Farm Stand ‘Pick of the Week’: Johnson Farms Honeycrisp Apples

Those much-sought-after Honeycrisp Apples are starting to show up at OMP roadside stands, including Johnson Farms, about a half-mile north of Mapleton on the right side of the road (at the “cooling pad”).

Happy Honeycrisp Photo of the Day! You’ll also see some golden apples on the right in the photo, and those are, indeed, Golden Delicious. These are basically my two favorite apples, so I’m in hog heaven when it comes to fresh fruit on the OMP right now. I bet the hogs would love them, too! (But they’re not getting these beauties.)

While heading out of town yesterday, I spotted a truck at the corner of Front and Garfield, headed for Peterson Farms downstate with a load of Johnson Farms apples. Always a thrill for this farm girl. (Yes, Johnson Farms is my family’s farm – the farm I grew up on.)

Now is a great time to stock up on Honeycrisp and other apples and store a few in the root cellar or fridge. My dad always carefully wrapped each apple in newspaper and stored them in a spare fridge in the basement. They got a bit wrinkly by spring, but he ate them anyway. “They’re fine!” he’d proclaim.

I don’t have a spare fridge, but our basement stays pretty cool, so I’m going to try the newspaper trick and see how it goes.