The Apple of My Eye

Photo by Amy Zambonin
1818 Farm and Cidery in Carp produces luscious organic vegetables and unique ciders. Wes Hunter, shown bottom right with Denise Hoppner, makes cider differently.
His bottles have no added sugar and are made naturally, “letting the characteristics of the apples shine through,” he says, much like grapes in making wine. He’s making dry ciders aged in barrels for at least five months.
At Old Huntley Orchard in Carp, Samantha and Curtis Lee grow more than 35 varieties of apples, including Duchess of Oldenberg, Honey Crisp, Tolman Sweet, Red Gravenstein and Wolf River.
Samantha and Curtis Lee, top right, tend more than 1,500 dwarf and semi-dwarf trees, closely planted and trained vertically, with wide grassy lanes between them. Their farm is just four and a half densely planted acres, but it produced nearly 13,000 pounds of apples last year.