Franklin County Cider Days – Join the Fun!

  • Post published:11/03/2022
  • Post comments:2 Comments
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An array of West County Ciders

There is nothing like Cider Days! The Apples are ripe! The fruit has many flavors and there are many many ways to eat, drink and cook apples. There is lots to show off at the orchards, lots to see, and lots to learn. I will mention that favorite Orchards of mine are the Apex Orchards, Clarkdale Fruit Farms and West County Cider.

225 Peckville Road, Shelburne, MA
Saturday Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 6, 9 am – 6pm 
Apex Website
413-625-2744   Use caution as you approach this orchard because the scenic views of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire may very well take your breath away. They don’t call it Apex for nothing. The orchard, which has been in Tim Smith’s family since 1828, now includes apples, peaches, nectarines, apricots, quince, pears, Asian pears, blueberries, table grapes and kiwi. Be sure to pick up some Evercrisp apples, a new variety that stores extremely well.

Aside from fruit, their new 4,000 sq. ft. retail store offers honey products from Smith’s Shelburne Honey Co., maple syrup from the Graves farm in Colrain and the Boyden farm in Conway, Shelburne Cider Vinegar and ciders from Apex, Cabot cheese, Yankee Pastime Farm’s maple cream, Sidehill Farm yogurt and “Just Soap” made in Ashfield. You’ll also find cider doughnuts from Pine Hill Orchard in Colrain.

Clarkdale Fruit Farms

303 Upper Road, Deerfield, MA
Saturday Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 6 from 9 am – 5 pm 
Clarkdale Fruit Farms Website
Clarkdale Fruit Farms Facebook Page
(413) 772-6797  SPECIAL ACTIVITIES FOR CIDERDAYS WEEKEND:

Saturday  Cider pressing demo at 10 am
Orchard tour at 11 am.
Sunday Baking with Apples Demo & Tasting:
10am- Lucy Damkoehler Schulte, Sweet Lucy’s Bakeshop, Bernardston
Noon- Sandy D’Amato, James Beard Award-winning chef, Good Stock Farm, Hatfield

Fourth-generation family orchard growing high-quality tree fruit since 1915. We farm 45 acres and grow over 50 varieties of apples, including several heirlooms. Our diverse plantings also include pears, peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines, and grapes. We produce our own sweet cider in season, and offer several special blends for holidays in the Fall. Bulk cider for fermenting is available upon request. Find us on fb and Instagram as well.

West County Cider

208 Peckville Rd. Shelburne, MA 
Sat. Nov. 5 and Sun, Nov. 6, 10 am -5 pm
West County Cider Website
(413) 768-9318 

Special CiderDays events

Saturday 10:30 – What’s a Good Cider Apple? -with Ben Watson

Out of the thousands of apple varieties, how do we pick the ones that make the best cider? Ben Watson, lifelong apple nerd and author of Cider, Hard and Sweet, breaks down the basic rules of thumb for judging if an apple is “cider-worthy.”

Come visit the oldest running cider house in the country. Come for our legendary ciders while enjoying our hiking trails and picnic grounds with a glorious three state view.

West County Cider was started by the Maloney family in 1984 with a commitment to making small-batch ciders with impeccable apples from local orchards. Thirty-seven years later, our family has grown but the tradition continues. We use fine-winemaking techniques and focus on freshness of flavor and total respect for each individual apple variety. Every harvest year represents a new a foray into the possibility of the apple.

  !Time to  come and have fun and delicious drinks – and more!

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Pat

    We went out to taste ciders. Most of them are ‘sweet’ but we do have some friends who make hard cider. No matter, they all are really good. We also got to watch a local company that made the equipment to make cider from the apples right on the spot. It was amazing. I will make another post with some cider-y photos. Pat

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