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It's Time to Pick Apples - But You May Have to Travel Further to the Orchard
• by Linda Briggs-Harty
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When eating a Missouri pick-your-own apple this fall, appreciate what is becoming a rare commodity in regions close to St. Louis.
Centennial Farms and Orchard in Augusta, Mo., is the only pick-your-own apple orchard left in St. Charles County. As of this year, no pick-your-own orchards are left in St. Louis County. A handful of other orchards dot the inner counties around St. Louis and St. Charles; most are located farther out in the state and in Illinois.
In Missouri, apple picking starts in full swing in September, with the main variety, Jonathan, ripening around Labor Day and the runners-up, Red and Golden Delicious, coming to full fruition a few weeks later.
Of course, other popular varieties – Mutsu, Braeburn, Winesap, Fuji, York, Gold Rush, Granny Smith and Arkansas Black, among others – ripen in October. But since many orchards within easy reach of St. Louis offer pick-your-own apples mainly in September, clear the weekend schedule now.
A trip to Centennial Farms is the essence of fall harvest celebration. The 70 acres of apple and peach orchards, black raspberries, grapes, blueberries, pumpkins and more may not be fussily manicured, but it’s real and refreshing. Talk about a slice of the past: The big red barn where owners Bob and Ellen Knoernschild sell the bounty, a 1,000-tree orchard lining the hills, a row of bee hives, an 1830s farm house (part log) and a chicken coop all evoke a bygone era.
One generation or another of the Knoernschilds saw a lot of changes in Missouri’s apple production over the years. In the late 1800s, the state grew 30 million bushels of apples, the most anywhere in the United States. The main early varieties included Yellow Transparent, Early Harvest, Red June and Benoni. Later varieties included Maiden Blush, Grimes Golden, Jonathan and Rome Beauty. Poor weather, insects and disease blighted many orchards in the 1920s and ‘30s, shifting primary apple production westward to states like weather-constant Washington.
These days, Missouri produces roughly 1.2 million bushels annually. According to the University of Missouri-Columbia’s agriculture department, the big three varieties are Jonathan, Red Delicious and Golden Delicious, followed by Gala and cultivars like Rome, Empire, Fuji, Winesap, Paula Red, Liberty and Mutsu. Missouri climate and soil account for good apple flavor, say the experts at Mizzou, but Knoernschild at Centennial Farms conceded that some varieties like McIntosh just can’t ripen right with our warmer weather. Even Red Delicious, long and graceful when grown in Washington State, is rounder, without points, here, he said.
Mizzou agriculture specialists said tart Jonathans are seen as the best all-around apples, good for cooking, eating and baking. The sweeter Golden Delicious are good for pies, applesauce and fresh salads. Gala and Fujis are both crisp and sweet, though Fuji is a better keeping apple, they say. The Knoernschilds think Gala, Mutsu, Jonagold and Red Delicious make for the best fresh eating. Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Winesap and Empire are the best all-purpose varieties, they said.
“People come out in droves to pick our apples,” said Bob Knoernschild, whose great-grandfather bought Centennial Farms from Augusta’s founder, Leonard Harold, in 1854. With wife Ellen, his family – including three grandsons – and a host of helpers, Knoernschild tends 25 apple varieties. Knoernschild said letting people sample different varieties is the best apple promotion. “We started offering Gala samples about 15 years ago. People would buy their Jonathans and leave eating a Gala. Many would turn around before they got to the parking lot to buy more Galas,” he said.
At the farm’s booths at both Clayton and Ferguson farmers’ markets each Saturday morning, customers can sample lesser-known apple varieties. The Knoernschilds also sell apples and other produce on Wednesday afternoons at Maplewood Farmers’ Market, located at Schafly Bottleworks on Southwest Avenue.
The Knoernschilds readily promote purchase of locally grown apples, citing the need to back family farms as well as the perk of high-quality produce.
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