Trees are virtually bare of fruit at Hunger Mountain Orchard. Photo by Luke Zarzecki.

With the fall season in full swing and the leaves turning from green to gold, local residents have been gathering the fruits of nearby apple orchards -- in modified ways given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

And of Waterbury’s two orchards, one still has apples for picking, and one has sold out.

Owl’s Head Orchard on Perry Hill Road in Waterbury Center is owned and operated by Jody Bouchard. The 400-tree apple farm still has apples for picking including Gala, Liberty, Mutsu, Empire and many others. Pickers must social distance and wear masks, of course. In addition to apples, the farm has $5 homemade applesauce made by Bouchard's grandkids. Over the past 14 years, he estimates that they’ve made and sold more than 30,000 jars of it.

The applesauce got the attention of Central Vermont Hospital which asked to buy it but requested it to be packaged in plastic cups instead of the orchard’s usual glass jars. As part of their commitment to sustainability, the grandkids made the decision to “not be part of the plastic island,” Bouchard said.

In addition to zero plastic, Bouchard said he has never used a drop of chemicals on any of the plants for the past 40 years since he bought the orchard. Instead, he uses treefrogs and dragonflies to eat the insects. “We are not organic, we’re natural. We don’t have pitch-perfect apples, but you know what? Our apples won’t kill you,” Bouchard said.

The orchard grows other fruits in addition to apples and it offers a $100 Community Supported Agriculture or CSA program for apples or blueberries, elderberries, strawberries, cranberries, raspberries, blackberries and nine different kinds of grapes.

With apples still on the trees for picking, the orchard is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sundays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Check its website for updates as the season winds down.

A short, successful season

Also in Waterbury Center on the other end of Shaw Mansion Road from Owl’s Head is Hunger Mountain Orchard, which has already closed for the season.

On Sept. 19, just seven days after opening, the trees were almost bare following a massive influx of pickers that crowded the 205-tree orchard to make it the busiest day Bernadette “Bernie” Wyman, 76, and her daughter Lori Wyman, 55, have ever seen in the 40-plus years the trees have been around. They closed their backyard orchard on the 20th.

The orchard produces varieties including McIntosh, Cortland, Liberty, Empire, Winesap, Northern Spy and McCann. Usually the fruits are available for picking until Columbus Day weekend, but Lori Wyman said she thinks stir-crazy Vermonters didn’t put off apple-picking this year.

“It was a fast season. I think that COVID had a little effect because people wanted to be outside doing outside things,” Wyman. “Fresh air, sunshine, not being in a closed area.”

Bernie suggested that the intense appeal may have had something to do with food insecurity as well.

The elder Wyman shared some of the orchard history that dates back to 1979 when Bernie and her husband, William “Bill” Wyman bought the property which had been part of the Thurston farm with nothing on the land except for a house.

When Bill finished college in the 1970s, there were few jobs in Vermont. So Bernie said she encouraged him to start picking apples. After two years of working at the Mendon Orchard in Mendon, Vt., Bill had gained experience and was learning the trade. Together, he and Bernie began their own orchard.

Bill planted all of the trees. While he wanted to create an orchard, Bernie’s only other request was that he leave some room for a few flower beds. Bernie recalled how Bill would say that there is reverence on top of an apple tree. After Bernie climbed to the top of one, she agreed.

The last trees on the property were planted in 2008. Bill died on May 13, 2009. On that day, Bernie told him all his apple trees were blooming.

Now, Bernie and Lori steward the land in his honor, with two horses occasionally coming up to the fence for dropped apples. Bernie is a retired nurse, and Lori juggles her full- time physical therapist job with orchard duties. The revenue gained from the orchard is hardly a profit, but rather covers the expenses that go into the orchard.

The mother-daughter duo notes that not many people in Waterbury even know their orchard exists. “We are Waterbury’s best little secret,” Lori said. “The philosophy of the orchard my dad established is for families to come and pick and enjoy ... apple-picking together as a family. That was very, very important for him and we live by that philosophy. We are a non-stress environment.”

Hunger Mountain Orchard is closed for picking now, but Lori plans to have bulk apples available at the Stowe Farmers Market this Sunday and on Oct. 11. For more information visit their Facebook site.