Allenholm Farm orchard South Hero
— — the row the wind walks down in October.
Not only on a wall.
“Vermont's oldest commercial apple orchard, set on South Hero island where Lake Champlain still does most of the weather. The Allen family has worked this ground since 1870. Macouns, Empires, Honeycrisp. The store opens in August for cherries, then runs through Christmas trees. A quiet farm on an island that mostly forgets it's an island.
Allenholm Farm orchard South Hero, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Allenholm Farm sits on South Hero, the southernmost of the four Lake Champlain Islands in northern Vermont, about twenty miles north of Burlington along U.S. Route 2. The farm has been worked by the Allen family since 1870, making it the oldest commercial apple orchard in the state. The island climate is moderated by the lake on every side, which extends the growing season later into October than on the mainland. The orchard plants Macoun, Empire, Honeycrisp, and Cortland varieties across roughly sixty acres of well-drained Champlain Valley loam.
The harvest opens in August with sweet cherries and runs through apples in sequence: McIntosh in early September, Macouns and Cortlands in late September, Empires and Honeycrisps into October. Frost arrives later on South Hero than on the Vermont mainland because Lake Champlain holds heat into November. The Champlain Islands turn yellow before they turn red, which gives the orchard a particular light through the second week of October. The farm store stays open through Christmas tree season in December.
The farm store on South Street opens daily through the season. Pick-your-own runs weekends in September and October; cider doughnuts come out of the small kitchen most mornings. The orchard is roughly a two-hour drive from Montreal and forty-five minutes from Burlington across the Sand Bar causeway. Parking is on grass beside the barn. The Allens keep a small petting paddock with goats and Belgian draft horses for children visiting with their grandparents. No admission charge to walk the rows.