![Empire apples on the tree at Ragged Hill Orchard, West Brookfield, Massachusetts. (Russell Steven Powell photo)](https://newenglandapples.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/empires-300x200.jpg)
Mid-season Pleasures: Empire and Spencer
IT TAKES YEARS, sometimes decades, between the time an apple variety is discovered and it becomes available to the public….
![](https://newenglandapples.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Stukas-Farm.jpg)
New England Apples from Neighboring New York
ALTHOUGH THEY SOMETIMES COMPETE in the marketplace, New England and New York apple growers have a long tradition of cooperation…