Easton Courier
September 18, 2008
By Laura Modlin
Correspondent
It’s September in Easton and the apples are cropping up all over.
“It’s been a very good growing year,” said Irv Silverman, owner of
Silverman’s Farm on Sport Hill Road.
He gives some reasons for the abundance of tasty apples around town this
year.
First is the “good” weather during the spring pollination period the first
week in May.
“It can’t be too cold and it can’t be rainy,” he said.
Silverman’s Farm rents bee hives for about ten days each spring to provide
pollination for their 50 acres of growing fields, 40 acres of which are
home to between 15,000 and 16,000 apple trees.
Silverman also cites “enough rain” this spring and no drought in late
summer as reasons for a good apple crop.
And a lucky weather break came when Hanna hit the area earlier this month.
There were no hurricane force winds which could have tipped over the apple
trees with their shallow roots.
The only weather-related issue was a hail storm which caused what he calls
“dimples” on some of the apples.
“We’ve been very, very lucky,” he said.
And this is from a man who has been through quite a few growing seasons in
his life.
The farm was founded in the early 1920’s by his father, Ben Silverman, and
Irv Silverman has worked on the farm his entire life.
Each fall, people come with their families from near and far for the
farm’s tractor rides up into the orchards to pick their own apples.
On a recent trip to the farm – and after hand-picking dozens of apples
with her two brothers and her parents - Amber Northrup, 4 years-old, from
Bridgeport, expressed her favorite part of apple picking at Silvermans.
“Eating them,” she said.
Al Barney and Lakeview Orchards
Another familiar farming – and apple growing - name in Easton is Al
Barney. At the age of 89, he continues to farm the 35 acres in Easton that
his family has been tending to since 1928. About 15 of those acres are
filled with apple trees.
Barney, who sells fruits and vegetables from his Lakeview Orchard farmers
market on Rt. 59 just over the border in Monroe, calls this year’s apples
“the best crop in years.”
“They’re nice, clean apples this year,” he said.
Families have been coming to Barney’s farmers market for generations.
”They’re always excited to see us open,” said Barney’s daughter Joan, who
works at the farmers market on Sundays. “They often can’t wait, which is
very flattering.”
Milorad Popovic, originally from Yugoslavia, has been visiting Barney’s
market for about 30 years, longer than his daughter, Alisa, has been
alive.
“I’ve been coming here as long as I remember,” he said.
The farmers market provides a regular apple stop for their family.
”We come here until they run out,” Alisa Popovic said. “As long as they
have apples, we come.”
The Popovics feel the farmers market is “part of the community.”
”We enjoy it very much,” said Alisa Popovic. “As kids we really liked
coming here and looking at everything.”
Sherwood Farm
Tom Sherwood is at the helm of the farm on Sport Hill Road across from
Helen Keller Middle School that has been in his family since 1713.
They grow all their own vegetables and some fruit but do not grow their
own apples. However, the apples they sell are all Connecticut grown.
Sherwood is expecting about 14 varieties of apples this year, which will
be at his farmers market “as they come in season.”
He says that the apples this year seem “a little better” than they have in
the past, but he admits that he “never remembers a bad apple year.”
Sherwood works the fields seven days a week from 5am until 9:30pm (or
10:30pm during the planting season) with three helpers. His family’s farm
has 26 acres and he leases an additional 45 acres at other locations in
Easton.
The experienced farmer recommends doing as he says and not as he does when
it comes to storing apples.
”When I bring them in, I put them in a fruit bowl on the table,” he said.
“It’s better to refrigerate them. They’ll stay crisp forever.”
He notes that apples don’t continue to ripen once they’ve been picked.
“If you pick a green one, it’s not going to turn red,” he said.
Easton resident June Lee is a regular customer at Sherwood Farm.
“His apples are great,” she said.
Lee feels the farmers market “gets better every year.”
The Apple Barn (Aspetuck Valley Orchards)
On the other side of town, on Rt. 58, Bob Zosar has been selling apples at
The Apple Barn for the last 20 years.
The Apple Barn itself has been there for about 100 years, according to Zosar.
The market used to be a part of Aspetuck Valley Orchards – which provided
pick your own apples as well as bushels of apples already picked.
But the land that their orchards were on was owned by Bridgeport
Hydraulics and the company sold it to the state around ten years ago which
in turn gave it to a conservation group, according to Zosar.
It’s still the same old place though, Zosar said, even though he now gets
his apples from Upstate Connecticut and New York State – and the crowds
keep coming.
Harold Shaw, a longtime Easton resident, has been going to The Apple Barn
“for years.”
“They are extra-friendly,” he said. “And they have a great variety of
apples.”
The nicest thing about The Apple Barn?
“They have samples of all the apples,” said Shaw. “So you can taste the
different varieties and try new kinds.”
He notes that they also provide samples of their pies. Shaw said that they
“offer a little bit of everything.”
”Actually, it’s a part of my fall routine,” said Shaw.
“Their apples are a lifesaver when I’m cycling sometimes,” he said. “And
since I do a lot of cycling I stop by here a lot and they’re always very
nice.”
The apple selling season varies from farm to farm.
Copyright Easton Courier 2008. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
