For This Couple, the Apples Keep On Selling

BOSTON--In the midst of the vast, redbrick wasteland also known as City Hall Plaza sit 24 scrumptious varieties of apples, sold by the husband-and-wife team of Richard and Doris Nills.

Ms. Nills' family, proprietors of Noquochoke Orchards, have been growing and selling apples since 1899. Over 60 different varieties of apples are grown in their orchard, located on 85 acres south of New Bedford, Mass.

And twice a week, the Nills join a smattering of other street vendors who set up shop in the shadow of Boston's City Hall.

The Nills' Orchards are a family-run business with Ms. Nills and her husband in charge of "Direct Marketing Operations."

Ms. Nills' brother handles all of the wholesale operations, she said.

The Orchards also employ those who spend most of their time fishing who "come in to work when they need extra money," Ms. Nills said.

Noquochoke also sells pears, quinces, jams, jelly, and "fancy desserts," Ms. Nills said. "We're big in vegetables in the summer," she said.

If you buy apples at Stop n'Shop, you are buying Noquochoke apples. Noquochoke Orchards also "sell to a big wholesaler who sells to a lot of stores outside of Boston," Ms. Nills said. She estimated that the Orchards sold 100,000 bushels of apples last year.

Ms. Nills said that salespeople for Noquochoke "are on the road all season...seven days a week."

Most Noquochoke stands close in mid-October, but the Government Center location will remain open Monday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. until the day before Thanksgiving, Ms. Nills said.

"You're working every month of the year," Ms. Nills said.

She said that the apple season begins in July.

"We have to do all of the pruning in the winter," Ms. Nills said.

Ms. Nills says she can distinguish between all 60 different varieties based on taste alone. Her favorite variety depends on the time of year, she said.

"I tend to like sweet [varieties]," Ms. Nills said.

Some of the more than 4,500 apple trees date back to 1899, Ms. Nills said.

The Northern Spy and Ben Davis varieties are some of the oldest and the Ida Red, Braburn and Jonagold are some of the newest. "Some of these [varieties] are from Thomas Jefferson's day," she said.

When the Orchards want to obtain new varieties of apples, they obtain "root stock" from nurseries that cultivate different types of apples, Ms. Nills said.

Ms. Nills says that developers have been eyeing her family's coastal property, but her family does not plan on selling anytime soon.

"We are negotiating with the state," Ms. Nills said. "[The state] is trying to get us to put it in agriculture restriction."

Ms. Nills said that she has seen major changes in the apple growing industry since the old days. She says that now her brother has to have a license to spray pesticides and a license to make cider.

These changes came about in the early 1970's, Ms. Nills said.