Orchards near Baltimore MD

[oulous]

Anyone know orchards that have good cider apples in Maryland? I am trying to figure out what cider varietals grow well here.

I am hoping to purchase 2 to 4 year old trees next year for my yard, and eventually buy a small property to start an orchard.

So far I have found a cider orchard at Distillery Lane Ciderworks but they are pretty big. I am hoping to find a smaller orchard to chat with and buy apples from.

 

[Pommeau]

Rob ([email protected]) at Distillery Lane is a pretty down to earth guy. They offer a cider class, so you can chat with him.

Its on the website, not sure about cost.

But take the significant other, and have fun.

For trees, the best that is close to you is White Oak in lancaster area, and cummins in NY. Amos at White Oak is Amish (yes and has phone...) Call around 7am EST (no sunday sales) 717 687-8861

 

[oulous]

Thank you Pommeau, appreciate it.

 

[WVMJ]

DLC ciderworks isnt to big to chat up with folks and share. They have a tour you can walk thru the orchard, every row is labeled as to which kind of apple is in the row and you can see how the trees grow and what the apples look like and taste like. THey also sell a cidermakers cider pressed from their cider apples. I know they are also working on a cyser, looking forward to tasting that one. We are only like 75 miles from Baltimore, you guys I think are in a little higher growing zone. The disease around here that hammer my apples are cedar apple rust, we dont spray but might have to start with at least surrond to knock back some of the funguses. Besides the seedling wild type trees on our farm we also planted some disease resistant types, Liberty, Johnamac, Enterprise and Redfree. These trees are all growing much better than things like Honey Crisp. Also plant some crabapples so you can get some tannins. The customer service at Cummins nursery is outstanding and they also sell rootstocks. Dont overlook some perry pears while you are planning your orchard. WVMJ

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Larriland farm in Howard county has a great selection of apples. Not sure if they can sell you trees or not, but worth checking out.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Still need to take a trip out to DLC myself....

 

[oulous]

I have been to Larriland, its a great place. I really like Rock Hill orchards, you can chat with the family that owns the farm, they are good people.

I have been to many orchards in the area but none that specialize in cider trees. I will definitely go out to DLC as soon as possible, hopefully i can chat with someone there.

I am sure its a long road to start up a cidery but I am hooked on the lifestyle of crafting cider so hopefully in the next few years I will be bottling a vintage for the public. After that getting an orchard would be grand.

 

[BobAgain]

FWIW, my wife and I stopped at DLC while driving from DC back home to Pittsburgh earlier this month. I bought raw juice for making my first batch of cider and spent a few minutes with Rob. He's very friendly and knowledgeable and loves to talk about the horticultural side of the business.

Their sweet cider is delicious and I'm eager to try the results of my first foray. Starting Gravity of their juice was 1.055 (it's November).

I'll go back.

 

[oulous]

I stopped by last weekend, what a beautiful place. That's exactly where I want to be in 5 years.

I was not able to talk to any of the cider makers as they were deep into a fermentation but maybe next time I go.

I bought 7 gallons of juice, it was expensive but so far its the only place i have found that sells interesting varietals pressed.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Do they sell untill a certain date? Or untill the supply runs out? (Talking regular cider, not hard)

 

[oulous]

I am not sure. I was told I got the last two but they may have more frozen. Its a very nice blend, excellent taste.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

I am not sure. I was told I got the last two but they may have more frozen. Its a very nice blend, excellent taste.

Oh well. Something to put on the "to do" list for next year.

 

[WVMJ]

10 bucks a gallon for cidermaking cider is not expensive, you cant compare it to storebought sweet cider, its a specific blend grown for the purpose. That would be like basing what you would pay for good winemaking grapes on how much welches concord juice costs. We made some of our own goldrush cider from a local orchard, cant wait for this to finish up, the euro ciderists might not consider this a vintage variety, but for some of our more brisk cider lovers this is a good apple. WVMJ

 

[oulous]

WVMJ:

Do you know of anymore orchards in WV or VA that sell pressed cider juice like DLC does?

I was thinking about going on a tour of the WV and VA areas near Harper's Ferry to look at some land.

How are the laws in WV, I have a friend who lives in WV and he says the liquor laws for making and selling wine are a challenge.

 

[BobAgain]

One of the things that drove me to look eastward for juice is the introduction of fracking activity in this area. While there are certainly some instances of safely drilled wells, the combination of the drilling and naturally-occurring radon here has led to documented instances of radioactive materials in creeks around Pittsburgh that are more than 1,000 x the "safe" level. I love a good prank as much as anyone else, but lighting up at night is past my threshold.

I love to ride through the hills of Ohio, WVa and Pa, mostly on mid sized sport-touring gear. A lot of the areas that were great for riding two years ago are now criss-crossed with pipelines. Lots of new "Farm for Sale" signs. Could be trying to sell at higher prices to non-farmers or could be just wanting to get out. I dunno.

 

[WVMJ]

Sorry, I know there are some in VA, lots of folks trying to maintain vintage southern apples. I have talked to some orchardists and the laws about processing cider are so prohibitive they just sell their fruit to a big processor who makes the cider. Cant tell you much about other orchards in VA or WV, the WV university has a research farm near Kearnysville that would be good group to have a chatup with. Also talk to the DLC people, they are very nice and helpful. We dont make anything to sell so cant help you with the laws, but one liquor store owner was telling us that the laws about what is mead in WV is so restrictive that they cant even hardly get any that fit, not sure if that is real or just why they didnt have any mead for sale Driving around Loudon county every hillside either has horses or a vineyard on it. Half of our place is a frost pocket, I plan on planting trees on M111 there, at least some of the time they will get tall enough to avoid some of the frost if we graft late bloomers. Good luck, WVMJ

WVMJ:

Do you know of anymore orchards in WV or VA that sell pressed cider juice like DLC does?

I was thinking about going on a tour of the WV and VA areas near Harper's Ferry to look at some land.

How are the laws in WV, I have a friend who lives in WV and he says the liquor laws for making and selling wine are a challenge.