Little Apple Farm is a lovingly restored heirloom apple orchard on Orchard Lane in Hillsdale, NY. We planted a second orchard of cider apple varieties in 2017 at Thompson Finch Farm in Ancram, NY. Both orchards are NOFA-NY certified organic. We grow more than 30 apple varieties as well as Quince and Chinese Chestnuts. All of our apples are used in the production of fresh and hard cider. We can't think of a more enjoyable and rewarding occupation than to plant and grow apple trees, unless it's making cider from the fruit of those trees. We do both here at Little Apple Farm and Cidery, grow apples and produce cider, because it's all about the apples and not just any apples.
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Ron's Orchard Update
Spring 2024
On May 11th, opening day of Orchard Bar, the trees were in full bloom… a massive bloom. Conventional apple growers would be out there with chemical thinning sprays to knock off some of the buds in order to get fewer but larger apples. Organic apple growers thin by hand which is way too impractical for us. Besides, cidermakers love the smaller fruit with their flavorful skin. We’re not named Little Apple Farm and Cidery for nothing.
Keeping my fingers crossed until the end of May hoping to avoid a freeze this season. A late frost might actually be beneficial if it only knocks out 10-15 percent of the buds, but we don’t want a repeat of last year. We have nothing that can prevent or mitigate that sustained drop in temperature in late May.
The pear orchard that we started last fall with perry pear trees from Full Circus Farm is doing well. We added four Henry Hubcaps from Trees of Antiquity in early April. Lisa has adopted an old apple tree in the pear orchard as her pet tree project. Now we have two pet trees at Little Apple. Ask if you want to see them.
On May 11th, opening day of Orchard Bar, the trees were in full bloom… a massive bloom. Conventional apple growers would be out there with chemical thinning sprays to knock off some of the buds in order to get fewer but larger apples. Organic apple growers thin by hand which is way too impractical for us. Besides, cidermakers love the smaller fruit with their flavorful skin. We’re not named Little Apple Farm and Cidery for nothing.
Keeping my fingers crossed until the end of May hoping to avoid a freeze this season. A late frost might actually be beneficial if it only knocks out 10-15 percent of the buds, but we don’t want a repeat of last year. We have nothing that can prevent or mitigate that sustained drop in temperature in late May.
The pear orchard that we started last fall with perry pear trees from Full Circus Farm is doing well. We added four Henry Hubcaps from Trees of Antiquity in early April. Lisa has adopted an old apple tree in the pear orchard as her pet tree project. Now we have two pet trees at Little Apple. Ask if you want to see them.
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Winter 2023/2024
For over a thousand years, orchardists have been gathering on a deep dark January night to sing and dance, drink cider, drive away evil spirits and welcome in the New Year. Traditionally held on Old Twelfth Night, Wassail, stemming from the Middle English word woes hoeil, means "be in good health". It's a form of toasting the trees and one another. The English wassail celebration was about peasant folk and their landlords getting together to express joy and thanks at making it through another year and ensuring good fortune in the coming year. At Little Apple, we peasant farmers/cidermakers celebrate with our friends and customers around a blazing fire with food and drink. A procession through the orchard starts with hoisting deer antlers, carrying torches, banging pots and pans, ringing bells and beating drums on the way to the sacred apple tree. We offer toast on its branches and pour cider on the roots. Our purpose is to exhort the fruit trees to fend of disease and insects, drought, flood, the dreaded late frost and whatever else comes their way. This year we toast a younger apple tree as well as the new pear orchard. With a year off from fruit production and cooperation from the weather this year, the rested trees should bear a good crop. Wassail!
For over a thousand years, orchardists have been gathering on a deep dark January night to sing and dance, drink cider, drive away evil spirits and welcome in the New Year. Traditionally held on Old Twelfth Night, Wassail, stemming from the Middle English word woes hoeil, means "be in good health". It's a form of toasting the trees and one another. The English wassail celebration was about peasant folk and their landlords getting together to express joy and thanks at making it through another year and ensuring good fortune in the coming year. At Little Apple, we peasant farmers/cidermakers celebrate with our friends and customers around a blazing fire with food and drink. A procession through the orchard starts with hoisting deer antlers, carrying torches, banging pots and pans, ringing bells and beating drums on the way to the sacred apple tree. We offer toast on its branches and pour cider on the roots. Our purpose is to exhort the fruit trees to fend of disease and insects, drought, flood, the dreaded late frost and whatever else comes their way. This year we toast a younger apple tree as well as the new pear orchard. With a year off from fruit production and cooperation from the weather this year, the rested trees should bear a good crop. Wassail!
