On a ridiculously beautiful October day, I got to go on a field trip to three different orchards in Kent County: Robinette's Apple Haus, Green Tree Orchards, and Schweitzer Orchards.
Robinette's is an agritourism operation, so it has apples, but also donuts, two stores, horse-drawn hayrides, activity areas, corn mazes, and, on a weekday afternoon, a line for donuts only 4 people deep. Michigan Farm Bureau District 4 Manager, Lori Schrauben, and I headed there to buy donuts to distribute at our next stops. Now, I've been in the weekend donut lines that stretch down 4 Mile, and I'm always impressed at how quickly the staff keeps the line moving. We were there just long enough to note that there are several gluten free options, with different flavors of cookies and donuts. But we were there for the cinnamon sugar donuts, and I was there to get a half-bushel of Northern Spy apples (so great for baking and hard to find in stores). It was a busy day, with children running around and playing, the horse-drawn wagon giving rides, and people streaming in and out of the corn maze.
It was much more peaceful at Green Tree Orchards, where our former County President Kylee Zdunic-Rasch gave us a tour. Those of you who've done some U-Pick at an orchard in the last few years may have noticed that the trees are planted much closer together than they used to be, and aggressively pruned to remain on the small side. This method of planting has resulted in more efficient orchards, with trees that bear heavily and are easier to pick for both amateurs and professionals. While we talked about the struggles apple growers are having with labor costs, we learned that they plant crab apple trees at regular intervals to improve pollination of all the trees--they're easy to spot since they stick up taller than the production trees and are covered in tiny red fruits. We got to see some good examples of grafted trees, with a new variety growing out of the trunk of an older variety. Kylee also let us try some apples from three trees they're trying out. Green Tree has already developed a trademarked apple: Boujee. It’s always interesting to hear what new things growers are working on.
Our third stop was to see Nick Schweitzer of Schweitzer Orchards. Here we got to see apple bins stacked to the sky: harvest was going well enough that sourcing bins was holding them back. While we talked about the struggles apple growers are having with labor costs (do you see a pattern?), Nick led us to the CA room. Imagine an airtight, temperature-controlled warehouse room stacked to the rafters with full apple bins. It was so quiet. The scent of pure apple was amazing. It was currently just a cold storage room, but once it was full, they’d turn it into a controlled atmosphere (CA) longterm storage space. Nick described the process of reducing the oxygen level to around 2%; they control the carbon dioxide level by placing dry lime in the room. Different apples require different temperatures and oxygen and humidity levels for optimal storage, so growers need to be able to monitor the room from the outside—once it’s been sealed, there’s no peeking until a couple of weeks before the apples can be sold. Amazing to learn what growers do to make sure we consumers have fresh-tasting, crisp apples all year.
But maybe the best thing I learned was that Nick recommends a mix of Ida Red and Winesap apples for baking. In fact, it’s what they used for the apple pies at his own wedding. And he sells them direct to consumer through Facebook Marketplace: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1701884817051058 I bought some and baked with them that weekend and the taste and texture were spectacular!
Orchards on the Fruit Ridge are gorgeous this time of year, with perfectly straight rows of leafy trees on the rolling hills, the gaps between giving you glimpses of other rolling hills with other crops and trees turning fall colors. Head out for a drive and visit one of the Kent County Farm Bureau member orchards that are open to the public for the freshest apples and so much more: Blok Orchard (features cool heritage apples), Ed Dunneback & Girls, Goodfellow Orchards, Hill Bros. Orchards & Cider Mill, Red Barn Market & Orchards, Robinette’s Apple Haus, Schwalliers, Steffens Orchard Market.