What’s Pickin’ in Johnny Appleseed Country?

Whether you’re interested in apples for baking or just plain eatin’, come sample our abundance of riches at these fine orchards in our backyard. Stay to explore. You may find a festival going on, farm animals to pet, or a winery to discover! Locations range from Phillipston in the West to Harvard in the East. (It’s always best to call ahead to see what’s in.)

Apple historyDid you know that the first recorded planting of apple trees in the U.S. happened here in 1629, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony became the New World’s first apple tree nursery? Or that 19th-century folk hero “Johnny Appleseed” (real name John Chapman), who traveled the wilderness from New England to the Ohio River Valley, and who was known for scattering apple seeds and spreading the cultivation of the apple, hailed from Leominster?How to keep your apples freshOf course, your apples are best eaten fresh from the orchard where you picked them! If you want to keep them for awhile, though, just store them in the fridge or in a cool, dark spot.