Local orchards offer unique gifts
The Enterprise — Jo E. Prout
Stanton’s Feura Farm and Markets offered hay and corn mazes, apple and pumpkin picking, and cider and doughnuts this fall before it closed for the season. Here, a young girl enjoys the over-sized tricycle race course at Stanton’s in Feura Bush.
The Enterprise — Jo E. Prout
An old-fashioned stove displays new travel mugs next to a stand of deli chips in the Altamont Orchards gift shop. The store is decked out for holiday shoppers.
The Enterprise — Jo E. Prout
Local apples surround a Christmas tree at Altamont Orchards in Guilderland, where the orchard offers homegrown cider and homemade pies.
The Enterprise — Jo E. Prout
Indian Ladder Farms offers old favorites and new food items, including Raspberry Chipotle, Apple Butter, or Smokey Apple barbecue sauce, year-round.
The Enterprise — Jo E. Prout
Altamont Orchards ships its apples to 46 states for the gift-giving season. Pumpkin spice doughnuts made a limited, but popular appearance at the orchard’s store, but will disappear after Thanksgiving. The orchard is currently taking orders for holiday pies.
Local orchards are revving up for the holidays with special products — from Thanksgiving pies to chipotle and apple marinating sauces — to make shopping, cooking, and feasting fun.
Pie-makers can head to Indian Ladder Farms in New Scotland to gather apples for their holiday tables.
Peter Ten Eyck, the orchard owner, said that the farm is selling both antique and modern strains of apples.
“People are predisposed to like a pretty red apple,” he said. Snapdragon, for example, is a new variety being tested by Cornell University at Indian Ladder Farms, he said. A sample of snapdragon appeared to be bright red and tasty.
Ten Eyck, however, prefers the older jonagold strain.
“New apples are like pop music — sweet and crispy,” he said. Jonagolds, he said, are like classical music, with different flavors and different acidities. He prefers the older strain for sauce, pies, and eating, he said.
“It has more staying power,” Ten Eyck said.
Indian Ladder Farms has branched out to other fruits over the years, now offering raspberries and blueberries, as well as a fledgling hops crop.
The coffee and pastry counters at Indian Ladder Farms were busy on a random morning in November; the orchard’s parking lot was full. Shelves contained fresh fruit, the farms’ own sauces, and non-food gift items. The farm store and café are open year-round.
Stanton’s Feura Farm and Market, with locations in New Scotland, Westerlo, and Fuera Bush, ended its season with Columbus Day weekend. The Fuera Bush site offered pick-your-own apples in a young orchard, homemade cider doughnuts, hay and corn mazes, and pick-your-own pumpkins.
Jim Abbruzzese, of Altamont Orchards in Guilderland, said that the orchard was busy baking Thanksgiving pies now, and selling doughnuts daily and for holiday breakfasts.
Abbruzzese said that the orchard’s apple-cider doughnuts are popular for Christmas morning.
“People heat them up and eat them for breakfast,” he said.
This year, the orchard started offering pumpkin spice doughnuts on the weekends, but the limited-edition doughnut ends at Thanksgiving, he said.
“They were well-received. We did pretty good with them. We didn’t really advertise,” he said. Abbruzzese said that the orchard mentioned the pumpkin doughnuts on its Facebook page.
Altamont Orchards ships apples to 46 states, he said, and its gift shop has examples of the types of gift boxes available. The orchard store was also busy on a random November morning.
“Our store’s still open till Christmas Eve,” Abbruzzese said.