CSA Update
September 21, 2025

Apples in this week’s box:

Wealthy
Wealthy is the apple that proved Minnesota could be home to an apple growing industry! It preceded Minnesota’s statehood and took root in Excelsior as a seedling grown from Peter Gideon’s obsessive quest to grow apples in Minnesota. He was quite the character, by all accounts, and there’s an entire book that’s been written about him called The Great American Apple Wizard. I recommend it!

SweeTango
The apple breeder at the U of M ranks apples in development on a 1-10 scale. The only apple that’s ever gotten a 10 was the SweeTango. SweeTango is a cross of Honeycrisp and Zestar! and displays the best of both of its parents with Honeycrisp’s texture and Zestar!’s flavor.

Egremont Russet
Egremont is a lovely mid-season russet that displays the characteristic intensity of russeted apples with higher sugar and acid than what we usually find in apples. It’s a full russet and so if you’re disinclined to eat it fresh (don’t be!), it’ll cook up fabulously.

Sweet Sixteen
Sweet Sixteen is a cross between Frostbite and Northern Spy. It’s a tricky apple to get right in terms of its flavor. If you nail it, it’s a complex flavor with a bit of a cherry popsicle overtone. If you don’t, it’s sweet and hard. Released by the U of M in 1977.

Ginger Gold
We had the best crop ever of Ginger Gold and it tastes particularly delightful to me this year because it’s flavor and texture are so pleasant — light and sweet and crisp and juicy. I’m actually eating them more than SweeTango.

For fresh-pressed cider this week, we’re still working off of our first pressing, which was primarily a blend of Zestar and Paula Red.

For hard cider this week:

• Full share subscribers got Cherry Rhubarb unless you said “no flavored cider” or “dry cider,” in which case you got Perennial, which is a dry cider made from heirloom apple varieties.

• Half share subscribers got Strawberry Lemonade, aka Summer Crush, which just hits the spot on a hot day.

CSA Update
September 14, 2025

The first of the CSA boxes went out today with summer and early mid-season apple varieties.

Speaking of SweeTango — it’s my favorite eating apple. It’s just perfect with its flavor and texture, so it’s really something that Ginger Gold is giving it a run for its money this year. SweeTango is a cross of Honeycrisp and Zestar! and displays the best of both of its parents with Honeycrisp’s texture and Zestar!’s flavor.

Lastly, we have St. Edmund’s Russet, which is my earliest russet and has been a bugger to pick every year, just because it’s hard to get the timing right. Russets usually have an intensity of flavor — more sugar! more acid! — and being an early version of a russet, St. Ed’s offers a glimmer of those attributes. Its russeting is uniform and I think it’s a handsome apple.

As for hard cider, you got a real mystery bottle this week because it’s my Roundabout label, which doesn’t offer you any clues to what’s inside. What’s inside is Summer Crush — a strawberry lemonade hard cider. It’s really yummy and I hope you enjoy it and wanted to get you the new creation for the year while we still had summer weather.

More details in the video below. As always, I’m happy to answer your questions.

Our CSA is back for Fall 2025!

We love shopping the best of the orchard and are so excited to share this year’s banner harvest with you.

We deliver CSA boxes to four locations on Sunday mornings from September 14 through November 16 — ten weeks total. Sign up for a weekly delivery (full share for a total of ten deliveries) or a half share (every-other-weekly delivery for a total of five deliveries).

Our drop sites include Dogwood Coffee St. Paul, Dogwood Coffee East Lake, Dogwood Coffee NE, and France 44. You can also pick up your CSA box at the orchard. Want to host an additional site? Get in touch!

Choose your preferred package below and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for add-ons like apple crisp, farm bread, hard cider, jam, and more. Questions? Get in touch via email at sweetlandorchard@gmail.com or text to 651-252-4337.

Essence of the Orchard
This CSA package offers a basic version of what we do around here — apples, fresh-pressed cider, fermented cider, and cider donuts.

• Half peck of apples

• 1/2 gallon fresh-pressed cider

• Half-dozen cider donuts

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

Freshie Fresh
This package is alcohol-free and bumps up the quantities of apples, fresh-pressed cider, and cider donuts.

• Peck of apples

• Gallon of fresh-pressed cider

• Dozen cider donuts

Freshie-Fresh with Fermentation
More apples, more fresh-pressed cider, more donuts, and hard cider too!

• Peck of apples

• Gallon of fresh-pressed cider

• Dozen cider donuts

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