Mad Tom Orchard

LOTS of happy customers last weekend.  Lots of good apples still ready to be picked.  Crimson Crisp and Empire are now ready for picking.  Good picking for Macintosh, Cortland, Gala and Macoun.  Honeycrisps are still available for folks who walk down the hill, though not as many as the last two weekends.

Good supply of Havoc Hill maple syrup.  200 1/2 gallons and 50 gallons of cider on hand – we will probably run out sometime on Sunday.  The donut makers are ready to go back in action on Saturday & Sunday – last weekend they made 3200 donuts.

Phos show some fine Crimson Crisp and Empires – come get your next round of apples.  Our last weekend will be Columbus Day weekend – October 8 & 9.

We have lots of Honeycrisp, Macintosh, Gala, Cortland & Macoun ready to pick – the apples are VERY plentiful.  We resupplied our cider and maple syrup today.  The donut crew is preparing to crank out lots of donuts on Saturday & Sunday.

Weather looks very good – nice and cool.  Come see us.  Photo shows a young Honeycrisp tree doing its best to contribute to the harvest.

More varieties are ripening,  so tomorrow Friday September 16 we are opening up picking for Honeycrisp, Cortland and Macoun.  There are still very good Macintosh on the 82 year old trees in the old orchard plus more Macintosh and Gala on the younger trees.  Limited amounts of Ginger Gold and Zestars are still out there.

We have restocked our cider and syrup supplies and hope to have enough to avoid running out Sunday afternoon.

The new donut kitchen worked well last weekend – Sylvia and one of our daughters made over 1200 donuts.  She and another daughter will be making donuts Saturday and Sunday.  They will try to make enough to last until mid afternoon.

Photo shows a nice HoneyCrisp tree – Crop looks very good this year – come while we have the best picking.

The new donut kitchen has been approved for all the (many) required permits and will be in operation Saturday & Sunday.  We are getting stocked up on cider and Havoc Hill maple syrup.

Still good Zestars and Ginger Golds, though not as many as last weekend.  On Thursday we are opening up more Macintosh and Galas – lots of good Macintosh on the 82 year old trees in the old orchard.  Plan to start Honeycrisp on Friday September 16 – perhaps Cortland and Macouns as well.

Looks like weather for the next few days is sunny – come pick while the apples are at their most plentiful.

Photo shows the chief donut maker making a successful trial run in the new kitchen.

Our 2022 season will open on Saturday September 3 with excellent Zestars and Ginger Golds – see attached pictures.  Zestars with a sweet tart spicy flavor are one of our favorite varieties – great for eating and baking –  we make all our pies with them and freeze them unbaked to enjoy over the winter.

The crop overall looks very good this year and the recent rains have helped the fruit gain more size.  Macintosh and Galas will start September 10 weekend with Honeycrisp and Cortlands the weekend following.  Looks like a big Honeycrisp crop this year.

Scott Thompson’s crew working on our barn addition has put in a huge full court press to get the restrooms and the donut kitchen done – picture today shows 7 trucks near the barn with several more on the other side of the barn.  The good news is that it is very likely that the bathrooms will be open – the not so good news is that the permit from the food safety inspector for the donut kitchen will happen next week at the earliest.  So no donuts this weekend – we hope to be able to have donuts September 10 weekend.

Looks like it will be cooler this weekend – help us pick the crop and come get some good Vermont apples.