Fall CSA

CSA Update, November 15, 2020

It’s hard for me to believe it’s the last week of the CSA. I’ve really enjoyed this opportunity to pick out apples and cider for you. I’ll collect some feedback from you in the coming week because from my perspective, the CSA went well but if I do it again next year, I want to make sure it works for all of you. This week’s video immediately below and the pic and notes are below it.

This week’s apples: Fireside/Connell Red, SnowSweet, Keepsake, Golden Russet

This week’s hard cider: Rustic Apple and No Fair

Fireside: A large apple with little acid. These are the big apples (probably) at the bottom of your bag. Fireside is red/yellow/orange and Connell Red is deep red but they’re basically the same apple — Connell Red is a redder version of Fireside. McIntosh x Longfield, 1943. University of Minnesota.

SnowSweet: a second generation McIntosh (see above) with white flesh and a flavor that everyone seems to love. See below for more detail. Sharon x Connell Red, 2006. University of Minnesota

Keepsake: an undersung parent of the Honeycrisp but after eating a Keepsake, it’s clear to see where Honeycrisp got its texture. Keepsake is one of two apple varieties bred by the U of M with Frostbite and Northern Spy as its parents; the other is Sweet Sixteen. Keepsake is full of flavor and is so sweet that it tastes best when it’s cold. Frostbite x Northern Spy, 1979. University of Minnesota.

Golden Russet: this apple variety has been around for a long time; it’s generally regarded as an American apple variety that originated sometime in the early 19th century. It has rough skin but an intense flavor.

And finally a note on the No Fair cider: I didn’t realize that most half share members got this cider. My bad! No Fair is our newest cider this year and it’s made with black tea from Teasource (their iced tea blend) and lemon. It’s great summer drinking — much like an Arnie Palmer — but lemon (versus lime) and the gravity of black tea make it nice drinking for now too.

CSA Update, November 8, 2020

Good morning, folks! No video today — I’m worried it wouldn’t load in time before I had to hit the road for deliveries. This Sunday’s box is much the same as last Sunday’s box: Cherry Rhubarb and L’Etoile (and No Fair for those of you who got L’Etoile last week) for cider; and Honeycrisp and Haralson for apples — with two notable additions that I’ll address below. You can look at November 1’s video for apple commentary on Honeycrisp and Haralson apples and the new L’Etoile cider-based vermouth.

This week’s new apples are SnowSweet and Winter Banana.

Winter Banana is an heirloom apple variety traced back to Indiana in 1876. This year’s crop was beautiful but I’m afraid the texture will turn many of you off since it’s not a crisp apple whatsoever — though that texture frequently comes with the territory as far as heirloom varieties are concerned. I’ve eaten one apple this year that was soft and another right now that’s firmer, but about as far from crisp as one can get. The softer apple I ate yesterday had the more characteristic banana flavor associated with this apple. If you eat this apple and try to pick up that elusive flavor, try closing your mouth, exhaling through your nose, and perceiving that flavor more as an aroma than a taste, which is to say more through your nasal passage than in your mouth. And if that seems like an awfully onerous way to perceive the flavor of an apple, you’re right!

SnowSweet is another U of M gem that was released in 2006. It’s a cross between Sharon and Connell Red, so that’s a pretty odd family history as far as U of M apple breeding is concerned, but it’s a good apple and a total people pleaser with its sweet, rich flavor. This year’s harvest came from a total of four trees that had been planted by the time we bought the orchard in 2010 and they are teeny tiny trees that outdid themselves in terms of output this year. SnowSweet’s always been a pretty good apple for us but our perspective changed a bit for the better last year when we tasted a test batch of SnowSweet-only hard cider that the U made last year as a test batch. It was amazing! Lucky us, we’d already put in our order for 42 more trees and those went in the ground this year.

CSA Update, November 1, 2020

This week’s apples: Honeycrisp, Haralson, Honeygold

This week’s hard cider: Cherry Rhubarb and L’Etoile

Honeycrisp: No explanation necessary, right?!?

