Vintage Virginia Apples

Why is Isaiah smiling? Because he climbed the enormous rootball of a fallen oak and stands as triumphant king of the mountain.



And in this case, he's smiling because he swings through the air on a vine. Life is good to Isaiah.
The boys and I went to a “famous” orchard nearby, one that was mentioned in The Apple Grower. Vintage Virginia Apples has only been around since about 2001, but they grow 250 varieties of apples (only between 1000 and 2000 trees, though, so not many of any one type).

They were a very different operation than the one I went to several weeks back. Their large trees were on 20 foot centers (meaning, they have 20 feet in all directions, as opposed to the previous orchard that had trees probably eight feet apart in the row, with rows maybe 16 feet apart). They had some cider for tasting, but I think they must sell mostly at farmer’s markets, because they didn’t have a fruit stand set up: the sales clerk (alone in the tasting room the entire hour I was there) called in Chuck, who then spent an HOUR with me, letting the boys and I taste test apples. We tried Grimes Golden, which I really liked—good thing, because that was one I ordered. Also Suncrisp, a new tart variety that I didn’t like too much, though it was crispy. Also Hawkeye, which was the original strain of Red Delicious and was MUCH better than the crummy fruit you might find at the store (I ordered some of those from the nursery, too, which will be good, I think). I tried a russeted version, which was good, and Belle de Boskoop, which was Chuck’s favorite. It was so tart, it made my jaw freeze up! (I ordered some of those from the nursery, but they are more for cider, I think, than eating. Phew!)

I found it very interesting: when I asked about soil amendments, he said that they don’t do much, because NPK would make their trees have plenty of green growth, but not much apple growth. That made sense. He also said that the trees will just grow when you get them in ground. But I felt sad when he said that they had started the orchard with smaller trees on trellises, and pulled all of those out because they didn’t do very well (they succumbed to fire blight, I think). It seems to me that a healthy soil—a soil with enough calcium, for example—would prevent fire blight. So maybe his orchard does need soil amendments, but not the kind he thinks.

Anyway—can you believe it? An HOUR with me, a person he’d never met, for a $15 sale of apples (I bought about 20 pounds). Incredible. Really, really gracious man.

The only other real comment from today is that it is fly and yellow jacket season here. They are everywhere all the time. It is challenging to cook. I’m okay with the yellow jackets flying so close to my hand that I can feel the wind on their wings. But when they land on my fingers and crawl around trying to get apple juice off me, or when they hover right above my shirt, I start to get a bit nervous. Or when the baby is laughingly reaching for an apple slice that has a yellow jacket on it—aaaahhh!

We might start eating at the Bessettes.