October: Apple Tasting at Scott Farm

Just north of Brattleboro lies Dummerston, Vermont, home to Scott Farm. A long-time dairy farm, Scott Farm was tranformed into an apple orchard in the mid-20th century by owner Fred Holbrook. In 1995 Mr. Holbrook donated his farm to the Landmark Trust with the stipulation that it remain in agricultural use for perpetuity.

Over the years since the Landmark Trust has owned the farm, the orchard manager, Zeke Goodband, has used classic grafting techniques to convert the 45 acres of orchard from Macintosh apples to a mixed orchard of heirloom apples. Among the varieties grown at Scott Farm are Roxbury Russet, Belle de Boskoop, and Cox’s Orange Pippin, as well as more unusual apples like Winter Banana and Hidden Rose. We made a visit a couple of years ago in the fall and left with more than a dozen different varieties, some for tasting and others for baking. For any apple lover, and in particular for folks who are interested in heirloom varieties, Scott Farm is a mecca well worth visiting.

Over Columbus Day weekend, Scott Farm hosts an apple tasting which I’m hoping to attend this year. Currently the web site doesn’t have dates and times listed, but I’m sure a call to the phone number of the web site will be all I need for the details. While you’re in Dummerston, stop by and see another historical property that’s owned by the Landmark Trust, Naulakha, a house designed by Rudyard Kipling, and the place where he wrote the Jungle Books and Captains Courageous.