Brightonwoods Orchard boasts 200 varieties of apples

By Janine Anderson
Journal Times

Sunday, September 23, 2007 10:37 PM CDT

BRIGHTON — About 40 minutes from Racine, the Stones run an orchard that focuses on the apple’s long history.

Brightonwoods Orchard, 1072 288th Ave., has grown from a hobby orchard, where owner Bill Stone’s father-in-law planted the trees that reminded him of the apples he ate as a boy, to a fully stocked orchard growing antique apples and their modern relatives.

“I married (the orchard),” he said. “My wife’s father bought the farm in 1950 and planted trees in the ’50s. When I started dating my wife, we’d come up here on the weekends. I was intrigued by the fact that there was more than red delicious, golden delicious and McIntosh.”

Stone’s father-in-law planted about 250 trees, he said, and grew 25 kinds of apples. When Stone and his wife took over, they expanded. Now, about 16 of the farm’s 120 acres are dedicated to the 200 varieties of apples that Stone grows. Stone started collecting trees after he learned how to graft them, giving him the ability to take a tree that was 100 years old and make a new one. Some of Stone’s apples have histories stretching back to Roman times, he said.

While he likes the heritage apples, Stone keeps up with current apple trends as well. They are growing and selling honeycrisp apples, a relative newcomer, he said. The apple was developed by the University of Minnesota, and just came off patent this year.

Their business picks up along with the apple harvest, Stone said, particularly with families looking for information with their apples.

“Families who are looking for somewhat of an educational experience (seem to like it),” he said. “We allow sampling of all the apples. If you bring the kids out they’ll see there’s more than six kinds of apples and they don’t come in plastic bags.”

Apples: Grows about 200 varieties of apple, with about 40 available for purchase. $1.50 per pound for most varieties; honeycrisp priced higher. Seconds (bruised or damaged fruit) available at a steep discount.

Most popular: Honeycrisp.

Owner’s favorites: Honeycrisp, northern spy, keepsake, gravenstein, golden delicious and Melrose.

Best for eating: “I throw that back to the customer. What do you like? Sweet or tart, hard or soft? Then I can funnel them into where they’ll like an apple.”

Best for baking: Strongly-flavored, tart apples do best for baking, Stone said. They have several good varieties available.

Other products: Cider pressed from Brightonwoods apples, $6 gallon, $3.50 half-gallon, $2 16-oz. bottle. Local honey, squash, gourds, pumpkins, jams, jellies. Wines and hard ciders available at Appeltreow Winery, located on site.

Activities: Apple sampling, walking trails, two-story treehouse, cider pressing, wine tasting,

Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Thanksgiving.

Phone: (262) 878-3000

Online: http://www.brightonwoodsorchard.com

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