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Costanza Apple Orchard
Belen, NM - since 1962
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APPLE HARVEST 2008
Costanza Orchard is home to 1,100 apple trees nestled on 6˝ acres in the lower Rio Grande Valley in northeast Belen. Bob & Jackie planted the orchard in 1962 with six kids and 550 trees.
We are family owned & operated with the 4th generation now helping. We are one of the largest apple orchards in the state with trees ranging from recently planted to 45 years old.
Costanza Orchard begins its annual harvest mid-late August with a small crop of Gala apples. Labor Day weekend we go into full production with the Red & Golden Delicious & continue thru late October with the addition of Winesaps and our most popular “Arkansas Black”. We are open as long as we have apples, generally thru the end of October.
Costanza Orchard sells direct from the farm (people come from all over the state to buy our apples!). Many customers deliver or ship our apples to friends and family across the country. Our apples are great in pies, cakes, salads, applesauce, apple butter, freezing, canning, candy apples or just plain ol’ healthy snacks! We also have customers who buy apples to feed to their horses and dogs!
We have 11 varieties of apples. Several varieties are used only for cross-pollination; others are not at production stage.
Currently we harvest seven varieties:
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2008 Harvest Dates (appx) Gala’s mid-September Red Delicious September 1st Golden Delicious September 20th Winesap late September Staymen Winesap None Granny Smith None Arkansas Black None |
Hours of Operation Beginning Sep 1, 2008
Monday - Saturday: 10:00 to 6:00 Closed Sunday
During the month of August please call for appointment (864-1621) |
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Costanza Orchard has over 60 bee hives to pollinate the trees. Each hive has one queen bee and about 200 drones (male bees) and 60,000-100,000 female worker bees per hive! That’s over 6 million bees that travel around the neighborhood pollinating trees, flowers, vegetables, & other crops! Each hive can produce 120-200 pounds of honey a year and we leave half of it for the bees to feed on during winter. Ed Costanza, our bee specialist, cares for the bees. He’s known as the “bee man” and is called by businesses and home-owners when they have a swarm of bees that need removed. Trivia: bees visit an average 2,500,000 flowers to make one pound of honey!
Costanza Orchard is an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) orchard. This program uses knowledge, cultural practices, pest scouting (monitoring), and action levels to determine when pest action is needed. We use a monitoring program using Pheromone traps to determine the presence of damaging insects. We seek to use as few chemicals as possible and still provide quality fruit to our customers and we continue to stay updated on new, safe methods in which to do so. We are also licensed by the State of New Mexico in the use of pesticide management.
Costanza Orchard is a great experience for the entire family! We welcome each of you and look forward to seeing our old friends who have been coming out since our first harvest!
Store small quantities in your refrigerator, in plastic bags in the crisper--between 34 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Don't allow them to freeze. Because apples can absorb odors from other foods stored in the same area, keep apples in plastic bags. The plastic also helps apples retain their own moisture.
Apples ripen six to ten times faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated. One or two days sitting on a counter top and the fresh crunch of your apple is lost forever.
Lemon juice helps prevent apple discoloration.
Be careful about sugar--too much spoils the natural flavor and makes them mushy.
One pound of apples consists of:
4 small apples
3 medium apples
2 large apples
Two medium apples are equivalent to one cup grated apple.
About two pounds of apples make one 9' apple pie
A peck of apples weighs 10.5 pounds.
A bushel of apples weighs about 42 pounds and will yield 20-24 quarts of applesauce.
One pound of apples yields 3 cups diced apples or 2-3/4 cups pared and sliced apples.
Melt a few Kraft caramels in the microwave. Core and slice an apple into large wedges. Dip the tip of the apple wedge into the melted caramel, then bite and enjoy! Add chopped nuts if desired.
Or spread apple slices with peanut butter for an easy children’s snack; or dip slices in honey and roll in granola.
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