Featured Product: Massachusetts Apples

Way up high in the apple tree
All the little apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could,
Down came the apples,
Mmmm, were they good.
 
Local apples are now ripe for the pickin'. Visit Northeastharvest.com for the many farms and farm stands that offer fresh-picked or U-pick apples from their orchards.

Apple Facts

• The first apple trees were planted by the pilgrims  in the Massachusetts Bay colony.
• Don't peel your apple! Two-thirds of the fiber and many of the antioxidants are found in the peel.
• John Chapman aka Johnny Appleseed was born in Leominster, MA in 1774.

Apples

The many varieties of apples differ widely in appearance, flesh, characteristics, seasonal availability and suitability for different uses. For good eating as fresh fruit: McIntosh, Macoun, Red & Golden Delicious, Cortland. 

Selection: Select firm, well-shaped apples with good color. Avoid blemishes and soft spots.
Storage:  Small quantities should be refrigerator-stored in a plastic bag that has a few perforated holes. These holes allow air into the bag so the apples can breathe. Store large quantities in a cool dark airy place.

Apple Cider - A Taste of the Bay State:

A favorite product of the apple harvest is sweet cider. In Colonial America, apple cider was the standard drink. President John Adams, who lived to the ripe old age of ninety-one, prided himself on drinking a pitcher of cider every morning. John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, imported English apples in 1629. John Endicott, another governor of the Bay Colony, planted the first apple tree nursery in the New World.
 
In a short time, orchards became common in the Bay Colony, and apple cider was made with the first harvests of these orchards. Cider provided a tasty solution to water contamination problems in the early settlements.
 
Until 1930, cider was consumed in greater quantities than any other fruit juice. During the last decade, fresh apple cider has regained much of its popularity despite the introduction of many other fruit juices. Consumers now drink, on average, the equivalent of 13.2 lbs. of apples in cider or juice form - more than three times the amount consumed in 1974.
 
Visit a nearby apple cider mill today!

Find farms growing apples in Massachusetts: