Maine-ly Apples 2009 News

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Raffle Winners

The winners of our 2009 drawing are as follows:

1. Linda Reynolds of Prospect - turkey & cider
2. Justin Grant of Plymouth - bushel apples & cider
3. Rebecca Pelkey of Union - ½ bushel apples & cider

Thanks again to everyone who entered our raffle. Please make sure to enter again next year.

The End

Thanks again to all our customers for your patronage and support this season.

Below are a few photos from the end of the season. The first three are of the entire family, the Holmes family, and Jonas in a bin respectively. The last four photographs are by unofficial Maine-ly Apples photographer Herb Crosby. The first is a rare photo of Mr. Crosby in front of the camera with his family, next is Emily and John, then a nicely composed shot of our signs and the Norwegian flag, and finally Sam Hill helping our customers to pick their own apples.

Maine Apple Sunday

Thank you very much to everyone who came to Maine Apple Sunday. We had a record turnout and hope everyone had a good time.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the Dixmont Rescue BBQ fundraiser. It was very successful for them.

We also had some interesting demonstrations, including one of an old fashioned, hand cider press by Mike and Judy Dann. Mike's father bought the press new in the 1930s. A big thank you to them for bringing it to our orchard.

Below are a few pictures from the day:

• The first features the Danns operating their press with some helpers.
• The second is of Alfred & Mary Porter enjoying the day. This happy couple will be married 60 years in February.
• The final picture is of some long time Olsen friends, including, in the middle, Eike Nitz, who came all the way from Germany to celebrate Maine Apple Sunday at Maine-ly Apples.

Maine Apple Sunday

Please join us this year for Maine Apple Sunday, September 13.

Maine Apple Sunday is an annual event promoted by the Maine Pomological Society, of which we are members. This year we plan to make it our biggest and best! We will be offering free samples of apples and cider, as well as free pens, coloring sheets for kids, and free chances to enter our annual Turkey Drawing. We will also be opening up our McIntosh and Cortland varieties for pick-your-own starting at 10am. We hope to see you this Maine Apple Sunday. Come and make new memories.

Schedule of Events:

10am - 5pm: Pick-Your-Own and Farmstand open

11am: Hamburger and Hot Dog Lunch begins; provided by the Dixmont Rescue (all proceeds to benefit their organization)

11am & 1pm: Antique Hand Cider Press demonstration (bring your camera!)

2pm: Pruning demonstration in the orchard with owner, John Olsen. Pruning handouts will also be available throughout the day

Above is a picture of John and Elaine's grandson Jonas that appeared on the cover of The Rolling Thunder Express.

Opening Weekend

Below is a photo of our first customers of the 2009 season. They are Bobby & Jessie Giles of Newburgh who picked the first half bushel of apples. Below that you can see a picture of John and his grandson. Looks like someone enjoys driving the tractor.

August Update

Maine-ly Apples will be opening August 28. The apples are a little late this year and are taking their time about ripening because of the cool, wet June & July. Although the difficult growing season has affected some varieties, others are quite abundant and are of a good size as you can see from the Jerseymacs above and the Paulareds below.

Also, cider will be available starting Sept 3. For those on our mailing list, we have sent out our brochures. If you were not on our mailing list and would like to receive a brochure that includes a coupon please e-mail us at info@mainelyapples.com. We look forward to seeing you this fall.

Twitterific

This season Maine-ly Apples will be experimenting with Twitter as a way to get news and information to our customers. You can either follow us directly on the Twitter service, or we will also be posting our Twitter updates on our homepage in the box to the right of our news updates. Check either source for the most up-to-date information from our orchard.

Still not sure what Twitter is all about? Not clear what all the Twits and Tweeps are Tweeting about? You may find the About Twitter page helpful, or you may enjoy this slightly outdated, but very clear video tutorial from Common Craft.

July Update

It's getting to be that time of year again, and we are gearing up for another apple season. As most of you in Maine know, the weather has been less than favorable this spring and summer and has made life difficult for agriculture in the state. The poor growing conditions have adversely affected some of our varieties and will result in a few changes this season:

1. Our new hours will be seven days a week, 10-5.
2. We will be opening on August 28.
3. Pick your own may be limited on some varieties.

We will be updating this site continually throughout the season, and we ask that you check here or call to see if your favorite variety is available for picking or purchase.

We look forward to seeing you this season and appreciate your continued support.

For those on our mailing list, look for our annual flyer and money-saving coupon to arrive in the next few weeks. Be sure to mark your calendar for September 13, which is Maine Apple Sunday.

Blossom Time - part 2

Here are some more images of the apple blossom this year. The first photograph is a Gala tree in various stages of bloom; if you look closely you can see a bee at work. The second and third are rows of Macs in bloom. The fourth is a Smokehouse tree planted in 2008. The final two are the 2008 plantings and then the 2009 plantings, for comparison. All the trees are doing very well so far this season.

Blossom Time

Spring has finally arrived and the apple trees are starting to bloom, as you can see from the rows of Macs below or the Zestars below that.

In the photo below you can see pear blossoms, which look much different from those found on apple trees (although they are also quite beautiful), and below that is a gala tree whose blossoms are just starting to open.

Of course, blossoms mean bees and with so many blossoms in one place it is necessary to hire some organized labor to pollinate the orchard. Last Thursday (May 14) we brought in several hives of bees belonging to Ellsworth Perkins from Dexter. Mr. Perkins has very strong hives with some of the hardest working bees in Central Maine; many of his hives are currently dispersed throughout the orchard. Below you can see one of the hives and then bees at work.

With so many blossoms, honey bees aren't the only bees to be found. Here are two bumblebees pollinating the trees.

Pruning

As we promised in our February update we have posted a photo essay on pruning. We have described some of the tools and techniques that are necessary for successful pruning. Pruning is an important part of growing apple trees; well-pruned trees will be healthier and have greater yields.

February Update

Welcome to our first update for 2009. It has been a cold and snowy January here in Dixmont. If you look at the photograph above you can see snowshoe tracks as this is the only way we can get around this time of year. They aren't the only tracks in the orchard though. In the photo below you can see a number of deer tracks below the branches. Deer have broken through the fence and are especially bad this year eating buds and clipping branches. They also paw down through the snow to eat any drops that may have been missed.

In the photograph below you can see a tree with a slight tinge of red on an above freezing day. If you look closely you can also see an apple that was missed last season.

The next photograph was taken with a telephoto lens of the ridge line across from the orchard. If you look carefully about a third of the way in from the right you can see the anemometer. Mt Harris Wind LLC put it there to check the wind speed and direction. Probably in a few years there will be a string of commercial wind towers along that ridge.

Finally, we have sharpened all the pruning tools and in a couple of weeks we will begin work. Keep an eye out for a photo essay about pruning sometime in March.

Winter Storage

Here are a few tips to get the most out of your stored apples:

1. The best apples for storage in descending order are: Idareds, Red Delicious, Empire, Golden Delicious, Spencer, Jonagold.
2. Softer apples such as McIntosh will only store for short periods. Idareds will last all winter if properly cared for.
3. Store only sound, unbruised apples in wooden or cardboard boxes. Paper bags can work well too.
4. Apples should be stored at 36° - 40° degrees with high humidity. Refrigerators and unheated garages work well.
5. It is important that stored apples are not allowed to freeze.
6. It is a good practice to look through your stored apples occasionally to check for bad spots.

Previous news from 2008 ...

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