Growers Jake and Bryan Samascott

The spectacular apples for our first run came from Samascott Orchards in Kinderhook, New York. Cousins Bryan and Jake Samascott, along with their siblings and cousins, grow 60 varieties of apples on 100 fertile acres in the Hudson River Valley.

Apples arriving at Farm to Table in large bins

We believe in local processing as well as local sourcing. This run of sauce was made in small batches, following our own recipe, at Farm to Table, a food packaging facility in Kingston, New York. (In its past life, this kitchen fed hungry employees at a large IBM facility that used to operate on the site.)

After arriving at Farm to Table, the apples are transferred from large bins to shallow plastic trays and are washed (in what used to be the kitchen’s dishwasher) and weighed.

Heading toward washing and weighing

Dishwasher turned apple-washer

Tipping the scales

Raw apples in the steam kettle

The apples are placed in a large steam kettle. They’re cooked whole, with a small amount of water to prevent scorching, and stirred for nearly an hour. We never add sugar as a sweetener — because we don’t need to — and we never add water to increase yield. The result is a full-flavored sauce that balances sweet and tart and has just the right consistency.

Cooking and being stirred in the steam kettle

The work of the pulper

Once cooked and soft, the apples go through the pulper to remove seeds and pulp. The remaining mixture is then transferred to a new steam kettle and cooked to 190 degrees for sterilization.

Testing the pH level

A small amount of the apple mixture is cooled and tested to ensure the proper pH level. Happily, our pH is just right, so we don’t need to add ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to this batch to adjust the level.

Sauce going through the consist-o-meter

The consist-o-meter, which tests the sauce for consistency and viscosity, tells us that our sauce has just the right consistency.

Jars ready for labeling

Glass jars are filled with sauce using a filling machine, and the lids are screwed on tightly by hand.  The jars are allowed to cool before labels are applied.

The finished product

Try it and tell us what you think! Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

Arriving from Samascott

8:00am: Our empty bottles are stacked and ready to go.

Bottles awaiting juice

8:30am: After being heated to 185 degrees to ensure a safe two-year shelf life, pasteurized juice is put into bottles on the filling machine.

The filling machine

9:00am: The bottles, after coming off the filler and getting caps, are cooled and make their way to the tagging area.

On the way to tagging

9:30am: With tags on board, the bottles move down the conveyer belt to the labeling machine.

Flip the tag, learn about our growers

Awaiting labels

11:00: Tagged and labeled bottles move down the conveyer belt to be packed in boxes.

Flip the tag, learn about our growers

11:30: The finished product. What do you think?

Local apple juice, not from concentrate

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

Cousins Bryan and Jake, the farm’s 4th generation proprietors (pictured here), are the guys behind the apples in our sauce. Along with their siblings and cousins, Bryan and Jake tend to 100 acres of apple trees, growing more than 60 varieties. Continually improving their selection, they plant new and heirloom varieties to produce the most flavorful apples.

Each year the Samascotts replace about five percent of their trees, selecting new varieties based on taste. They monitor their orchards closely and use a number of IPM (integrated pest management) practices, including growing disease-resistant varieties to reduce the need for spraying and pruning frequently to ensure that their trees get plenty of sunlight to thwart pests and disease.

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

Our sauce starts with great-tasting, 100% local apples, grown in the Northeast’s best orchards. Our fruit is spectacular because our growers select each variety for its flavor, and Northern growing conditions intensify its special traits.

We blend the best local varieties and cook the apples whole to create a full-flavored sauce that balances sweet and tart and has just the right consistency. We never add sugar as a sweetener — because we don’t need to — and we never add water to increase yield. The fruit stands on its own, and we leave it alone.

The happy result? A local apple sauce that tastes better than homemade.

Stay tuned here for more, including a behind-the-scenes look at the path from orchard to jar…

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

Thurs., Apr. 12:

Union Market, Union St. at 6th Ave., Brooklyn: 5-8pm

Fri., Apr. 13:

Murray’s Bagels, 22nd St. & 8th Ave.: 8-10am

Fairway, 74th & Broadway: 11-2pm

Price Chopper, Amsterdam: 11am-5pm

Price Chopper, Guilderland (Western Ave.): 11am-5pm

Met Food, 251 Mulberry St.: 5-8pm

Sat., Apr. 14:

Fairway Douglaston: 10am-1pm

Fairway Redhook: 11am-3pm

Price Chopper, Guilderland (Twenty Mall): 11am-5pm

Fairway Pelham: 12-3pm

Union Market, 288 Court Street, Brooklyn: 4-7pm

Westside Market, 2840 Broadway (110th St.): 4-7pm

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

Tues., Apr. 3:

Zeytuna, 59 Maiden Lane: 5-8pm

Thurs., Apr. 5:

Fine Fare, 175 Clinton St.: 5-8pm

Fri., Apr. 6:

Zucker’s Bagels, 146 Chambers St. (between Hudson & Greenwich): 8-10am

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

Tues., Mar. 27:

Fairway, 74th & Broadway: 10am-2pm

Thurs., Mar. 29:

C-Town, Graham Ave. (corner of Metropolitan), Brooklyn: 5-8pm

Fri., Mar. 30:

Murray’s Bagels, 22nd St. & 8th Ave.: 8-10am

Key Food, 102 Montague St., Brooklyn: 11am-3pm

Union Market, 7th Ave. (between 12th and 13th Sts.), Brooklyn: 4-7pm

Sat., Mar. 31:

Union Market, 288 Court Street, Brooklyn: 12-3pm

Brooklyn Fare, 200 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn: 4-7pm

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

While orchard grass has a small window for harvesting, our farmers like it for its nutritional value for the cows. Requiring patience and a sharp eye, orchard grass must be harvested in its “boot stage,” when the head is peeking up through the stem but hasn’t yet popped out. A head popped out of the stem is opportunity lost — the grass has already begun to lose nutrients.

Red clover, easy for cows to digest, is a higher-moisture grass that works well when mixed with hay, which helps the clover to dry. Red clover likes “wet feet” to grow, so it will be particularly happy in the farm’s “water fields” in the valley near the Batten Kill and in spring showers.

Both orchard grass and red clover will be harvested — and then on the menu for our cows — in mid-June.

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

Tues., Mar. 20:

Fairway, 74th & Broadway: 10am-2pm

Zeytuna, 59 Maiden Lane: 5:30-8:30pm

Thurs., Mar. 22:

Fairway 86th St.: 10am-2pm

Union Market, 7th Ave. (between 12th and 13th Sts.), Brooklyn: 4-7pm

Fri., Mar. 23:

Zucker’s Bagels, 146 Chambers St. (between Hudson & Greenwich): 8-10am

Fairway, Harlem, 12th Ave. & 130th St.: 11am -3pm

Price Chopper, Glenmont, New York: 11am-5pm

Sat., Mar. 24:

Fairway Douglaston, 242-02 61st Ave., Queens,  11am-3pm

Fairway Paramus, New Jersey: 11am-3pm

Price Chopper, Shaker Rd., Albany, New York: 11am-5pm

Westside Market, 2840 Broadway (110th St.): 5-8pm

Sun., Mar. 25:

Fairway Red Hook, Brooklyn: 11am-3pm

Westside Market, 77 Seventh Ave. (15th St.): 5-8pm

Fairway Plainview, Long Island: 12-3pm

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

Later this week farmers will put in their first directly planted crop — sugar snap peas, traditionally the Northeast’s first outdoor planting. Sugar snaps can be sown directly into cool soil and happily, just in case of a cold snap, are frost resistant.

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM