Food Connects works with so many amazing producers, offering such a wide variety of great products, it is sometimes hard to pick out something new to try. So we are introducing Food Connects Favorites—a blog to highlight some of our staff’s favorite products.

SheIla’s Favorite: Green Mountain Orchards

Honey Crisp Apples

Very few New England fruits are as iconic as the apple. Crisp, juicy, and either sweet or tart they are abundant is this region. So it’s only natural that I grab a crisp, fresh, local apple when I am looking for a quick breakfast or snack!

First about the orchard itself: Green Mountain Orchard, located in Putney, Vermont, is a beautiful place to visit for apple picking in the fall. I bring my daughter there every year, and I’ve also chaperoned several school field trips there as well. They grow way more than just apples, and we visit several times each year to pick blueberries, raspberries, plums, peaches, and pumpkins! The views from the orchard are gorgeous. The Darrow family has owned the farm for four generations and current owner, Andrea Darrow, is very kind and a wonderful baker, so no visit to the orchard is complete without a stop in the store to buy some apple cider donuts or some blueberry buckle!

Green Mountain Orchards uses an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach in their orchards. On their website, they describe IPM as, “an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices. IPM programs use current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment. This information, in combination with available pest control methods, is used to manage pest damage by the most economical means, and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment.”

Now for the good part: the apples. My personal favorite is the Honey Crisp apple. They are just the right mix of sweet, crisp, and juicy! I eat them almost every morning with greek yogurt from Green Mountain Creamery and granola from True North Granola. I also eat them sliced with cheddar cheese from Grafton Cheddar, slathered with freshly ground peanut butter from the Brattleboro Food Coop, or dipped in local honey!

So what are you waiting for? Go out and grab an apple from Green Mountain Orchards today!