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Tennessee orchards crop includes apple butters, fritters, slushies, cider, more



Tennessee’s apple harvest started in late July and has ramped up with good prospects for a quality crop statewide. The harvest schedule appears to be running at least a week or two early, with an increased apple orchardpresence of fresh apples on farms, at farmers markets and in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes across the state.

Visiting an orchard is a great autumn adventure. One benefit to picking up your basket of apples on site is access to all the homemade foods most orchards make available. Depending on the orchard, visitors might enjoy apple ciders or slushies, and most sell an array of apple-centric foods like pies, fritters, apple butters and jellies.

If you want to do some of the cooking yourself, you may want to visit several times during the season. Apple varieties ripen at varying times and some varieties have reputations for being best suited for specific purposes. All apples are great for eating fresh, but apples that will hold their shapes when sliced and cooked, like Fuji, Jonagold and Arkansas Black are favored for pies and dumplings. For apples that yield smooth apple sauce or butter when cooked, try Golden Delicious, McIntosh or Gala apples.

Apples have the longest harvest schedule of any fruit grown in Tennessee, giving customers the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of flavors over a long period of time. Ozark Gold, Gala and Honeycrisp are among the varieties currently being picked. The majority of Tennessee’s crop will be ripe in September and October, and a few varieties, including Arkansas Black, Pink Lady and Goldrush are harvested in early November.

Pick Tennessee Products is the Tennessee Department of Agriculture service to connect consumers to farms, farmers and farm products. Find Tennessee orchards, local farmers markets and CSAs on the Web at www.PickTnProducts.org or with Pick Tennessee mobile app. Follow Pick Tennessee on social media to learn more about current seasonal products, recipes and activities.

Published September 12, 2017






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