Biochar. What is it? It sounds like some galactic energy that powers spaceships, but actually it’s carbon rich charcoal, powering plants. Pre-Columbian Amazonians made biochar, or terra preta de Indio as the European settlers called it, by burning agricultural wastes and covering it with soil. Biochar is a amazing substance, it has a microscopic honeycomb…
Read MoreHere on the farm we are taking Coronavirus precautions very seriously. Our family is joining New Yorkers across the state in practicing social distancing. Here are the specific steps we are taking to do our part to help end this pandemic. Everyone working on the farm is wearing a mask (Don’t worry, they are home…
Read MoreSpring Phenology: an Interview with the Orchard Expert Spring is approaching, and due to climate change, the weather is becoming warmer earlier. I’m Leila (you know, Autumn and Ezra’s daughter) and I’m going to write posts occasionally for the farm blog. In this wonderful column I will interview my lovely mother, various people, and if…
Read MoreEach year we get many requests for cider apple scion wood so we decided to make it easy for folks to order and opened a Scion Shop. Dormant scion wood ships February 17th, 2020. Each stick will have an average of 16 buds. If the sticks are short, we will ship extra. Most varieties of…
Read MoreOne year later…. The dance of coaxing a family of ciders from apple harvest to release is a complicated choreography on a orchard-based cidery such as ours. The challenges and rewards of making cider year by year, from fruit grown on our own farm, were really apparent in bringing the fruits of last growing seasons…
Read MoreHarvest Report – Wet Spring, Glorious Fall for Apples, Pears, People & Cider While last year’s growing season was a dry spring followed by a sopping wet fall, the 2019 season was a reverse. It rained and snowed all winter and spring and stayed wet until early summer. Then, suddenly, like magic, the clouds lifted,…
Read MoreAnd just like that, the apples are ripening, our first press day is scheduled and it’s time to start planning for FLX Cider Week! Join us for 10 days of cider centric celebrations in one of the most exciting cider regions in the country. You can find a calendar of events on the Cider Week…
Read More6/22/19 Hello readers of the Eve’s Cidery Farm Blog! I’m Cathryn Gaylord, the new intern. Originally from Vermont, I come to this internship in search not only of the knowledge and experience to fuel my aspirations of growing and making cider, but also in search of the type of healing that I think this place…
Read MoreJune is an insanely busy month here on the farm. The sun rises at 5:30 am and sets at 9:00 pm and the pressure is on to use those daylight hours to the max. This IS the growing season, and what a growing season it’s been. The rainy weather that started 10 months ago last…
Read MoreThe dominant paradigm of modern agriculture is primarily an allopathic, based on spraying various chemistries to kill pathogens and destructive insect pests. One critique of organic agriculture is that it is simply a materials substitution approach. Take internal feeding lepidoptera (Coddling Moth and and Oriental Fruit Moth) in apple farming, for example. These pests oviposit…
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