Summary
The scene at Maryland's Catoctin Mountain Orchard last week was right out of a movie: apple trees marching up the side of the hill like columns of soldiers. So many kinds of apples maturing on the branches: Pink Lady, Jonathan, Golden Delicious and more. Pickers working their way along the rows, concentrating on the trees with the ripest fruit. Baskets filled over and over as the haul was emptied into large crates headed for grading and washing.
At the orchard's shop, apples filled baskets, crates and bags alongside all the apple butter, applesauces, apple dumplings and even ready-to-bake frozen pies anyone might crave.See the full content of this document
Extract
More Heirloom Apple Varieties Hanging Around
It's the peak of apple-picking time, and Catoctin co-owner Bob Black is losing track of the number of varieties he has, but that's not a bad thing. The small orchard in Thurmont that he and his sister, Pat Runkles, own and operate has about 100 acres in cultivation. Black rattles off more than a dozen kinds of apples he is growing; then, walking through the orchard, he keeps pointing to more and more.
"People want choices, so we're always looking for the next great apple," he says. His latest addition is the Honeycrisp, a juicy fruit with a big flavor burst that was developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota in the 1960s. "It's a great apple," Black says, "but I'm working on getting it to grow here."Honeycrisps have become so popular that "they sell faster than any other apple we grow," says Jim Frazee, co-owner of Twin Springs Fruit Farm in Orrtanna, Pa., which sells at 13 Washington area farmers mark...See the full content of this document
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