You need the help.” And then he was like, “I’ll stay for a month. And he said to me, “I’ll have nothing to do with it.” And I’m embarrassed to say, he said, “It’s me or the farm.” And I said, “It’s the farm!”Įventually, he told me, “Well, I’ll come down for a week. Stephanie Mosseyĭid you face any difficulties right away with owning an orchard? It was $185,000 in 1984, which felt like a million dollars.Įlizabeth Ryan, an award-winning cider maker and a producer of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider, runs six orchards and uses apples from 150 acres of historic Hudson Valley farmland to make her ciders. I bought an orchard! Breezy Hill in Staatsburg, N.Y.

But I knew really early on that I had to have my own place, I had to have freedom. I was hired to be vineyard manager at Benmarl Winery by Mark Miller, who said to me, “I think it’s time for the girls to have a chance, don’t you?” He gave me free rein. But I never wanted to grow apples - they’re really challenging. It is the art and science of fruit production - and Cornell is one of the great schools in America for studying fruit growing. For those who haven’t swallowed the Expanded Edition of “Webster’s Dictionary,” what is pomology? You have a degree in pomology from Cornell.

Courtesy of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider This interview has been edited and condensed.Įlizabeth Ryan, an award-winning cider maker and a producer of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider, runs six orchards and uses apples from 150 acres of historic Hudson Valley farmland to make her ciders. The Times Union sat down with Ryan in her elegantly rustic tasting room at Stone Ridge Orchard to chat about apples and, of course, savor some of her dazzling ciders.

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