Farms: Al Rose | Red Apple Farm | Phillipston, Massachusetts

A towering, craggy old McIntosh tree in the center of the orchard at Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, Massachusetts, has weathered 113 winters, borne many tons of crisp, tart apples, and fed generations of customers. Planted in 1912, it’s the oldest commercially planted McIntosh tree in New England and possibly the country, and still produces fruit today thanks to more than a century of care by the Rose family. Al Rose and his wife Nancy, who operate the fourth generation farm, have introduced an innovative growing system just a stone’s throw from the centenarian McIntosh tree. To ensure success in an area that sees its share of dry summers, Rose sought the help of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.