Great Maine Apple Day

Celebrate the history, flavor and tradition of Maine apples!

Sunday, October 19, 2025

12 – 4 p.m.

Join us at MOFGA for a celebration of apples & other delicious tree fruit!

This by-donation takes place at MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center in Unity, ME, with a mix of outdoor and indoor activities.

The day’s offerings include a guided tour of the Maine Heritage Orchard, fruit-tree focused workshops, apple art-making, apple pie baking, butter churning, local food vendors, and apple cider pressing. Participants can connect with our Apple Identification Team — apple experts who help identify “mystery” apples. Check out our display of hundreds of heritage apple varieties, and enjoy free apple tastings!

Questions? Email [email protected].

Schedule, Vendors, & Activities

Workshop Schedule

Time	Workshop
12:15 - 1:00 p.m.	DNA Research for Apple Conservation: Lessons from the Maine Heritage Orchard, with Todd Little-Siebold and John Bunker
1:15 - 2:00 p.m.	Seed Saving: Fruit Trees & Other Woody Perennials, with Aaron Parker
2:15 - 3:00 p.m.	Rehabilitating Peach Trees, with Laura Sieger and Liz Jaeger
3:15 - 4:00 p.m.	Apple Season Recap, with Glen Koehler

Activity Schedule

Time	Activity
12:00 - ?	Apple Pie Making, with Marissa Alfiero
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.	Screen Printing: Apple Art, with Cecilia Ziko (Bring Your Own T-shirt)
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.	Apple Printing, with Waterville Creates
2:30 - 3:30 p.m.	Butter Churning, with Jacki Martinez-Perkins
4:00 - ?	Maine Heritage Orchard Tour, with C.J. Walke
Ongoing	Apple Cider Pressing
Ongoing	Forest Art Making
Ongoing	Mystery Apple Identification
Ongoing	Heritage Apple Display
Ongoing	Apple Tasting

Vendors & Booths

Pressed for Cider (non-alcoholic apple cider)
B&T Baked Goods (a variety of baked goods, with some apple themes)
The Moody Dog (hot dogs with flavorful toppings)
5 Star Orchard (apples and other fruit)
Luna Moth Herbs (herbal remedies)
MOFGA store (T-shirts, books, and other MOFGA merchandise)
MOFGA membership
Low-Impact Forestry (celebrate the opening of new woodland trails on the MOFGA campus!)
Maine Heritage Orchard
Maine Tree Crop Alliance + Local Ecotype Seed & Start Swap (Learn about local ecotypes here)

What to Bring

Bring your own light-colored T-shirt, to have a GMAD design screen-printed on it from between 1-2 p.m.!
Bring any local ecotype seeds or starts with you to share with others.
Bring layers! This is an indoor and outdoor event.

Apple Displays & Tasting

Apples are not just red, yellow or green – they come in every shape, size and mix of colors!

Come see educational displays about fruit trees and a huge display of heritage apples. Talk with apple variety experts about the incredible diversity that’s growing all around us in this state. MOFGA’s Orchard team has also put together educational posters about apple characteristics, pests & diseases, which varieties to use for which purpose, and much more.

We’ll also be sampling every heritage variety of apple we can find, including many from MOFGA’s own orchards! (Visit the Seed Swap and Scion Exchange in spring, to grab some scionwood from your favorite variety.)

Apple Identification

Do you have an old apple tree on your property but don’t know what kind it is? John Bunker (& other apple ID experts) can help.

To have apples identified, please bring 6-8 apples in a paper bag. On the bag please write:

Your name and contact information (phone number or email)
The town your apples were grown in

If you can’t attend Great Maine Apple Day but are interested in having an apple identified, please send an email to [email protected]. This initial email will help John determine if your tree was grafted and therefore if the apple variety can, potentially, be identified. John will respond to your email and tell you about next steps!

Please include this information in your email:

Your name
The location of the tree
A measurement of the circumference of the tree at shoulder level
3-4 photos of your tree
One photo standing back from the tree, capturing its complete form
Several close-ups of the base of the trunk below the lowest limbs
Good lighting is important!

Click here for more information on the apple identification process.

If you’d like help understanding whether a tree is a seedling or grafted tree, click here.

John does not charge for this service, although we do ask that you make a donation of any amount to the Maine Heritage Orchard. Please write “Maine Heritage Orchard” in the memo line to ensure the gift is used for orchard expenditures.

Cider Tasting

This event regularly features a hard apple cider tasting. Adults aged 21+ are welcome to join, to try out the unique flavors of local Maine cideries! Check back in as the date grows closer for more details about this year’s cider tasting.

Vendors and Exhibitors

There will be wonderful vendors at the event this year! Participants can enjoy afternoon snacks or bring home some fresh, organic apples and other produce from local vendors. We will have MOFGA merchandise available as well!

… And More

Bring your family and friends of all ages to enjoy walks through MOFGA’s orchards and gardens, fresh cider pressing, and to enjoy activities for the young and young at heart.

Perennial Plant Swap

Do you have a big patch of echinacea, yarrow or bee balm at home? Comfrey or creeping thyme? There are many perennials that make great companion plants for fruit trees. Check out which ones have been planted in the Maine Heritage Orchard here!

If your perennial beds at home are getting too full, why not dig up a few before heading over to Great Maine Apple Day? You may have exactly what someone else is looking for! Find the swap table beside the back entrance to the Exhibition Hall.

Webinar Recordings from past Great Maine Apple Day events

An online discussion recorded in October 2020 with John Bunker, Todd Little-Siebold and Laura Sieger. These passionate fruit explorers discuss recent discoveries of old Maine apple and pear varieties that will be preserved in the Maine Heritage Orchard, and lots more.

Join Seth Yentes of North Branch Farm for this online talk recorded in April 2021 all about “learning from his mistakes” to keep your young fruit trees healthy in our climate here in Maine. He begins by covering some basic things to consider when selecting trees and rootstock. Seth has been grafting and growing fruit trees for over 20 years and now grows nursery stock for wholesale.

Fruit explorers share their recent discoveries and thoughts on growing adaptable tree crops for our changing climate: Aaron Parker (Southern Maine; growing pawpaws & persimmons); Eliza Greenman (Virginia; mulberries, nut trees); Matt Kaminsky (Western Mass.; wild apples & pears, silvopasture); William Mullan (Brooklyn, N.Y.; city apples); and Jesse Stevens (Western Maine; figs and more).