Winter 2026 CSA
CSA Update, February 8, 2026
Good morning, folks! I hope pick-ups went without a hitch for you and that you were able to enjoy a pie or crisp Sunday evening. Or since apple pie doesn’t exactly scream Super Bowl food, what could be more decadent than a Monday night pie?!?
Below I’ve got your rundown of this week’s delivery, also available in video with a glance at harvesting concentrate for ice cider.
Northwest Greening, Calville Blanc, SnowSweet, our mystery variety, and those little guys are Frostbites
This week’s apples are a combination of baking and eating. The two varieties on the left are Northwest Greening and Calville Blanc, both of which are better in baking than fresh eating. Northwest Greening is dry with a bit of acid and Calville has a creamy flesh with some very nice acid in it yet.
SnowSweet are a U of M variety from the early 2000’s with a beautifully white flesh and a nice sweet flavor. The mystery and Frostbite varieties have the most crunch to them and are incredibly juicy. I was eating them extra cold — that juice was so refreshing!
For hard cider this week, I included Scrumpy Original. It’s a no sugar cider and is the first of 2025’s harvest to make it into a bottle.
Remember to keep your apples in the refrigerator for their best shelf life. If you need a way of working down your apple supply quickly, I recommend peeling them and slicing chunks into a sauce pan with a bit of cider and cinnamon, if you swing that way. They’ll cook down into a chunky, delicious sauce.
This week at the orchard we’ll be starting pruning. The calendar says its a bit early to prune but the temps feel more like late March, so best to get on it. Warm temps also mean that my giant blocks of ice/cider that I kept outside since December will start to thaw, which means I need to drain the liquid off of them for ice cider before they thaw too much. I’m targeting a brix (sugar level) of 32 and if they melt too much, that sugar level will drop too low. For reference, the sugar level of fresh-pressed cider is usually about 12 brix.
CSA Subscribers: if there’s anything you’d like added to your box for this weekend’s delivery, you can add it here.
Welcome to winter and our winter CSA!
For the first time in a few years, we have a real winter — for better or for worse! Apples are an excellent storage crop and the delicious things you can make from apples are practically unlimited so for February and March again this year, we’re happy to offer our winter CSA!
What can you expect from a Sweetland Orchard winter CSA?
Four packages delivered to a pick-up location every other Sunday morning starting February 8, and thereafter on February 22, March 8, and March 22.
Apples — one half-peck, as long as they’re still in good condition. This year’s crop was excellent and we set aside a good number of apples for the winter CSA this year. The Prairie Spy and GoldRush, in particular, should be fantastic. There are also still some Honeycrisp and other varieties bumping around.
Fresh-pressed cider — one half-gallon
An apple pie or gluten-free crisp (frozen, you bake at home)
Apple chips
Jam, jelly, apple butter, or some other jarred, preserved deliciousness
You can also order hard cider with your box
Prior to every delivery, you’ll also have the opportunity to order add-ons to your regular box like eggs, frozen whole duck (that’s a weird one, I know), or more of anything that’s already in your box.
Pick up locations include Ale Jail St. Paul, Dogwood Coffee St. Paul, Dogwood Coffee East Lake, Dogwood Coffee NE, Well Nourished Farmstand (New Brighton), Ale Jail Crystal, France 44, Sweetland Orchard