The historic Atwood Orchard at the Joshua’s Trust headquarters in Mansfield Center–home to over twenty heirloom apple varieties–is currently undergoing a restoration pruning plan to ensure the ongoing health and longevity of the trees. The 3-year pruning plan is part of a larger enhancement project to transform the Atwood Orchard into a cherished community resource & learning space with expanded plantings, DNA testing, thoughtful interpretive signage, updated maps, and the potential for exciting new programming.
The apple trees, many of which are “original” and exceed over 100 years of age, represent one of the oldest intact orchard plantings in the region. These impressive specimens of heirloom varieties are no longer commercially available and were originally from regionally specific and place-based cultivars.
The restoration pruning is being conducted by pomologist and arborist Matt Kaminsky, doing business as Gnarly Pippins, a name he uses for his work in orchards and more specifically around the intersection of cider-making and apple culture, orchard culture/management, and the foraging of wild apples.
We’re excited to share more about this project in the upcoming months, including how you can get involved and learn more about the Atwood Orchard’s sweet history and blossoming future.
"Gnarly Pippins” is a loving nod to the untamed, indigenous apple of the temperate world. Limitlessly adaptable to its present surroundings, the genus Malus encompasses as much variation among its denizens as we the humans do. The image of the wild apple tree is not refined, not cultivated, but rather a raw notion of abundance and self-reliance. In this sense, Gnarly Pippins connects us to the wilderness of the untended landscape in how we relate with these special trees. Those who favor the natural apple, with all its blemishes and pride, over the ostensibly “civilized” apple of modern growing practices, bear the badge and attitude of Gnarly Pippins." -Matt Kaminsky
