Cache Valley Apples

We made Maw-Maw's recipe for apple cobbler listed in our recipe section below and it was scrump-dil-ee-ish-us! It was even more delicious the second day...some things get better with age. Not faces, though. Unless you don't mind looking like an apple doll.

Pictured from left to right: Carolyn, Janene, Kathy Jo and Connie

(Ooooooooo...my sisters are gonna be MAAAD at me for that picture!) 

Let me know if the Golden Delicious in your orchard right now are as tasty as their name! I finally broke down and ordered an apple peeler from Amazon so I sure hope the McIntosh are as good in 2012 as they were this year! I also hope we can figure out how to use this cast iron contraption. In the comments section on Amazon, someone wrote that they were both engineers and they never managed to peel even one apple with the confusing, complicated and totally frustrating peeler.

Anyway, I saw this news story (posted below) and wondered if it was the same Ron Zollinger we know? Sounds like Zollingers have a knack with growing apples, eh? 

Love,
Carolyn

Apples are Harvested by the Bushel at Orchards in the Cache Valley

By Kevin Opsahl

These days, if you visit Zollinger's Fruit Farm in Logan, you'll find cartons of green and red apples waiting to be bought or crushed to be made into fresh apple cider.

Ron Zollinger said he's harvested 1,200 to 1,300 bushels so far. At least 70 percent of it will be made into cider, he said.

"The weather's been great, demand is good; we're happy with the way things are progressing," Zollinger said.

Apples are, by far, the biggest homegrown tree fruit grown in the valley behind peaches, said Brent Black, USU Cooperative Extension fruit specialist.

Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Gayla, Fuji, Macintosh, Honey Crisp, Empire, Jona Gold and Hawaii Gold are just some of the dozens of apple types sold around the valley - and that's what many apple distributors in the valley, including Zollinger's, hope to sell.

A couple from Salt Lake City drove two hours to Paradise just so they could hunt down Honey Crisp apples. Paradise Valley Orchards was the only distributor that had them.

"They are really good eating apples," said Arden Jones. "We treasure our Honey Crisps; you can taste the honey. It's great just to be able to pick from the tree you like."

Apple growers in Cache Valley said that apple harvest is behind schedule because of the poor weather in the spring. October is the prime picking time for apples and growers say that taking harvest into November "doesn't help."

"But overall, it's a good apple year compared to last year," said Jarrod Weeks, whose father, Mervin, owns Weeks Berries in Paradise. "Last year was a very bad apple year. It was too cold in the spring and I'm not sure if they froze out or there was just too much rain, in general."

Zollinger said apples have seen an "interesting year," for 2011 because even though the weather was turbulent during the spring, "hot weather (in the summer) made up for lost time. Even though there was a later start date for harvest, most varieties are ripening at the end of the season a little faster than they normally would."

Weeks and Taun Beddes, USU Cooperative Extension horticulture agent, said that a little bit of frost is good and some believe it enhances the taste of the apples.

Some apple growers, like Paradise Valley Orchards, are looking to enhance their apple crops by going all organic.

"We don't like chemicals," said Larin Harrison, co-owner. "We don't want to have chemicals in the air; it's better for your health and the environment."

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Interested is visiting Cache Valley's apple orchards?

• Nicole Zollinger, by appointment only; call 435-563-1798.

• Zollinger's Fruit Farm, 1000 River Heights Blvd., Logan. Zollinger's is open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sunday. Call 435-752-7810.

• Paradise Valley Orchard, Larin and Ali Harrison, 9971 S. Highway 165, Paradise. On weekdays, call 435-245-6203 for an appointment; open all day Saturday and Sunday.

• David Olsen, Millville, 298 E. 2100 South, Providence, 435-753-1837.

• Mark Ashcroft, Hyde Park, 334 E. 300 South, Hyde Park, 435-563-5981.




COMMENTS


Kathy Nov 3, 2011 10:14 AM
How come I look the oldest and Connie looks the cutest? Some things never change!! LOL