Tin Hat Cider

Pears ~ culinary, perry & wild:

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 10:13:10 -0700

Here’s my observations and opinions of 5 different culinary pear varieties after 10 years of tending these full size standard trees (currently about 30 years of age on standard rootstock).

Summer Crisp: As the name suggests, it ripens in mid to late August, although depending on the season, I might rather call it Summer Soft, or worse. That's being a little harsh, but in general, it’s a decent disease resistant pear, with mostly annual productivity. Although in 2022 I did discover a handful of isolated fire blight (FB) strikes. However, these trees were surrounded by a severe FB outbreak, and fared much better than Stacey and Nova. Fruit quality can vary dramatically, and it seems that lower nutrient soils and dry years produce the best “crisp” pears, of high flavor and sugar, albeit low crop yields. Some trees over-crop, producing a lot of flavorless little green pears that drop prematurely and are best suited for animal feed or wildlife (IMO). I have made some excellent pear cider vinegar with this variety, but that’s about it. SC also seems very attractive to apple maggot fly, and this has been an issue, causing premature fruit drop and improper ripening.

Stacey: Stacey is an attractive, crisp and delicious summer pear, that could pass for an asian pear when slightly underripe It ripens about the same time as Summer Crisp in late August and early September. It is a very large tree and has been tough to prune. Ten years ago I brought some 30 ft trees down to a more manageable 20 feet, and despite marginal soil nutrition and no fertilization the trees have fought back with intense vertical growth every year since. I tried to allow some shoots to maintain apical dominance but it seemed to no avail. This rather bombastic pruning approach did put the trees into annual bearing, and the crop production was very consistent and high quality despite a...Read More

Harvest report 2022

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 06:27:14 -0800

2022 lean-average crop. Good quality for some varieties, very bad for others.

Dry: The 2022 growing season in these parts was another dry one. Even for older established and large trees, most of my locations for harvesting or foraging received below average rainfall. As a cider maker, it’s easy to think dry is good, as this can lead to higher sugar levels and more concentrated flavors. But like most things, the devil is in the details. We had low snowfall last winter, followed by a very dry spring. Many trees actually had a reasonably good bloom, and from my observation, a fairly good pollination window and fruit-set. But the 3-5 week window following fruit-set saw a massive fruit drop with many varieties. I believe it was a combination of dry, excessively warm conditions, and high insect pressure.

Heat & Fire Blight: Late May and early June saw some exceptionally warm and dry conditions. We actually had enough moisture to wet leaf surfaces and some nights with heavy dew, but the big penetrating rains did not happen around here. This stressed out young trees and drove fire blight strikes beyond anything I’ve seen since I learned about FB 11 years ago. I have talked with a few other mountain growers here in VT (anyone not growing out in the Champlain Valley) who have all seen FB suddenly pop up in the past few years. We all thought we would be safe from it, for a while anyway, but it’s on in a big way and I will likely loose a few trees in the coming years. All the more reason to keep planting resistant varieties.

Insects and a case for biennialism:

I also had more insect issues this year at The Mountain Valley Farm orchard (in Waitsfield, VT) than any of the previous 10 seasons. Two...Read More

30 Cultivated Apples Reviewed

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 08:04:55 -0800

This spring (2022) will begin my 10th year of tending 250 trees at the Mountain Valley Farm orchard in Waitsfield, VT. So I thought I would mark the occasion by documenting my current opinions on 30 of these varieties, all about 28 year old trees growing on standard rootstock in marginal, low nutrent soils, PH ranging from 5.9 to 6.3, 1200ft elevation with mostly western aspect. Listed in order of ripening, beginning in late July.

Tetovsky: (also Tetousky): Usually biennial. Very hardy, no signs of disease other than a tiny bit of scab some years. Upright growth habit. Earliest of the summer apples, usually the last week of July continuing to drop through mid August. Not as tart as other summer apples. I would even classify it as a sweet some years. SG: 1.040’s; TA: approx 6-7 g/L malic

Parkland: Biennial, small compact tree, small crisp and tart fruit with a tiny bit of astringency. Definitely a scab issue. I’ve never singled this one out in fermentation, but it might have some modest value in an early season fermentation. Excellent, crisp, tart eating for an early summer apple. Ripens around August 1 and continues through most of August. Worth a spot in your backyard orchard if you like summer eating apples. SG: unknown, probably low 1.040’s; TA: moderate

Yellow Transparent: Biennial, hardy, disease resistant. No signs of disease other than a tiny bit of canker. Ripens around August 1 and continues to drop for a few weeks. Get em’ quickly. An excellent eating apple when dead ripe, beyond that, they go...Read More