Averill Farms

Averill Farms
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ.

It's apple season in Connecticut. This means visiting Averill Farms in Washington, CT, each week. Averill has been around since 1746. They have some heirloom trees that produce very rare apples. They have all the usual ones--Macs and Macouns and Romes, etc. But they have some unusual varieties too like Harcross. Each week as the fruit ripens, there are different varieties available.

I buy pie apples--tart and firm (just like me!) and make sauce out of any extras. I've decided that a mix of apples works best--Greenings, Harcross and Gravenstein this last time. I don't pick my own since they have plenty of good choices at the farmstand.

The farm is sometimes a good place for birdwatching. Bluebirds frequent the orchard. They eat insects and, according to one of the Averills, even though they eat a few apples, they save more fruit than they eat so the orchard is dotted with bluebird boxes.

It's tough to make a living growing and selling fruit so I really appreciate what these folks have done for the last 259 years.