Slaughter Orchard & Cidery

05/24/2026

Last week was the 20th Anniversary of the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition (GLINTCAP) in Grand Rapids, MI. It is the largest cider competition in the US with around 1,000 entries across all the categories. It takes over 100 volunteer judges and stewards to make this event happen. Clay served as a judge and Tara served as a steward to help make this event run smoothly. GLINTCAP is sponsored by the Michigan Cider Association . Stay turned for exciting news about how the Slaughter Orchard & Cidery line-up of hard ciders scored! 🥂

05/15/2026

When we built a greenhouse last month, it took the whole family and the whole orchard team! With the help of an NRCS Grant in Monroe County, we built a 36x30ft hoop house at our Bloomington location. It took several days and all of us to make it happen. If you drive by the Bloomington location you will see it behind our farm market. In November, we are putting up a 100x30ft hoop house at our Hainlen Orchard location in Converse with a NRCS Grant in Howard County.

What's going in the greenhouse? We have already started putting grafted apple trees in the greenhouse, and we will graft more apples and peaches to continue expanding the orchard. Is there something you would like us to grow for the farm market in the remaining space? Leave us a comment with your vote for what we should add.

05/09/2026

Happy Saturday!
We will be open today, May 9th 10am-6pm. Stop by and see us while you are out doing your Mother's Day Shopping, visiting family, or enjoying all of the other exciting events going on today on the west side of Bloomington. 💐

We have launched two new hard cider varieties this Spring, and we are excited to share them with all of you! Take home a bottle of our new single variety McIntosh or our new Homestead Sweet from our USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant research project. 🍾

The fridge is fully stocked with farm fresh eggs! 🥚 The slushy machine is running with cider slushies, and the shelves are packed with baking mixes, dough bowl candles, maple syrup, infused salts, kitchen gadgets, dip mixes, jams, jelly, gifts and as always apple butter, apple sauce, and apple cider vinegar! 🍎

04/17/2026

You don't want to miss this amazing event tomorrow, Saturday April 18th!
28 miles from Bloomington to Bloomfield!

Slaughter Orchard & Cidery will be open from 8:00am to 5:00pm. The shelves have been stocked with all of your favorite products including Apple Cider Slushies and Hard Cider by the bottle.

The Brunch Bug will be open for breakfast and lunch 8:00am to 2:00pm at our orchard farm market.

04/14/2026

Make plans to get out and enjoy the spring weather this coming Saturday, April 18th at the first annual Hwy 45/54 Shop Small Crawl!

We will be open 8am-5pm. The market is fully stocked with all of your favorite products! The slushy machine will be running with cider slushies, and we will have new releases of hard cider by the bottle.

You'll need breakfast and lunch to fuel your 28 mile shopping journey, so the Brunch Bug will be serving at Slaughter Orchard & Cidery from 8am-2pm! We have plenty of outdoor seating to stop for a break or lunch.

There are so many great small family owned businesses along this path. Come discover all the hidden gems you drive by every day and think one of these days I'm going to stop there. Next Saturday is your day to stop in!

02/28/2026

02/28/2026

"Pie & Pruning" Workshop Today 2-4pm
No pre-registration required to join us this afternoon for our pruning workshop. The weather is fantastic to spend a couple hours outside for this hands-on workshop.
Grab your work gloves and pruners and join us for this outstanding educational afternoon including warm apple pie. The cost is $20 per person. The farm market will also be open with several of our house brand products including applesauce, apple butter, frozen cider, and hard cider.

02/27/2026

The winter months in the orchard mean it's time to prune trees.

Join us this coming Saturday, February 28th 2-4pm for "Pie & Pruning" to learn how to prune your fruit trees at home. We frequently get questions about how to prune, when to prune, how much to prune, and if we do custom pruning.

In this 2-hour hands-on workshop, we will answer all of your questions and teach you all the details. We will also end the class with a glass of our cider and a slice of warm apple pie, all made from the apples in our orchards. The workshop is $20 per person.

There's no need to pre-register, just show up at 2pm dressed for the weather and bring a pair of hand pruners with you (if you have them). We will get your information and collect the registration fee when you arrive.

02/25/2026

APPLESAUCE!

Love our applesauce? Wish you could serve it at your next LARGE gathering? Own a restaurant and looking for local applesauce without any added sugar, dyes, or preservatives? We now have both our regular and cinnamon applesauce in 5 GALLON BUCKETS!

We started this project by making applesauce for the schools, and now we are making it available to anyone who wants to buy bulk applesauce. Send us a message or give us a call to order!

02/24/2026

Hands-On Tree Pruning Class (aka Pruning & Pie)

Join us this Saturday, February 28th, 2 pm-4 pm, for a hands-on fruit tree pruning workshop here at Slaughter Orchard & Cidery. We have lots of customers ask us about how to care for their fruit trees at home, so we are teaching you how! Hint: You should be pruning now.

This 2-hour hands-on workshop will teach you how to prune your own fruit trees at home, and includes a mug of cider and a slice of fresh-baked apple pie made from the apples in our orchards. The cost is only $20 for the afternoon. No pre-registration necessary. Just show up in your outdoor clothes, work gloves, and bring a pair of hand pruners, if you have them.

Our farm market will be open this Saturday afternoon as well, with a limited selection of our products, including a few varieties of apples, hard cider, frozen cider, apple butter, applesauce, and pear butter. See you Saturday!