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Fall 2023
Without apples of our own we are forced to buy-in fruit from other growers who escaped the freeze primarily because of their location: lower Hudson Valley and Western New York. The good news is that the response from these less affected growers has been amazing. We will be able to secure the fruit needed to keep the cidery going in 2024. We have also been lucky to have great neighbors and friends in nearby communities reach out and offer to let us pick apples from their trees. This has allowed us to press and offer fresh cider this season. A Different Squeeze After the Freeze will not be 100% Certified Organic, but it will be fresh pressed weekly with a special blend of apples and no added ingredients or preservatives.
What about our 2024 Ciders? Look for some new additions to our dry and semi-dry hard cider lineup. We will be turning necessity into opportunity using some new apple varieties obtained from other growers to make exciting new blends and perhaps even some new single-varietal batches.
With no fruit and ample rain, our orchards had amazing growth this summer, which should translate into a bumper crop next year. Our enthusiasm for apples and cider remains undiminished.
Without apples of our own we are forced to buy-in fruit from other growers who escaped the freeze primarily because of their location: lower Hudson Valley and Western New York. The good news is that the response from these less affected growers has been amazing. We will be able to secure the fruit needed to keep the cidery going in 2024. We have also been lucky to have great neighbors and friends in nearby communities reach out and offer to let us pick apples from their trees. This has allowed us to press and offer fresh cider this season. A Different Squeeze After the Freeze will not be 100% Certified Organic, but it will be fresh pressed weekly with a special blend of apples and no added ingredients or preservatives.
What about our 2024 Ciders? Look for some new additions to our dry and semi-dry hard cider lineup. We will be turning necessity into opportunity using some new apple varieties obtained from other growers to make exciting new blends and perhaps even some new single-varietal batches.
With no fruit and ample rain, our orchards had amazing growth this summer, which should translate into a bumper crop next year. Our enthusiasm for apples and cider remains undiminished.
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Summer 2023
It looked like a bumper crop this spring: heavy bloom, good fruit set, even thinking about thinning. But on May 18th the temperature dropped unexpectedly to 24 degrees, something that has not happened in the 43 years I’ve been growing apples in Hillsdale. Wiped out the crop in the Ancram cider orchard too. The first half of 2023 will be remembered for the “big freeze”, a wake-up call about climate change and a reminder that farmers are human, anything that can happen does and alters your life. Even without apples, the amount of work in the orchard is the same, except that you are growing wood instead of fruit. We are now looking to buy in and forage for apples this fall.
When adversity strikes, keep planning and planting. This summer we’ll be laying out the new pear orchard. Two years ago Full Circus Farm grafted and planted six perry pear trees in their nursery, and they will be ready to transplant this fall. Mark and Miriam also connected us with a couple who have an old growth pear orchard in Pine Plains, where the fruit has been promised for next season. Still looking for a site to plant some Cornus Mas, which makes a surprisingly good cider. From farmer to farmer, “Life is short. Don’t waste it, and spread love where you go!”
It looked like a bumper crop this spring: heavy bloom, good fruit set, even thinking about thinning. But on May 18th the temperature dropped unexpectedly to 24 degrees, something that has not happened in the 43 years I’ve been growing apples in Hillsdale. Wiped out the crop in the Ancram cider orchard too. The first half of 2023 will be remembered for the “big freeze”, a wake-up call about climate change and a reminder that farmers are human, anything that can happen does and alters your life. Even without apples, the amount of work in the orchard is the same, except that you are growing wood instead of fruit. We are now looking to buy in and forage for apples this fall.
When adversity strikes, keep planning and planting. This summer we’ll be laying out the new pear orchard. Two years ago Full Circus Farm grafted and planted six perry pear trees in their nursery, and they will be ready to transplant this fall. Mark and Miriam also connected us with a couple who have an old growth pear orchard in Pine Plains, where the fruit has been promised for next season. Still looking for a site to plant some Cornus Mas, which makes a surprisingly good cider. From farmer to farmer, “Life is short. Don’t waste it, and spread love where you go!”
Spring 2023
Spring wraps up pruning our two orchards and begins preparation for the 2023 season. We finish pruning the Hillsdale Orchard first and then head down to the new Ancram Orchard - a total of about 800 trees. People ask, “How do you do it?” Meaning so many trees and how do you prune them. I rely on my years of experience and help from Don and Marnie MacLean at Thompson Finch Farm and my pruner in training Lisa Graedon. It helps to start early February and finish by April 1st, which didn’t quite happen this year. We finally wrapped it up just before the first organic spray, dormant oil. We planted six new Liberty trees this year, including four for our new entrance arch leading from the parking area to the Orchard Bar and Market.
Spring wraps up pruning our two orchards and begins preparation for the 2023 season. We finish pruning the Hillsdale Orchard first and then head down to the new Ancram Orchard - a total of about 800 trees. People ask, “How do you do it?” Meaning so many trees and how do you prune them. I rely on my years of experience and help from Don and Marnie MacLean at Thompson Finch Farm and my pruner in training Lisa Graedon. It helps to start early February and finish by April 1st, which didn’t quite happen this year. We finally wrapped it up just before the first organic spray, dormant oil. We planted six new Liberty trees this year, including four for our new entrance arch leading from the parking area to the Orchard Bar and Market.
