It's Apple Time Again

If an apple a day really does keep the doctor away, Chris Seifrit won't be making a medical appointment anytime soon.

Seifrit, 45, is the orchard manager at Blue Jay Orchards and he grew up working at the orchard.

“My father worked here 24 years, my grandfather worked at a peach farm in New Jersey. It's just generation to generation. My son worked here in the summer,” he said.

He said the best part of the job is seeing the same people come back to the orchard every fall.

“I couldn't tell you their names or where they're from,” he said, but “it's great seeing how big their kids have grown.”

There will be lots more memories this year. The apple picking season has began at Blue Jay Orchards and will be in full swing through October. Each fall, thousands of people flock to the picturesque old New England style orchard. For many families, a trip to the Blue Jay Orchards has become an annual tradition and an Autumn rite of passage.

“Columbus Day weekend we can have close to 8,000-10,000 people on a given day,” Seifrit said.

Thirty-six varieties of apples are grown on the 140 acre farm, which has 80 acres devoted to apples and about 9,600 trees. This year has been a challenging one for the orchard which felt the ravishes of mother nature long before tropical storm Irene drenched the area. Seifrit said that the huge amount of rain this spring delayed the pollination of the trees.

To pollinate the trees, the Orchard needs to rent more than 70 local bee hives from Southbury because Seifrit said there's very few wild bees anymore compared to what there used to be. However, the high amount of spring rain delayed the work of the rented bees.

Beth Dingee, 39, the orchard's marketing manger said that when it comes to bad weather bees are a lot like humans.

“The bees don't like to go out in the rain just like us,” she said.

Dingee's family owns the orchard and she has worked there off and on since she was 12. This year she said the trick for the staff is to take a not so “fabulous crop and make it something fabulous for our costumers.”

The orchard is charging less than they normally would for large bags of apples, offering scenic hayrides, and there will be contests and prizes. Dingee also hopes to use the Blue Jay Orchard Facebook page to offer more prizes and incentives for costumers.

“(We want to) keep it fun and keep it silly,” she said.

Like Seifrit, Dingee said the best part of working at the Orchard is getting to see happy pickers year after year.

“The best part is the stories,” she said. “I know that sounds hokey but I love when people come in and go these are our grand kids we used to come here with our kids. This place brings so much joy to people.”

Blue Jay Orchards is at 125 Plumtrees Road in Bethel. For more information call Blue Jay Orchards at 203-748-0119.