Actually it’s kind of blue-green.. The trees are are full of baby apples and everything on earth loves baby apples. I think apples grow on this earth to serve more life forms than we can conceive of. “The more I learn the more I don’t know” is clearly the case here. The amount of rain we are getting is making it quite challenging to control apple scab. The Thunderstorms have spit down hail twice now. The deer have been nipping at the baby trees, taking some of this years primary shoots in one bite. … Thats the blue part.. the green part is that we still have a beautiful crop coming and the trees are healthy and strong.

Most of all I want to send out a preyer and a blessing to my sister Cedar Who has been such a part of this orchard through our childhood and all these years. Her life has touched so many people in this community, her great spirit, sense of humor, her flowers and bright colors have brightened all our lives. I’ve taken such comfort in her living so close and being such a big part of my life. I’ll miss her hugely … Nick

Oh my!! but do we ever have a good “set”. The flowers bloomed… The sun shone and warmed the earth.. the bees buzzed.. and all the apples were born.. Now did your father ever explain this to you? Actually, what really happens is, the bees come out of their hive in the morning when the sun warms the air.. they fly in a big circle, it could be up to a mile away in search of flowers. These bees return to the hive and preform a little dance for other bees. This dance tells how many wing beets away and in what direction in relation to the sun the source of pollen is. This arena is where all the returning bees come back to and is the very place where the pollen “Crosses” with the Pollen of other apple varieties. “Cross pollination” occurs in the hive. When the bees go back to collect pollen from the other apple varieties, they are carrying the needed pollen. Some apple varieties are too similar to pollenate each other. It is true that we need two different kinds of apple trees in order to have apples. Apple trees can not reproduce alone, however there are few places in Vermont that there isn’t a crab apple or a wild thorn apple or just an old apple tree in an abandon field close enough to effect this “cross” .. So living in the middle of thousands of trees, all getting babies.. Oh My!! It’s quite exiting.. also the peaches look like we may have a good crop for this year.. Yeah!! … Nick

The Orchard is in Bloom, the bees are very happy! and all the little apples are starting to grow. This years bloom is glorious, not just in this orchard but everywhere I look. The apple trees in back yards and abandon orchards, the crab apples and thorn apples, Peaches and plums are all full of flowers. I’m sure there are many factors at play here, but I believe the mild winter had a part in it. It’s interesting, this cycle the trees go through.. If an apple tree is healthy, it will produce many buds. When an apple tree has a heavy crop all the way trough to harvest, The tree goes into winter depleted. If a tree has too many buds that make it through bloom and are pollinated, the tree will actually sense its energy supply and adjust its load accordingly. It’s a survival thing.. we call it “June drop”. When the Bloom is over, the tree will “feel” what kind of set it has, how many little baby apples are starting to grow. It will also sense how much energy it has (whether or not it is depleted from the previous year) and if it had a light year before, and is felling strong, it will hold on to a higher percentage of the crop. At the same time, If the tree feels week, it will drop most of the baby apples. This is why the year on, year off thing happens.

We have a big bloom so we will watch to see how pollination goes, and if we have a big “set” we will apply a thinner that will temporarily give the tree a false sense of weakness, thus dropping some of it’s load. Our hope is have a moderate crop that is consistent from year to year.. Nick

” A good earthworm population is universally considered to be a sign of healthy soil. Unparalled as soil excavators, earthworms spend thier lives ingesting, grinding, digesting, and excreting soil-as much as 15 tons per acre goes through earthworm bodies in a year. Earthworm castings are richer in nutients and bacteria than the surrounding soil, and may add up to as much as 8 tons per acre in cultivated fields. Their contribution to drainage and aeration, soil aggregation, and transport of nutrients from the subsoil is significant as well. It is for good reason that Charles Darwin extolled earthworms as the “Intestines of the soil.” ” THE NOBLE WORM in “The Soul of the Soil” by… Grace Gershuny and Joseph Smillie..

The apple trees are alive and well, Fruit buds are breaking out into “early pink” (The stage before full pink, which is the stage before bloom) It’s a couple of weeks earlier than average. Now that the weather has turned cooler, hopefully things will slow down. The fear is that the later stages become more suseptable to frost damage.. If we keep clear of any fost, than all is good. If not.. and we get a hard frost.. then we stand to loose much if not all this years crop before we even get started.. Such is spring in the life all fruit growers.. Who needs bungy-jumping!!@%#@% The best news is that the peach buds made it through the winter.. our coldest day this winter here by the lake in Shelburne “the Riviera of Vermont” was -12F.. There was very little if any frost in the grownd, and the lake never froze over.. So as of today.. there is a great peach crop coming.. So everyone, think warm thoughts.. and we’ll see how this bloom period plays out… Nick