Haralson: a U of M-bred variety released in 1923 and Minnesotans’ favorite apple until Honeycrisp came along. Cooks up firm. Sprightly acid. Wealthy x Malinda.

Honeygold: another U of M-bred variety released in 1970. Sweet with slight acid, crispy, and generally delightful. Golden Delicious x Haralson.

And some of you who specified a preference for heirloom varieties got Zabergau Reinette this week. Zabergau Reinette is a russeted apple from Germany that originated from a seed planted around 1885.

Cherry Rhubarb cider probably doesn’t merit much of an explanation at this point in our CSA season, but L’Etoile does. You’ll get lots of info in the video but if you don’t want to take the time to watch it, know this: L’Etoile is a cider-based vermouth and a beverage about three years in the works. We bottled it just this week after coming out with tiny batches over the past two years. It is boldly flavored and tastes great on its own as an aperitif or digestif, mixed with soda, in a martini (vodka or gin, though the only gin I’ve tried it with so far that works for sure is Hendricks), and in hot cider. This version is called “Resilience” because the yeast had to be resilient to get the ABV up to 16%; because it took years of work to get this product bottled and out the door; and because it’s 2020 and resilience is something we all need as we’ve been forced to dig deep to deal with unemployment, educating our children from home, family illness, time away from extended family, and worse during the pandemic. I hope you like it. And if you know you don’t like bold and bitter flavors, might I suggest it will make an excellent gift for your friend or colleague who enjoys craft cocktails.

CSA Update, October 25, 2020

I don’t discuss this week’s apples or fresh-pressed or hard cider much; rather I talked about the weather — always a thrilling topic for the Minnesotan.

This week’s apples and ciders are actually the same as last week’s so for descriptions of what’s in your box for the week, look at the October 18 update.

And to clarify a couple of things in the video:

• Just because I heard something about weather instrumentation and commercial flights doesn’t mean it’s true! But it does make sense to me and the forecasts have been fairly terrible this year.

• From what I understand, this cold snap resulted in the earliest hard freeze in quite a few years.

• And something I neglected to say in the video but meant to: I’m actually a bit worried about how the trees will make it through this weather, particularly the young trees that aren’t quite as hardy for our climate. The reason for my worry is that trees go through a “hardening off” process where they prepare themselves to go into dormancy so this sudden hard cold was quite a shock to all of them and so some form of winter injury is fairly likely in the form of some dieback on branches.

CSA Update, October 18, 2020

Here’s a video update of this week’s apple contents, and you’ll find a photo and written descriptions below the video!

This week’s apples: Cortland, Haralson, Fireside, Margil

This week’s hard cider: Jackalope and Rustic Apple

Cortland: a great sauce and salad apple with rich flavor. Ben Davis x McIntosh. Cornell University, 1915.

Haralson: a U of M-bred variety released in 1923 and Minnesotans’ favorite apple until Honeycrisp came along. Cooks up firm. Sprightly acid. Wealthy x Malinda.

Fireside: A low-acid, pleasant apple from the U of M. McIntosh x Longfield. University of Minnesota, 1943. (Got the parents wrong in the video. Oops! But my comment about it being a child of a McIntosh still stands).

Margil: Its recorded history begins in 1750 in England though it’s suspected to be a French variety, possibly imported to England from Versailles in France. Margil is a rare find and, like many heirloom varieties, small with some russeting and dense flesh. But it’s tasty with a sugary flavor and certainly deserves to be planted more than it’s been. Intensely flavored, rich and aromatic. Firm. Also known as Fail-Me-Never.

CSA Update, October 11, 2020

Here’s a video update of this week’s apple contents, and you’ll find a photo and written descriptions below the video!

This week’s apples: Regent, Cortland, Honeygold, Ruby Jon, Prairie Spy

This week’s hard cider: No Fair and Cherry Rhubarb

Ruby Jon: a good all-arounder (eating, baking, cider). Just like a Jonathan apple, but a deeper red. Sometimes the red from the deeply pigmented skin bleeds into the flesh, especially in the ripest apples.

