update

[quietann]

Naku is still in her hiding spot, although once when I went to check on her, she was backing into it -- so she had emerged a little bit, but I scared her. Spook has taken up residence on his kitty condo which is by his food and opposite Naku's hiding spot, and he is definitely watching her. He's more interested in being scritched, though.

Party idea for late fall or early winter: an Apple Tasting party. http://applesource.com/index.html is a company that provides assortments of many types of apples, primarily for people who are considering planting an orchard and want to taste some of the many unusual varieties before buying trees. Although I'd love to be in a position to rehabilitate and replant our orchard, it's a huge project that might take a couple of years, and I am not yet motivated enough to try. But in the meantime, and apple tasting party sounds like fun. I am not 100% sure that Applesource is going to stay in business, since one of the founders died recently, but I will keep my fingers crossed. I could also hit a bunch of farmers markets and Russell Farms in Ipswich this fall and make my own apple sampler. (Russell Farms also makes sweet cider, and hard ciders and fruit wines.)

(ETA: If I had a nice neat little backyard, and half a clue about growing apples, I would do a backyard mini-apple orchard. This guy has 97 apple trees of 93 different varieties in his 2500 square foot backyard!)

Comments

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

OHHHHHH yes, apple tasting party. I love a couple of varieties that are hard to find except very briefly in the fall: winesap and macoun.

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

Russell Farms also makes sweet cider, and hard ciders and fruit wines.

And cider donuts!

[(Anonymous)]

Between Cider Hill Farm off Rt. 150 in Amesbury, Long Hill Orchard on Rt. 113 in W. Newbury and Applecrest on Rt. 88 in Hampton Falls, you can get a lot of local apples in different varieties: Russets, Baldwins, Northern Spys etc.
Of course, they aren't necessarily all ripe at once. We've got about 10 different varieties on the lawn, but they aren't bearing yet. Hopefully my efforts to control cedar-apple rust this year will help.

jbvb

[quietann.livejournal.com]

If I can store them, I could probably make a couple of trips over a few weeks to buy apples. Fall road trips are a good thing.

[roozle.livejournal.com]

Bill Knoble who we know as a potter is also a collector and conserver of old apple breeds in NY State.

[madbodger.livejournal.com]

Yummerz!

[dianec42.livejournal.com]

Naku will come out soon enough. (Our Princess still hides under the bookshelves when we have guests over!)