DUMMERSTON — The 16th annual Heirloom Apple Day, at Scott Farm Orchard on Kipling Road, beckons apple lovers of all ages to celebrate this iconic fall fruit on Sunday, Oct. 7.
Come visit the 571-acre historic farm and orchard that border Rudyard Kipling's former Vermont home, Naulakha, and other historic rental properties owned and renovated by Landmark Trust USA.
At 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m., Scott Farm's orchardist, Zeke Goodband, will entertain guests with the history of the orchard and its ecologically grown fruits, accompanied by a free tasting of some of the more than 125 varieties of heirloom apples grown on the property.
Because each apple has its own DNA, each seed produces a tree that bears a unique fruit, each with its own aspect of size, shape, color, and flavor. Varieties of apples are preserved through generations by grafting cuttings to root stock.
Sample Old World and Early American heirloom varieties such as Esopus Spitzenburg, a favorite of Thomas Jefferson, grown at Monticello; Reine des Reinettes, a French apple from the 1700s, considered the best hard-cider apple in Normandy; and Cox's Orange Pippin, an English favorite, awarded the highest honors by the Royal Horticultural Society.
According to Goodband, “There's Blue Pearmain, [Henry David] Thoreau's favorite. And Belle de Boskoop, a strudel specialist.”
And Ashmead's Kernel: “It would be referred to as 'fine-grained' flesh, but there's almost a crystal quality to it. When you pick it at the right time, it's just exquisite,” Goodband says. “That's the one, more than any other apple, where people pick it and come back and say, 'Oh, that's the best apple I've ever had!'
“When someone says that, it makes all the work of an entire year worthwhile.”
Following the talks and tastings, guests can purchase apples by picking them in the orchard or selecting them from multiple apple bins in the farm market, where other apple products will be available.
In addition to the apple talks and tastings, Whetstone Ciderworks, of Marlboro, will offer samples of artisanal wine-like, award-winning hard ciders - such as Orchard King, Orchard Queen, Baryard Blend, and Moonlighter - blended primarily with apples from Scott Farm Orchard.
Rigani Wood-Fired Pizza of Brattleboro will be on thepremises with a portable wood-fired oven, cooking up and selling artisanal pizzas featuring local ingredients. And the people at Springmore Farm from Baltimore, Vt., will bring their food cart with breakfast and lunch sandwiches featuring eggs, vegetables, sausage, and kielbasa made on their farm.
Upcoming workshops
In keeping with the farm's mission to share living history, to preserve and perpetuate heirloom apples and small fruits, and to educate people about their cultivation and uses, Scott Farm also offers a variety of fall workshops.
Pastry Chef Laurel Roberts Johnson of The Queen of Tarts offers hands-on apple- and fruit-pie-making workshops on Sunday, Oct. 21, and Saturday, Nov. 3.
To further showcase the many delicious uses of apples, Scott Farm and Eden Specialty Ciders present the 2nd annual Kingston Black Hard Cider Festival on Saturday, Oct. 20, featuring five cidermakers, and will co-host, along with the Vermont Fresh Network, the 11th annual Heirloom Apple Harvest Dinner at the farm on Saturday, Oct. 27.
The five-course meal, prepared by Chef Tristan Toleno of Entera Artisanal Catering, features heirloom apples and heirloom cider with other local foods.
The Scott Farm Market is open daily through Nov. 21, and apples are available for picking until the end of October.