Local Orchards Gear Up For Busy Apple And Honey Season

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- With the Jewish New Year approaching it is a very sweet time for apple orchards and honey makers.

A lot of people are getting ready to kick back for the holiday weekend but the folks at Masker Orchards in Warwick are getting ready to go into overdrive, CBS 2's Cindy Hsu reported Thursday.

Even the kids have been pitching in.

"My secret is to twist them and then pull them to get them off the tree," 5-year-old Phillip Gargiulo said.

Masker opens for the season on Saturday and experts suggest getting there early to beat the crowds.

"Come at the earliest time because everyone takes the good apples on the first day," Jacquelyn Ludmere explained.

Masker has been around for 100 years. George Vurno and Victor Ludmerer took over the orchards more than 40 years ago after working as a lawyer and a family court judge, respectively.

Apples start as a flower and grow over a five-month period and with Rosh Hashanah around the corner the orchard has also sold tons of honey.

"Traditionally it's a very sweet way to welcome the new year by cutting up freshly picked apple and dipping it in honey. What could be sweeter?" Ludmerer said.

Local honey is a big seller and it flies off of the shelves during allergy season.

"For the allergies for the area you're in you would want the honey from the area you're in because that's what's going to protect you," Joan Reichenbach said.

The apple picking season runs seven days a week through Halloween.

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