Hainlen Orchard

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 . Stay turned for exciting news about how the Slaughter Orchard & Cidery line-up of hard ciders scored! 🥂

05/17/2026

05/16/2026

04/19/2026

Bloomfest 2026 - Today!

Come out to the orchard today and enjoy the beautiful weather during our 2nd Annual Bloomfest. The farm market is open until 6 PM. We have frozen cider, jams, jelly, popcorn, and free hot cider. The rain caused some of the petals to drop, but there are still trees with lots of blooms for great pictures. You can see all the small apples on the trees too!

04/17/2026

Do you ever wonder what spring time looks like in the orchard? Do you wonder how those amazing, delicious apples get to the farm market and into your hands in the fall?

🌸 Join us Sunday afternoon, April 19th, for our 2nd Annual Bloomfest at Hainlen Orchard 12-6pm! 🌸

Did you know that the orchard doesn't bloom at the same time every year? The date of peak bloom depends on several factors, including air temperature, soil temperature, rainfall, and daylight hours. This variability in the date of bloom means Bloomfest will move slightly every year, but you can typically expect it mid-April to early-May.

04/14/2026

HAINLEN ORCHARD 2nd ANNUAL BLOOMFEST - One Day Only
Sunday, April 19, 2026 - 12PM TO 6PM!

The apple trees are reaching their peak bloom, so we are opening the farm market for you to come enjoy the orchard. Feel free to walk the orchard, take spring photos, or bring a camp chair to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful spring weather.

The farm market will be open for you to pick up a gallon of frozen Cider, any of our 5 varieties of Hard Cider stocked in the market, along with Apple Butter, Applesauce, Jams, Soaps, Popcorn, Noodles, Candles, and so much more! Come stroll through the front section of the orchard, snap a few pictures, and smell the amazing scent of spring in the orchard with all the trees in bloom. Family photos are welcome!

02/28/2026

02/27/2026

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!

02/10/2026

CiderCon was busy! We presented at the poster session, poured samples of our Ground Harvest Hard Cider, and hosted the Orchard Meetup. To top it all off, Clay Slaughter, our head cidermaker and ACA Certified Pommelier, sat on a panel discussion regarding the rules and regulations around ground harvest fruit in the United States. The discussion also detailed our research trials, the microbial load testing taking part in year three of our research project, and the white paper & HACCP plan which will be released in 2026 for use by other orchards and farms. The session was titled, "To Pick or Let Fall", and was attended by many other orchardists and cidermakers interested in utilizing this lost revenue and no waste option in their orchards and production spaces. Watch for our upcoming field days at the orchard in 2026 to learn about the details of this important research progress.

02/09/2026

We focus on AgriEducation at both of our locations. Our goal is to help educate visitors about orchards and all the different types of food we produce. With that focus comes constant education and learning for our team in addition to our visitors.
Most of our leadership team spent the week learning from other orchards and cideries at CiderCon in Providence, Rhode Island. We took a bus tour of four Connecticut orchards and tasting rooms to learn about growing apples, their farm markets, and hard cider production. We attended classes on various production methods, hosted the ACA Orchard Meetup & Scion exchange, and tasted ciders from Ontario, the Baltics, and all across the United States. One of our favorite parts of CiderCon is everything we learn from the friends we have made in the industry! Thanks to the American Cider Association and the Cider Institute for an awesome week of education and networking.