all summer apples, their season is fleeting. Luckily, however, Williams’ Pride apples ripen successively on the tree rather than all at once, extending their harvest period slightly. That’s why you’re likely to find a range of differently sized and hued apples on the branches right now, … Keep Reading
What do apples and people have in common? “Extreme heterozygosity,” a term you may recognize from biology class, sounds like it could be some bizarre trait, but it is actually a reproductive characteristic that humans and apples have in common. In simplified terms, no two apple trees are alike, just like no two people are alike. This is because they are cross pollinated (have two parents), and because each gene they inherit is randomly selected from several possibilities. As a … Keep Reading
The Yellow Transparent is an old Russian apple first brought to the U.S. in order to withstand the harsh winters of the midwest. They became a fast favorite in New England, too, where they (ironically) also thrived under hot and humid conditions. They’re beloved for their complex flavor and a smooth texture that lends itself to apple sauce. We have several customers who time their yearly summer apple-picking visit to line up with their peak, likely for that very reason. … Keep Reading
