Bushels and boxes of apples, circa 1930, from the Joy Morton Orchard Company, now known as Arbor Day Farm.

Apples and apple orchards are a time-honored tradition at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, and the 2012 apple harvest carries on that heritage.

Apple trees have thrived here since 1855, when J. Sterling Morton and his wife, Caroline, moved to Nebraska City from Michigan, and planted several varieties of apple trees on their homestead, the property now known as Arbor Day Farm.In the 1920s, J. Sterling and Caroline’s son, Joy – founder of the Morton Salt Company – partnered with Grove Porter and formed the Joy Morton Orchard Company on this land, one of many local orchards supplying a wide selection of apples for the southeast Nebraska region.

Today, the orchards at Arbor Day Farm are still going strong, even with the very dry year that 2012 has turned out to be. As is typical in drought years, the apples are smaller in size this year but the quantity of apples in the orchard remains relatively consistent with recent harvests.

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Summertime Orchard: Behind the Scenes

Jul 11 by Adam Howard in Apples, General, Orchards & Apples tagged Apples, Arbor Day Farm, orchards with no comments

It’s summertime at the orchards here at Arbor Day Farm, and we find ourselves in the middle of a very hot, very dry spell here in Nebraska City. We doing a lot of the same things that you’re probably doing in your backyard gardens: watering when we can, pulling weeds, helping our plants and trees mitigate the stresses of the season. As is typical in hot and dry years, the apples will likely be smaller in size and will mature faster this fall, resulting in an earlier apple harvest.

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Caramel Apples at Arbor Day Farm

Oct 13 by Amy S. in Apples, General, Orchards & Apples tagged Apples, Arbor Day Farm, caramel apples, Nebraska City with no comments

Caramel apples are one of the fall season’s finest treats! Here at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, we hand-dip more than 16,000 caramel apples for our guests and visitors during the busy fall season. This short video shows you step by step how we make them.

But the question remains… nuts or no nuts?

Apple Harvest at Arbor Day Farm: A Preview

Aug 31 by Erik Olson in Apples, General, Orchards & Apples, Trees tagged apple harvest, apple tree, Applejack Nebraska City, Apples with 5 comments

Here in the orchards at Arbor Day Farm, September signals the true start of the apple picking season. A few early varieties (like Paulared) were ready by late summer, but September is when a majority of apples really turn the corner from almost ready to primetime for picking.

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