Frost cuts into crop but sweetens cider

BY PAT FARNELLI

It was a tough year for fruit in Susquehanna County, but a choice one for wine and cider.

So says  Jeannie Jayne of Jayne’s Orchards in Auburn Township, where a May frost caused an 80 percent crop loss in the apple orchard, and ruined every last cherry.

However, the long dry summer enhanced the flavor and sweetness of their apple cider, available at farmer’s markets and groceries throughout the county.

“If you drink wine, you might want to make a note of this year being a very good year to buy wine from,” she said. “The dryness enhances and intensifies the fruit flavor.”

Jayne said that although most of the apples were hit by frost, they were still usable for cider. Only four varieties (Golden delicious, Red delicious, Mutso Crispin, Suncrisp) are available for sale at the farm business, but there are enough to last through this weekend.

Her husband, Roger Jayne, had finished cider making for the day, and carted a wagon full of apples into their enormous cold storage room, which is nearly empty.

“In a normal year, this holds about 7,000 bushels of our apples, but this year, we might have had 3,000,” Roger said pointing to a wooden bin in his cold storage room. “One year, we had 19,000.”

The frost hit the tiny apples on May 10, when temperatures plunged to 26 degrees. The temperatures were so warm in April, the trees blossomed a month early, and were in fruit by then.

“All of the cherries turned to raisins,” Jeannie said.

Roger grinds a blend of apples to make cider, and is very particular about the proportions. The varieties change according to the stage in the season.

In the farm showroom, several loyal customers picked out bushels of apples and gallons of cider. Kate and Phil Hari of New Milford, and Ruth and Harold “Red” Nichols of Nicholson, all said that they come every autumn to purchase apples at the farm.

Gisela Domasiewicz and Barbara Newhart of Auburn Four Corners said that they have been getting their apples there for many years. “I used to pick apples here, years ago,” said Domasiewicz.

Jayne’s Orchards is a popular destination for field trips from local schools. The children watch the cidermaking and taste the results. This year, strangely striated, pumpkin shaped apples are the show and tell item: a result of frost the Jaynes had never seen before.