Albany's Urban Orchard

Albany's Urban Orchard. . , Nine Pin Ciderworks presents Albany's Urban Orchard in partnership with Samascott Orchards, the City of Albany and the Washington Park Conservancy., The orchard aims to educate the community about New York's remarkable and historically coveted apple crop. Apples have been a pivotal crop in our state since colonial times with hard apple cider being a crucial staple. Today, New York is the second largest apple producer in the United States but more importantly it is home to the nation's most diverse apple crop, making New York the destination for outstanding craft hard cider., The orchard is comprised of 8 unique apple varieties that flourish in New York State. This region's cold winters and moderate humid summers makes for ideal apple growing conditions. Apples are a member of the rose family of plants. A standard-size apple tree starts bearing fruit 8-10 years after it is planted. A dwarf tree starts bearing fruit in 3-5 years., It takes about 35 New York apples to create one gallon of Nine Pin cider., New York , The Cider Destination, New York is the second largest apple producing state in the U.S. , With nearly 700 commercial apple orchards, 52.000 acres of New York is dedicated to apple growing. On average, New York produces 29.5 million bushels of apples annually., New York Grows the most apple varieties in the U.S. , Complex ciders come from a diverse apple crop. New York produces hundreds of unique apple varieties. From popular varieties such as Mcintosh, Empire, Red Delicious, Cortland and Honeycrisp to unique cider apples including Stayman Winesap, Ashmead's Kernal, Esopus Spitzenburg, Kingston Black and Caville Blanc, New York is the epicenter of apple diversity., New York is home to the most cideries in the U.S. , New York's hard cider industry is on the rise with its remarkable agricultural support. New York is home to nearly 90 licensed hard cideries including 42 licensed New York farm cideries. With around 18% of the New York apple crop being used for cider, orchards benefit from this uprise in the cider industry having cideries as an outlet for apples too "ugly" for the market.