Cider champ Phil Rymsha prepares apples for cider. (Photo by Eileen Kronauer)

If you visit Phil’s Apples at 24 Prospect Hill Road in Harvard in the fall, there’s a good chance you’ll find Phil Rymsha pressing cider. Phil’s Cider won the Central Massachusetts cider contest in 1993 and won the state championship in 1995. In the 1995 contest Rymsha prevailed over 35 other cider contestants. In the 1993 contest Rymsha’s winning cider was made of McIntosh apples; the 1995 winner was a blend of McIntosh and Macoun. When this cider-making champ moved to Harvard 30 years ago, he never dreamed he’d be an apple grower. What is his secret? The apples of course, and the timing of the contest!

Initially the contests were held in the latter half of the apple season when more apple varieties were ripe for making cider. In 1996 the contest was moved to September, and with a handful of cider apple varieties ripe for cider production, fewer orchards entered the contest. Phil’s Apples was one of the many orchards that did not enter the contest in 1996 because his apples were not ripe for cider production. And although the state cider contests were discontinued in 1996, when the Massachusetts state requirement for pasteurization went into effect, Rymsha still considers himself the champ.

Rymsha moved to Harvard in 1980, following his sister Peggy, who moved to Harvard in 1971, and his twin brother Fred, who moved to Harvard the following year. After looking at several lots in town, he settled for an overgrown, abandoned apple orchard on Prospect Hill. The unkempt orchard of mostly McIntosh apple trees was originally planted and managed in the 1950s by an orchardist who later discontinued using it for production. At the time he purchased the property, Rymsha had no knowledge or interest in caring for an orchard, but considered the lot to be a perfect spot to build his home.

During the two-and-a-half years that Rymsha worked on building his house, he noticed the natural beauty of the apple trees from season to season. He was so taken by the splendor of his neighbors’ orchards that he decided to clean up his orchard, primarily for esthetic reasons. He also noticed that Charles Morris, a neighbor (a.k.a., “the apple baron”), seemed to sell apples easily with the help of a few children. Rymsha began to think that if his neighbor could sell apples, then he could learn to care for the trees and reap the value of the fruit, too.

In his spare time, Rymsha cleaned up the orchard, and with the aid of an inexpensive sprayer hauled in a garden cart, he sprayed the trees. The orchard, which originally contained 150 trees, was revived, and within a few years Rymsha had established a pick-your-own business. After a customer informed him that the dropped apples under the trees could be used for cider, Rymsha realized there was more to apples than pick-your-own.

Rymsha decided to retrieve from his parents’ house the old wooden cider press he’d purchased as a teenager, and began to hand-press his apples. Customers eagerly lined up for a 25-cent cup of freshly pressed cider, and in no time the first 10 gallons were consumed. Realizing the potential, Rymsha motorized the press to produce cider more quickly, but the cider business soon outgrew the “teenage” cider-making kit, which he donated to the St. Benedict Center in Still River. Cider production grew from one to three presses, which produced 6 gallons per hour. Rymsha then purchased a Goodnature 5-bushel press with a capacity of 20 gallons an hour, three gallons of cider to a bushel.

Within seven years the orchard was fully productive, and over the past 28 years Phil has increased the size of the orchard from the 150 apple trees to 950 and has added 100 Encore peach trees—a late peach, ripe from mid-September to early October. The “u-pick” operation is open from the second week of September to Nov. 30. Rymsha’s orchard grows apples not found in other Harvard orchards, including Enterprise, GoldRush, Golden Supreme, and Suncrisp. Also available for picking are Honeycrisp, McIntosh, Macoun, Fuji, Red Delicious, and Cortland.

Seventy-five percent of the apples from his orchard are put into cider production. Rymsha presses apples three days a week, September to December, working 8 hours a day to produce 3,000 gallons a year. He makes several blends of cider. From September through November, a McIntosh/Macoun blend is available. In mid-November Enterprise/GoldRush and Red Delicious/McIntosh blends are made. With onsite refrigeration, customers no longer have to wait in line for Phil’s cider. Cider is readily available into December.

Rymsha credits much of his apple-growing knowledge to the generosity of other Harvard apple growers who have long shared their knowledge and muscle power to help one another. In particular, Rymsha acknowledges Dave Wade, who operated Wade Orchards on Westcott Road until his death in the 1990s. Wade frequently invited Phil to apple association meetings and provided advice in making cider. Doe Orchards loaned a posthole digger to plant apple trees and gave him advice on growing apples. Carlson’s advised Rymsha on apple washing and purchasing cider jugs. Westward Orchards offered guidance on apple production. In addition, the owners of Balance Rock Farm in Berlin provide a free dumpster service for the apple pumice and bruised apples, which are brought back to their farm for cattle feed, thereby using all the byproducts of the cider production process.

Rymsha recently retired from his government job and is currently a full-time apple grower. He and his wife Barbara take pleasure in meeting customers each season; many return each year.

Rymsha says he looks forward to dedicating more time to his orchard, addressing the challenges of being an apple grower, and sharing his love of apples with others. He invites people to pick apples and taste his cider, come September.

For more information on Phil’s Apples visit www.philsapples.com.