Cortland: cooks up saucy, a cross between McIntosh and Ben Davis.

Regent: A U of M apple that is mostly forgettable because it doesn’t have much for uniquely identifiable characteristics, but it is a solid apple: crunchy, sweet, and tart.

Honeygold: Another U of M variety released in 1970 that is a cross between Haralson and Golden Delicious. This is the variety I’m recommending to folks who like Honeycrisp because it’s more sweet than tart with a more delicate and crispy flesh.

Prairie Spy: The U of M released Prairie Spy in 1940 and it’s not known what its parent apples are. Prairie Spy is an excellent keeper, so eat these last. We have a lot of customers who buy bushels of these to keep in the basement throughout the winter. They’re more tart than sweet but they’re extra juicy this year.

No Fair: when I thought up this cider it was all about the name and then the label, but after I came up with the black tea/lemon combo (ala Arnie Palmer), I think we’re going to keep this one on the permanent roster. I put it in shares this week because it promised to be so summery today.

Cherry Rhubarb: Cherry Rhubarb is in the shares today as our best selling cider . . .and because we had a good amount of it. The crowds down here at the orchard just aren’t quitting this year and Rick Nelson’s cider donut write-up in the Star Tribune brought even more traffic down.

Thank you, as always, for participating in our inaugural year of our CSA. Get in touch if you ever have any questions!

CSA Update, October 4, 2020

Here’s a video update of this week’s apple contents, and you’ll find a photo and written descriptions below the video!

This week’s apples: Ruby Jon, Cortland, Haralson, Macoun, and Frostbite

This week’s hard cider: Whippersnapper

Ruby Jon: a good all-arounder (eating, baking, cider). Just like a Jonathan apple, but a deeper red.

Cortland: cooks up saucy, a cross between McIntosh and Ben Davis.

Haralson: Tart and crunchy, cooks up firm.

Macoun: cross between McIntosh and Jersey Black. A highly sought after apple on the east coast. A bit of a strawberry flavor.

Frostbite: part of the U of M’s breeding program since the 1920’s. A parent of Keepsake and Sweet Sixteen and a grandparent of Honeycrisp. It’s a weird one!

Whippersnapper: this is our very young hard cider. Instead of fermenting to dryness (where all of the sugar has been converted to alcohol), we put this one in jugs while there is still sugar in it so it’s slightly sweet, only slightly alcoholic, and slightly fizzy. It’s yummy!

CSA Update, September 27, 2020

Here’s a video update of this week’s apple contents, and you’ll find a photo and written descriptions below the video!

CSA SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE SOLD OUT FOR 2020

Since the world is topsy turvy, we’re going to do something different this fall: weekly deliveries in an apple and cider CSA (community-supported agriculture)! (Don’t worry, we’re still open at the orchard).

Depending on the package you choose, your delivery will include peak-of-the-season apples, fresh-pressed cider, favorite hard ciders or new releases, and cider donuts — and a tote bag with your initial delivery!

Sign up for one of the four packages below. Your package will be delivered to your designated pick-up site on Sundays for ten weeks starting on September 13. If you order a half share, your deliveries will begin on September 20 and be delivered every other week. See the FAQ for any questions you might have.

Full-On Orchard

• Half peck of apples

• 1/2 gallon fresh-pressed cider

• Half-dozen cider donuts

• A four-pack of cider and one 750-ml bottle

• $50/week for weekly delivery (full share)

• $28/week for every-other-weekly delivery (half share)

My Children Are Very, Very Hungry

• Peck of apples

• Gallon of fresh-pressed cider

• Dozen cider donuts

• $51/week for weekly delivery (full share)

• $28/week for every-other-weekly delivery (half share)

My Children Are So Very, Very Hungry and They’re Not Going to School

• Peck of apples

• Gallon of fresh-pressed cider

• Dozen cider donuts

• A four-pack of cider and one 750-ml bottle

• $73/week for weekly delivery (full share)

• $39/week for every-other-weekly delivery (half share)