Summer's end isn't all bad. It signals the start of leaf-peeping season and the beginning of apple season.
So with cooler, crisper temperatures comes the ability to pick your own MacIntosh, Cortlands, Empires, Honeycrisps and Romes. And try varieties with exotic names like Lamb Abbey Pearmain, Calville Blanc and Belle de Boskoop. Some are great for eating and some are perfect for pies.
We talk with Terry Bradshaw, president of the Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association, about this year's crop. We also hear from Ezekial Goodband, orchard manager of Scott Farm Orchard in Dummerston, about the heirloom varieties grown there, and from Alyson Eastman, owner of Book-ends Associates, about the 300 Jamaican workers who come to Vermont to work in our orchards.
Also on the program, analysts say it looks like Vermont's Medicaid costs could come in as much as $60 million over budget in 2016. VPR's Peter Hirschfeld explains why we're seeing such a spike in these costs.
Plus, each year, Vermont’s orchards depend on hundreds of apple pickers who come to the state from Jamaica. We hear a group of 20 of the men sing hymns at the Shoreham Congregational Church at a concert that benefits organizations back home in Jamaica.
Broadcast live on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
