Lyman Orchards Growing Information

Lyman's homegrown apples are Eco-Apples, a term which is an assurance for you that you are buying quality fruit grown on our farm, and that our growing practices are sensitive and respectful to the environment.

We use a combination of old farming methods and leading-edge technologies to grow fruit in ways that preserve the ecology of our orchard, focusing upon the use of natural methods and minimal spray.

As an Eco-Apple grower, we follow a strict standard of advanced Integrated Pest Management (IPM), favoring naturally occuring controls to produce fruit of exceptional flavor and quality. Our farm is inspected and certified by the IPM Institute of North America.

We work closely with a non-profit marketing organization called Red Tomato, whose mission is to educate and connect customers to seek out products that are ecologically grown by family farmers. Through Red Tomato, we partner with other family-owned farms, who, like us, are stewards of the land, committed to preserving the farmland for futre generations.

Our growing methods may be more labor-intensive than standard practices, but we know it's worth the effort. One taste of our fruit, and we think you'll agree!

Nearly 40,000 apple, peach, and pear trees, and about 20 acres of field crops produce our famous fruits. New England climate is perfect for growing quality fruit. We pick our fruit at just the right time, we don't rush perfection, or Mother Nature, for that matter!

Buying locally grown fruit closes the distance in food miles from the farm to your table. Fresh fruit just doesn't get any better than this!

Twelve months a year, our orchards are alive with activity. Every season is important, and you will find our orchard staff busy planting, pruning, picking fruit, and planning for the next year's activities.

We work all year so you can enjoy the bounty of our harvest at Lyman's Pick-Your-Own, and at our Apple Barrel market. Here is a brief schedule of what we do!

Winter

While the trees are dormant, fruit tree pruning begins. Tree limbs are appropriately sawed and clipped to allow for maximum sunlight exposure. An essential practice for ensuring a healthy and productive fruit tree, pruning is one of our most important winter tasks, resulting trees that produce larger, better colored, and higher quality fruit. Learn more about fruit tree pruning during our annual Winterfest event where you can observe proper pruning techniques first hand as demonstrated by our experts.

Spring

Spring is a critical time of year for fruit growers for many reasons. Bud break for apples, pears, and peaches occurs late April-early May, a time when the dangers of a frost have not yet subsided, causing us great concern for the upcoming crop. The post-bloom period (30 days following bloom) is equally challenging as it during this time we shift our attention to fruit thinning, a process critical in determining the size of the crop.

This is also the time we prepare our fields for spring planting. Pollination begins, and honey bees are among our most important workers at this time of year. Our bee keeper moves his hives in quickly, usually at night so the bees are "home" and not in flight. Sunny, mild days are needed during bloom to encourage strong bee activity. Visiting our orchards during spring bloom is a rewarding experience - a beautiful time of year to see Mother Nature, and our busy orchard staff, at work!

Summer

Early season field work in the orchard includes final preparations for our berry crops, such as mowing, weeding, mulching around the plants, and covering our blueberry fields with protective netting. By this time, pumpkins have been planted, as is the corn for our annual fall corn maze. Crops are irrigated during periods of dry weather as fruit size and firmness are affected by moisture levels. July and August are busy months for our staff: blueberries, raspberries, and peaches are being picked, and August is the last growing month before most of the apple varieties begin to ripen. Mowing continues throughout the orchard, ladders are repaired, and the fall harvest plans are being finalized. Much of the work on our corn maze occurs during August; the pathways are cleaned up, and lined with protective netting.

Fall

With 40,000 apple, peach, and pear trees all bearing fruit that must be hand-picked, there is a constant buzz of activity until the last of the fruit comes off the trees, near the end of October. Once picked, our fruits are all sorted and graded at our Packing House. Some of our crop is stored in Controlled Atmosphere rooms, in which the temperature is reduced and oxygen levels are reduced to slow ripening. Apples brought out of these rooms later will taste as fresh as the day they were picked! Many of our fresh apples are used for our famous apple pies and apple sauce, and our packing house staff is busy everyday peeling and slicing fresh apples for our Bakery.

With the harvest complete, it is time to prepare again for winter. Looking closely at an apple tree after the first snowfall, you can even see the promise of next year's crop at the tip of each branch in the snow. It is the bud that will become an apple which you might eat a year from now!