Apple Picking in Weston!

Did you know there is an apple orchard on Weston Conservation Land? This fall, residents can enjoy picking their own apples (for free!) thanks to some tender loving care over the past few years by several dedicated volunteers.

The orchard is located on the northern portion of Concord Road across from one of the Conservation Land Fields that Land’s Sake farms. The land was at, one point, part of the Campion Center’s campus. Apple trees were planted and maintained by the priests when the Campion Center was a Jesuit seminary. In the 1980s, Brian Donahue and Faith Rand removed the old declining trees and replanted new ones. In 2009, as part of his Eagle Scout project, Will Jacobs planted additional apple and peach trees. However, over the past decade, the trees have suffered from overgrowth, grazing deer, and bark damage from small mammals. In addition, the trees were being defoliated each spring by invasive and highly destructive winter moth caterpillars.

The apple orchard got a new look this winter thanks to the generous volunteer efforts by Hartney Greymont

Hard Work - by Volunteers!

Weston Conservation Commission member Rees Tulloss has been spearheading the orchard’s comeback. For the past three years, the trees have been sprayed in the early spring to reduce the winter moth damage. Weston Landscape and Tree Inc. and Hartney Greymont Inc. have helped with that effort. Mr. Tulloss, assisted by High School volunteers did some initial pruning. This year, Hartney Greymont Inc. generously donated a day of work and five arborists to professionally prune a good portion of the orchard. Pruning fruit trees is vital to their structure and vigor and improves airflow and sunlight penetration. High School volunteers led by sophomore Carter Sullivan, chipped the cut brush and used the chips to mulch around the tree trunks.

When all that hard work is combined with a perfect growing season this spring and summer, the result is a bumper crop of beautiful apples ready to be picked!

Ready to Pick

Parking is available on the shoulder abutting the apple orchard on Concord Road (just south of College Pond). Alternatively, you can park at Burchard Park and either walk north along Concord Road’s sidewalk until you reach the orchard (¼ mile away) or you can take a ½ mile stroll north and east, around college pond, until you reach the orchard on the pond’s eastern shoreline.

Since the apples were not sprayed during the growing season some have dimples or blemishes. However, they are still delicious! Feel free to use the apple picker tools that have been left in the orchard, but please do not climb the trees. Bring your own bag and pick to your heart’s content.

For those who are unable to visit the orchard, the apples are for sale at the Land’s Sake farm stand. For more information, please contact the Weston Conservation Department at 781-786-5068.