Life in the apple trees is about to change here fast. I’ve watched it for years and it never fails to amaze me. These stark black, knurly trees of winter, with the white snow and no leaves.. turn into a beautiful orchard in full bloom in a matter of a few weeks. It’s very powerful.. actually, it seems that every fall when harvest is over, I look at the time and energy that I’ve spent to be bring a crop through harvest.. and I say to myself..”never again!!” It must be like what a woman goes through giving birth. Then winter comes and the trees go dormant .. I go dormant.. the phone stops ringing.. I get long nice winter night sleeps.. then.. when the trees going into flower, I get totally charged! Like I’m renewed .. New Ideas.. new things to try.. Trees to plant.. The orchard is exploding with possibilities.. I don’t seem to ever tire of it.. I can’t help thinking that I’m just like the trees.. or that this is what the trees feel also.. anyway I love it , I’m blessed to be able to do what I do.. and I hope I’m still doing this for a long, long time. Nick

When I was little, the orchard seemed so big to me. In fact it was bigger in acreage then, than it is now. There are more than twice the amount of trees now, but on less acreage. Today we plant much smaller trees very close together. The Old orchard here was planted around 1910. In that time trees where planted 30 feet apart, and the trees grew to be 30 feet high and often twice as wide. This reminds me of pruning these trees when I was young. Climbing in these trees was like being in a small city. It seemed like they covered acres, and to make my way to the top of the tree was no small feat. There I was with my little hand held wire-back pruning saw, on top of this tree that spread out forever in all directions. Tree suckers as big as my arm where growing like a hairy ape on steroids. I had to learn how to prune! Today I’m a 210 pound 6′5″ man with a small chain-saw that I can wield like a battle-ax.. These trees are pruned every year and keep producing crop after crop of beautiful apples. To this day, every time I climb and prune these same trees, 50 years later, I still remember that first time.. when one tree would take me hours to finish.. Nick

The cider is bubbling.. The cellar is full of smells that bring me right back to prohibition days when the lake was full of boats running rum to all the speakeasies in New York and Boston.. We are in the great depression and there is no money to be made.. the orchard is for sale, but no one has the money to buy it.. our only hope is to sell hard cider.. and that we have lots of. Northern Spy.. Baldwin.. Talman sweet.. Golden Russet.. Cox Orange Pippin.. Road Island Greening… these are the old cider apples that make the best hard cider.. sweetened with maple syrup and molasses and bottled early for a few sparkles. I don’t know which I love more, the drinking of it by the cookstove on a cold winter night or just the heading down the cellar stairs with the tin pitcher to pour another quart from the barrel. I’m just dreaming ofcourse, but this orchard was here back then and I’ve heard many stories.. and this time of year.. the ghosts are close around me… Nick ( and.. the cider is bubbling )

The orchard is closed for the season. What a year it has been. I think this has been my favorate harvest ever!! There are so many people to thank.
This year I had my daughter Moriah helping me in so many ways, from pie making and store sales, to apple picking and deliveries. She also helped with overall decision making on all levels. Thank you Momo you were so much fun to work with.
Megan, thank you for making the orchard famous, I think the media coverage this year was way and beyond any of our wildest dreams. and the festivals came off so smoothly I was convinced that they must take very little work to prepare for!!! All we have to do is hang a sign out and people come???..Megan, thank you!! You are truely amazing.
Terry, None of this could happen without you.. In every aspect of the year, from the winter pruning through the growing season and then harvest, you are there in the middle of everything helping make it happen. I wouldn’t be here without you Thank you!
Kim, Shannon, Liz, Tina, Dave, Pat, Robio, Jonny, Runkle, Rick, Cordell, Adam, Brian, Greg and most of all my beautiful wife Cindy. Thank you all for everything.. If we ever think of doing this again… shoot me… Nick

The apples are falling, not far from the trees.. the smell of cider is in the air, cider donuts are still spilling out of the donut house. The season is winding down, but there are still lots of apple to be picked. The drops are sweet. This is the time to get drops for apple sauce or cider. Our ginger cider and “Jack” are at their peek as the strong ginger and the sweet cider melge into that wonderful nectar we have all been waiting for. I think this is my favorite time in the orchard.. Harvest gold.. the leaves on the peach trees are orange-yellow and the apple leaves are still mostly green, they slowly turn yellow-gold. The apples have held on long enough this year to span into the gold.. I’m loving it.. We will stay open till Halloween.. and if you catch me heating cider on the Home comfort cook stove out by the cider house store.. I’ll pour you a hot cup. Nick

Picking picking picking… We are all tired, there has been beautiful weather for the harvest season and thats really great but.. no rest. We are breaking all our records for turnout on the weekends for “Pick your own”. I am horse from talking to car after car, explaining where to park, what varieties are ripe and how many donuts did you say? I get home.. fall into bed .. then it’s Monday morning and the donut machine starts up at 5 am .. and the “kids programs” are starting.. the buses are rolling in.. the cider mill is winding up.. stores get called.. pies get baked.. on and on, I love it!! I am also dreaming about November when all is quiet again, and the orchard is mine again and the phone stops ringing.. ahh piece Not yet though. We still have many apples to pick, senior citizens days on the 18th and 19th of Oct. $6 per bu. if you have a senior with you.. So grab grama and the kids, pack a picnic and come on down… Nick