I just saw a news item that the moderate temperatures and abundant rain this summer are making this a great year for apples.
And then at our food co-op, the Honey Crisp apples the group ordered, which are still very much in season here, didn’t come in. My solution? Go to an orchard.
Where I live, there are a few orchards, even though we’re still far enough north we could have dozens here. Where my parents live you almost bump into one every few miles. They’re part of the American Midwest’s lovely Fruit Belt, which extends over much of northern Michigan into upper Indiana. My family, both the one I was born into and the one I’m in now, have fueled road trips by frequent stops at roadside stands. Sometimes they were set up in front of homes with several fruit trees; other times they were part of orchards stretching up the hills behind them.
Where I live now, one of the orchards fits that description. They specialize in carrying both the better-known popular varieties, like Honey Crisps and Galas, and introducing new ones. They introduced both varieties to our area within years of hybridization. It’s a lovely place, with hills, lakes, and picnic tables. And plenty of bees.
The flat orchard, as my kids call it, is much closer to my home. They carry the popular varieties too, but their specialty is heirloom varieties. They carry kinds Laura and Mary Ingalls might have picked, like Summer Rambo, Cox’s Orange Pippin, and Fameuse.
One of the great pleasures of life is eating fruit straight off the trees. For example, Galas taste completely different just after picking than they do bought from the store. They only keep a few days, so unless you’re making apple sauce or butter, it doesn’t make sense to buy more than your family will eat in that amount of time. Galas do make spectacular apple butter without needing to be peeled.
I have no room for fruit trees where I live, although we had a few trees when I was growing up. I thought I didn’t care for apples until I picked a Gala and bit into it. So a few visits to orchards are a must for me. I’ve tracked down what I think are the best orchards in my area: the one that introduces new varieties, and the one that preserves the best of the old ones. One flat, one that not look out of place in northern France. Both of them a great place to take a picnic lunch and come home with bags of living treasure.