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Winter 2022/2023
The first snowstorm arrived on December 11th. Growing up in Wisconsin, I learned to love winter and sub-zero temperatures at an early age. The orchard loves it too. Besides insulating the root system, snow brings nutrients to the soil. In spring you can see the difference in the vitality of the trees. I’m hoping for lots of snow this year. I enjoy seeing our raptors (mostly red-tailed hawks and owls) dive bomb mice and voles tunneling under a foot of snow. If you don’t have a high raptor tree in your orchard, definitely build a flagpole type perch. Also, get ready for the pruning season starting late January early February. Sharpen saws and Felco #7 shears. I use the old Orchard pruning saw, now hard to find but still the best. Finish pruning by end of March, and start planting new trees as soon as the ground thaws in April. It's never too late to love winter.
The first snowstorm arrived on December 11th. Growing up in Wisconsin, I learned to love winter and sub-zero temperatures at an early age. The orchard loves it too. Besides insulating the root system, snow brings nutrients to the soil. In spring you can see the difference in the vitality of the trees. I’m hoping for lots of snow this year. I enjoy seeing our raptors (mostly red-tailed hawks and owls) dive bomb mice and voles tunneling under a foot of snow. If you don’t have a high raptor tree in your orchard, definitely build a flagpole type perch. Also, get ready for the pruning season starting late January early February. Sharpen saws and Felco #7 shears. I use the old Orchard pruning saw, now hard to find but still the best. Finish pruning by end of March, and start planting new trees as soon as the ground thaws in April. It's never too late to love winter.
Fall 2022
Almost all of our early dessert apples (Williams Pride, Macintosh, Big Red, Macoun) were stressed by the severe drought this summer and dropped off prematurely. We use these varieties for our 100% Organic Fresh Cider so production was severely curtailed and limited to sales at the Copake Hillsdale Farmers Market and the Orchard Bar. Our later bearing hard cider fruit faired better, swelled up nicely after late summer rains and produced a reasonable crop - especially the Golden Russet, Jonagold and Baldwin. It was an off year for Northern Spy. The Ancram Orchard produced its first crop of GoldRush and Enterprise with a number of other cider varieties coming on line in the next few years. It wasn’t the best year for apple production, but perhaps a vintage year for cider due to the exceptionally high sugar content in most varieties.
Almost all of our early dessert apples (Williams Pride, Macintosh, Big Red, Macoun) were stressed by the severe drought this summer and dropped off prematurely. We use these varieties for our 100% Organic Fresh Cider so production was severely curtailed and limited to sales at the Copake Hillsdale Farmers Market and the Orchard Bar. Our later bearing hard cider fruit faired better, swelled up nicely after late summer rains and produced a reasonable crop - especially the Golden Russet, Jonagold and Baldwin. It was an off year for Northern Spy. The Ancram Orchard produced its first crop of GoldRush and Enterprise with a number of other cider varieties coming on line in the next few years. It wasn’t the best year for apple production, but perhaps a vintage year for cider due to the exceptionally high sugar content in most varieties.
Summer 2022
"How's the apple crop this season?" This is the number one question I hear these days. The answer is pretty good, but not great. Some of our older heirloom apple trees like McIntosh, Macoun, Northern Spy and Jonagold have gone biannual instead of producing a consistent crop. Other varieties like Baldwin, Golden Russet, Liberty and Enterprise are doing just fine. After five years, we are expecting to get some fruit from our second orchard in Ancram at Thompson Finch Farm. We have managed to keep the spongy moth invasion at bay so far. The forests surrounding Little Apple Farm (especially the oak trees) are taking a beating. A strong north wind will blow them into the orchard and I've been capturing them by hand. Stop by the cidery and I'll try to answer any questions you might have about your backyard apple trees.
"How's the apple crop this season?" This is the number one question I hear these days. The answer is pretty good, but not great. Some of our older heirloom apple trees like McIntosh, Macoun, Northern Spy and Jonagold have gone biannual instead of producing a consistent crop. Other varieties like Baldwin, Golden Russet, Liberty and Enterprise are doing just fine. After five years, we are expecting to get some fruit from our second orchard in Ancram at Thompson Finch Farm. We have managed to keep the spongy moth invasion at bay so far. The forests surrounding Little Apple Farm (especially the oak trees) are taking a beating. A strong north wind will blow them into the orchard and I've been capturing them by hand. Stop by the cidery and I'll try to answer any questions you might have about your backyard apple trees.
178 Orchard Lane, Hillsdale, NY 12529
Saturday & Sunday 1-6 PM
(518) 610-1345
Saturday & Sunday 1-6 PM
(518) 610-1345