Subject: Cider Digest #1452, 23 June 2008 Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:58:45 -0600 (MDT) From: cider-request@talisman.com Cider Digest #1452 23 June 2008 Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor Contents: Thinning Cider Fruit (Jason MacArthur) Cider operations in Pennsylvania (Alan Yelvington) Send ONLY articles for the digest to cider@talisman.com. Use cider-request@talisman.com for subscribe/unsubscribe/admin requests. When subscribing, please include your name and a good address in the message body unless you're sure your mailer generates them. Archives of the Digest are available at www.talisman.com/cider ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Thinning Cider Fruit From: Jason MacArthur Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:09:18 -0400 I am lucky enough to have a wonderful fruit set this year, but this means a lot of hand thinning. This means a lot of time to think, which got me thinking: Do I need to be thinning? My primary purpose is to reduce biennial bearing, but I also want to maximize fruit quality, not fruit size. Is it preferable for cider quality to have more apples of a smaller size, or will a tree put its best into a smaller crop of larger apples? Does a tree slightly stressed by overproduction produce more tannins and just pure appleyness than one managed to produce showpiece dessert fruit? I would be interested in knowing what other growers do, and what practices are standard in traditional cider making areas of the world. One more side note: this morning I noticed a little dead bug in a cider glass on a windowsill near my kitchen sink. As I moved to dump it out I looked more closely and saw that it was none other than a Plum Curculio. Perhaps it was attracted there by the smell of cider, I don't know, but this seemed a fitting end for such a dastardly beast. Jason MacArthur Marlboro, Vermont ------------------------------ Subject: Cider operations in Pennsylvania From: Alan Yelvington Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2008 07:32:04 -0400 I will be starting my second (third?) life in NW Pennsylvania next year after 30 years bopping round in the Coast Guard. I have 16 acres that I want to put into production as a cider orchard under a limited winery license. I'm still sorting through the State and Federal regs to stay out of trouble, and I'm wondering if anyone who has done this before would be willing to run a workshop. My only criteria for qualifications is that you must be currently operating with no legal actions pending! I want to ferment on site and distribute regionally. The surveyor is due this week, the COOP is waiting for soil samples, and the tractor is ready to break ground. I plan to plant this fall as a basic orchard, but want to get the paperwork started so I'm legal in two years. Anyone out there with experience to share? I'll be living a dirt mile south of the NY/PA state line, due south of Jamestown NY. Al Yelvington Currently in Arlington, VA alany@semparpac.org ------------------------------ End of Cider Digest #1452 *************************