End of the Season
We are now closed for the season. We want to thank all our customers for their continued support of our orchard.
This year we will again be making cider for Winterport Winery for their famed "Winter Gold" wine. We will also be supplying cider to Piper Mountain Christmas Tree Farm for their season. So when you go and get one of their wonderful trees and have a cup of mulled cider you will be enjoying our great tasting cider.
Below are some photos from our last weekend. The first is of Delton Curtis who raises all the wonderful squash and pumpkins for us. Next is Emily cleaning out a bin and having fun right to the end. The final two are self-explanatory. The season is a lot of work, but we really enjoy it.
FFA?
Below are a few photos of Jonas. We're not sure if he is a future farmer of America, but he seems to enjoy being on a tractor, doesn't he? The final photo is of Elaine with one of our good customers, Alice Moore.
Fun for all Sizes
Below are two adorable photos sent in by one of our customers. These are proof – if you needed it – that Maine-ly Apples is fun for folks of all sizes.
Guest Photographer
Below are some photos taken by a regular visitor of ours, Justin Russell. These photos were taken over the past four years and show off different aspects of our orchard. If you would like to see more of Mr. Russell's beautiful photography, please visit his web site.
Have your own photos of Maine-ly Apples? We'd love to put them on our web site. If you are willing to share, please send it to our e-mail at info@mainelyapples.com.
Photos
Saturday, September 18, Maine-ly Apples' unofficial photographer, Herb Crosby, visited and took some characteristically beautiful photographs in and around the orchard. Below are a few examples of Mr. Crosby's work; look for more of his work on our photos page.
Maine Apple Sunday
Maine Apple Sunday (Sept. 12) was a huge success with many very happy families picking their own apples, having a delicious barbecue lunch put on by the Dixmont Rescue and Fire Department, and seeing an antique cider press in operation. We had a lot of participants in our orchard tour, and we also had a one day, gift basket drawing and the winner was Deanna Brown of Waldo. All in all it was a great kick off to the fall apple picking season.
Opening Weekend
We had a great opening weekend, and we were excited to see so many familiar faces. Here is our "very happy" first customer of the 2010 season, and below that is our first pick your own customers of the season: Charlend & Katie Howard and Charlend W. & Tammy Howard.
Here are a few pictures of how our stand looked on opening morning; notice that Emily is ready for customers!
Opening Soon
The apples look very good and plentiful this season. We are starting out with Jerseymac which is an early McIntosh type and Williams Pride which is a slightly spicy, crunchy apple.
We have doubled the size of our farm store and increased our entire product line with locally grown fall vegetables, delicious locally produced goods and locally made crafts. Please check our products page for more details. We have a lot of new and exciting things, including our sign (see below) and we look forward to seeing you this fall.
Below are a few photos of our first Jerseymac picking.
Above is picker Molly with the fruit of her labor (pun intended).
Summer Update
The summer is progressing well at Maine-ly Apples. Right now it looks like we will be open earlier this year. We will have the full complement of apples with all the pick your own varieties back in production. We are going to kick off the season with a larger farm stand and an expanded selection of crafts and goods.
Below are a few photos to give you an idea how the crop is progressing. The first picture is of Paulareds, the second of Jersey Macs, and the third is Macs in one of our pick your own rows.
Bloom
The orchard is in bloom, as you can see in the pictures below. If you look closely you'll see a bee at work on one of the blossoms.
Spring
The pruning is all done and most of the branches have been picked up creating huge brush piles as shown in the third photo below. The trees are starting to turn red and there is the beginning of new leaves on the trees. As you might see in these photos, the trees are a little shiny because organic dormant oil has been applied to help control pest insects.
While pruning this spring we found numerous bird nests like the one shown below and we are trying to encourage even more birds to the orchard especially bluebirds. So this year we made birdhouses and put them around the orchard on the fence posts.
Finally, below are two YouTube videos from the New England Apple Association. The first is on grafting apple trees and the second is on pruning. These videos are quite interesting and very well done. We hope that you enjoy them.
Pruning Time
We are currently pruning the trees in our orchard; if you have apple trees in your backyard it is time for you to start pruning as well. The first picture below shows what unpruned trees look like (and remember we prune our trees every year!). The second photo shows the trees after pruning. Notice all the trimmings in the lower right.
Also, if you are re-establishing old, big trees it will take three or four years to do so. For some tips and techniques on pruning apple trees, please see our pruning guide (with video).
It is also time to start thinking about fertilizing your trees. The standard formula is 6-0-16 or 8-0-16 apple tree fertilizer with trace elements. Fertilizer is available in any farm supply store like Paris Farmers Union or Northeast Agriculture. The ratio is one pound of fertilizer per trunk inch in diameter. You should also think about pelletized lime with the same ratio. The fertilizer should be spread in an even ring at the drip line before the grass starts growing, but after the snow is gone.