We are a small commercial orchard established in 1995 in the gently rolling hills of Licking County, Ohio. For 15 years we were a pick-your-own orchard with ten varieties of crisp and tasty disease resistant apples. But time has taken its toll so we are radically changing direction. We have become an apple and apple product sales-by-appointment-only operation. We sell unpasteurized sweet cider in
season and a cider syrup made from GoldRush sweet cider. We do not sell hard fermented cider although we sell untreated sweet cider (apple juice) that you can make into hard cider. We will tell you how to turn it into a high quality cider using just the native yeast in a slow and lengthy fermentation yielding a smooth and somewhat dry wine-like drink with a slight effervescence. Since the beginning of our orchard, we have been committed to producing high quality apples practicing low input sustainable agriculture. That has meant we use no fungicides, herbicides or other chemicals used by conventional growers. We manage the orchard following the practices for organic production. We are certified organic by the USDA, so you can be assured that the apples and everything made from them are free of chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides. We are personally committed to wholesome foods grown in an ecologically healthy environment. The challenge of economically growing a crisp tasty apple without synthetic chemicals or pesticides, in Central Ohio, is an ongoing self-funded research project. Organic apples in a supermarket come from western USA where the weather is not as humid and the insect presence is less. Also, they have been sorted so the customers see only the perfect ones -- and the price has been adjusted to cover the losses. However, the flavor does not compare to the flavor of an Ohio apple. The primary result of this experiment says that, even in Central Ohio, one can grow crisp and tasty apples with organic practices but the scale of production needs to be adjusted to be economically viable. Additionally, in a pick-your-own orchard, hiding a heavy infestation of a particular insect such as codling moth is not possible. Thus, such an orchard requires a special kind of customer who accepts some cosmetic imperfections while greatly appreciating the taste and eating quality of wholesomely grown apples.
