I’ve spent an entirely inappropriate amount of time talking to the fine people on this campus about their fall apple consumption, and I’ve found that Lyman’s seems to have all but cornered the market. I’ll admit that I too love cider donuts, but it’s a big world out there, and if Lyman’s is the honky-tonk carnival of local orchards, High Hill in Meriden is the pastoral homestead you never had. Reasons to check it out:
1) The landscape is insanely beautiful. On a clear day, you can see to Mt. Tom in one direction and Long Island Sound in the other. Bring a picnic. You’ll never talk trash about Connecticut again.
2) High Hill grows lots of funky heritage old-time New England varieties of apples—Northern Spies, Russetts, Baldwins, Macouns, Spencers, etc.—in addition to the usual Macs and Cortlands. Try one of everything. You can also pick your own pears, chestnuts, and pumpkins.
3) Wayne Young is a fourth generation family farmer who takes environmental stewardship seriously and has been accurately described by Jeremy Brown as “the salt of the earth.” He holds down the fort over there pretty much single-handedly and is an all-around extraordinary human being. The vegetables are grown organically, and all fruit is ecologically grown.
4) It’s never crowded over there, and the orchard is open seven days a week.
It may be early October, but the picking season will be solid until at least Halloween. I genuinely believe that, in this political climate, one of the most powerful things we can do is to vote with our dollars, and this is a great way to buy local. High Hill is about ten minutes by car from campus, at 170 Fleming Road in Meriden. Pull out the maps, or e-mail ecpalmer@wesleyan.edu for directions.
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