I’m determined to get all of our varieties sauced and photographed by the end of the 2017 season!  I haven’t missed one yet … fingers crossed these next few weeks let me acoomplish my goal! Up today is the Macoun.  The macoun is my mother-in-law’s favorite apple.  It is crisp and tart but not too tart.  Definitely a great apple for fresh eating.  As you can see in my picture above something was happening with my 10+ year old peeler/slicer/corer.  Jared took the blade off and discovered a chip which was causing it to miss spots while peeling.  Oh well – a little peel never hurt anyone! 

In just over an hour on high heat in my mini crock pot I had some chunky applesauce. I was not impressed by the flavor of the sauce – it was sweet but without much depth.  So … after the taste test I mixed it up with the Jumbo sauce I had made earlier and the two flavors together made a great sauce my kiddo’s just gobbled right up!

This is the time of the season that I still need to sauce the most apples … because of course this is the busiest time and we have the most apples in.  I’m determined to sauce the rest of our varieties THIS YEAR though so wish me luck!  We have a newer variety of apple called the JUMBO.  I’ve recently had many folks ask me how we decide the names of the apples – well, WE don’t.  Whoever discovers/creates them are the lucky ones that choose their name.  The Jumbo apple is appropriately named though – it is HUGE!

The Jumbo was too big to put through my peeler/corer/slicer so I had to do prep this apple by hand for the sauce.  The resulting applesauce was smooth, juicy and tart!  Not too bad – I would add it with other varieties for sure but I was surprised at how well it cooked down.  (sorry I didn’t get a picture of the sauce)

I made some more applesauce the other day for my Saucesational Analysis.  This time I took a new customer favorites – the unique and tasty – Cox Orange Pippin.  This particular variety has such a unique taste with a real depth of flavor.  It made a chunkier sauce which I enjoy.  The flavor was really sweet at first, then tangy, and then a hint of tart … definitely a winner! 

We’ve had a few people stop in the shop to ask where they can find our sunflower field.  Well .. the picture below is our sunflower “field” this year …

Sadly, the sunflower field did not grow as it has in the past.  We planted the seeds when it was too wet and we had a fail in this department.  Sorry everyone!  We’ll try again next year!

We do have some volunteer sunflowers that have sprung up around the orchard though … and some are TALL. 

And the flowers around the shop are absolutely stunning!

I have a hard time walking by them and not snapping a picture.

These pink ones are so delicate and they’re right in front of the shop so I get to enjoy them every time I walk into the front door.