Enjoy late apple season by picking, chomping

Enjoy late apple season by picking, backing, chomping

The apple season is in full swing, with area orchards picking and selling their late-season apples until November.

Although other harvests have finished, the apple season is in full swing, with area orchards picking and selling their late-season apples until November.

More than 16,000 varieties of apples have been grown in North America, but that number has shrunk to 3,000 varieties in recent decades, according to a University of North Carolina study.

This part of the country, like New England, has proven ideal for growing the favorite fruit of many folks. Apple pies and tarts once were served as often as bread, and, according to Roger Yepsen, author of “Apples,” families on hardscrabble farms in the Northeast often lived on suppers of apple pie and milk, day after day through the winter.

Many apples keep well into winter when they are kept chilled.

Here in Ohio, we tend to take the existence of good, juicy apples for granted, but once we visit the Deep South or Caribbean, we discover the favorite fruit is not universal.

“We have an ideal site for growing apples,” said John Sage of Sage’s Fruit Farm in Chardon.

His family has grown apples at the Chardon Road farm since 1910, converting to be apple specialists in 1950 when his dad turned the family farm into orchards.

“We’re on one of the highest spots in Geauga County, so late-spring frosts hit the lower areas around us, and we’re not too far away to still get some lake-effect warmth from Lake Erie,” he said.

He said he’s experienced just one killing spring frost in his lifetime, and that cost the family 20 percent of its crop.

“But hail is the biggest enemy of an apple farmer,” he said. “One heavy hail can wipe out an entire crop.”

The family doesn’t offer pick-your-own apples but sells a large variety of apples from its farm market. This is its busiest season at 11355 Chardon Road, where the market is open daily until 6 p.m.

Although only Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and McIntosh originated in North America, the best selling apples in the United States are Gala, Red Delicious, Fuji, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Pink Lady, Braeburn and Jazz.

To Nancy Patterson, matriarch of the four-generation Patterson Fruit Farm in Chester Township, it’s a blend of different apples that makes the best apple pies.

“Just take a look at the apple pie winners at the (Great) Geauga County Fair,” she said. “All of the best pies are made with a mix of apples.”

Patterson Fruit Farm makes picking available through October at its orchards around its Fun Fest at 8765 Mulberry Road in Chester Township. Call to learn what’s being picked when you wish to visit at 440-729-1964. It also sells apples at its farm market, 11414 Caves Road.

The best pie apples keep their slice shape instead of cooking into mush. Some home bakers arrange the different apples in layers or concentric patterns so each bite of pie yields a combination of sweet-tart apple flavors. Many pie bakers recommend Granny Smith and Cortland apples, followed by McIntosh and Winesap.

Other favorite pie apples include Braeburn, Empire, Ginger Gold, Jonathan, Honeycrisp, Melrose and Northern Spy.

Available now and until the end of the month at Sage’s are Honeycrisp, Melrose, Macoun, Jonagold, McIntosh, Daybreak Fuji, Golden Delicious, Gala, Northern Spy, Crimson Crisp, Jonathan, Jonamac, Mutsu, NY 414, Mutsu, Red Delicious, Cortland, and Cardinal varieties.

Ciders offered by area fruit farms are made elsewhere and sold by Sage’s and Patterson. Neither has the preservatives common in supermarket ciders. Cider is best stored at just over 32 degrees. It can be kept indefinitely by freezing.

Called the most American of drinks, cider originated with European settlers shortly after they established orchards. When Ralph Waldo Emerson described apples as the “social fruit of New England,” he was referring to cider, not apple pie. And that cider was hard cider — the alcoholic kind. It’s legal to make for home consumption.

Cider’s cloudiness is from the pulp and wild yeasts that come from apples being pressed into liquid. Inherently unstable, cider will soon begin to ferment unless treated with antimicrobial chemicals or subjected to heat or cold.

“Our cider is flash-pasteurized, which can make it difficult to turn (into hard cider),” said John Sage. “But I know people who have had good results making hard cider with it.”

Just as single-malt Scotches allow a distillery to display its unique product, it’s become trendy to produce varietal ciders. One producer ranked Fuji apples as the best for producing a single-apple cider variety. Pink Lady, Braeburn and Gala were also ranked highly.

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