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Showing posts with the label Phil's

So long, Phil's Apples

One of my favorite U-picks is out of business and up for sale. Phil's in 2008 For sale in 2014 I took the recent photo in front of the property last week.

Taking Stock, Stocking Up

By Thanksgiving week, the trees are bare and most growers have packed it in. A few will be open until Christmas. Even though it is the end of November, there are good Macs, Macouns, and Empires in the supermarkets. By stocking up on some of the late varieties I can have varied choices through the end of the year.

Phil's

Phil's, in hilly Harvard Massachusetts ( map ), is one of my favorite places for unpasteurized cider. Just some apple trees on a hillside, and a shed with a cider press, Phil's is the anti - Shelburne Farm (or Honey Pot Hill, or other orchard that sweetens its offerings with hay rides, a moon bounce, a corn maze, donuts, or Morris dancers). No one was home when I stopped by midweek, but the orchard was open for business on the honor system. The bare-bones approach is appealing and means that on sunny October weekends a trip to Phil's will dodge the mobs of families. Kids who do come by on weekends can help operate the cider press, which is not motorized.