Redbyrd Orchard promotes self-sustainability

When owners Eric Shatt and Deva Maas opened Redbyrd Orchard Cidery in 2014, the couple embarked on a journey to create quality local cider and a sustainable place where the cidery and their three sons could grow.

“We’ve been growing trees since 2004,” Shatt said. “We have always grown them specifically with cider in mind. There’s a whole world of apples just for cider, and the varieties we grow are always changing. Right now we have Porter’s Perfection, Golden Russet and Harry Masters Jersey, just to name a few. We have grown 150 varieties here, and we make all of the cider right here.”

After graduating with a degree in agriculture and biology from New Mexico State University, Shatt ended up in the Finger Lakes to take a job at Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard in Dundee. Shatt acted as vineyard manager and worked in the nursery and the cellar at the renowned vineyard.

“I sold grafted grapevines at Hermann J. Wiemer, and I got really into viticulture there,” Shatt said. “I fell in love with the idea of growing and the artistry of cider making.”

Shatt’s wife has a degree in agriculture from The Evergreen State College in Washington state and an aunt and uncle who own Anthony Road Wine Company in Penn Yan. So, it seemed only natural that the couple would eventually decide to open an orchard of their own and start crafting cider.

Sharing a vast knowledge and a deep love of agriculture, Shatt and Maas decided in 2010 to buy 10 acres of land at 4491 Reynolds Rd. in Trumansburg and launch what would become Redbyrd Orchard. The sustainable orchard and farm is also the place they decided to call home, raising their three sons and approximately 30 sheep, 25 geese and two chickens.

“About two years ago, my parents bought the 18 acres adjacent to ours,” Shatt said. “We are now leasing that land from them, and we use it for more trees.”

The goal of self-sustainability is the driving force for the family, farm and orchard. The manure from the flock, mixed with compost, is used to grow vegetables and berries for the family. The sheep graze in the orchard after harvest. The family utilizes lamb and goose meat and chicken and goose eggs for meals as well as using recycled rainwater for the orchard and farm.

“Everything is aimed at being sustainable, and there is a lot of collaboration,” Shatt said. “My wife, Deva, owns Acorn Designs, which is based out of here as well. She is our label designer and handles our social media, customer service and coordinating the site or club we offer. She helps out with everything and she keeps me in line.”

Acorn Designs has been creating eco-friendly paper products such as notecards, journals and stationery since 1981. It’s dedicated to finding the greenest papers available and combines that with products with environmental integrity that are sourced and manufactured in the U.S., most within close proximity to the Finger Lakes-based studio. Currently, Acorn Designs represents the work of over 30 artists.

“Zaun Marshburn and family grow and tend the peppers and a lot of the fruit for their Boney T’s fruit-forward hot sauce as well, right here, in the midst of the apple trees and the pesky sheep,” Shatt said. “It’s another collaboration of Trumansburg businesses that we work with.”

Redbyrd Orchard offers more than just delicious cider made right on the premises of its certified biodynamic farm. It also offers classes in pruning, grafting, topworking, scionwood gathering and growing seedlings as well as a spring orchard walk and discussion.

The cidery also offers a cider club that includes four shipments per year of new releases. Members are the first ones to get exclusive discounts, special offerings, invitations to tour the orchard and special events. A three- and six-month bottle club package is also currently being offered.

Biodynamic farming utilizes plants that are grown in the ground in living soil, which provides a quality of health and nutrition not possible when using chemical fertilizers and hydroponic growing. Biodynamic farms aim to generate their own fertilizer through composting, animal integration, cover cropping and crop rotation.

“We offer our ciders through our website, but they can also be found around Trumansburg and the surrounding Finger Lakes region,” Shatt said “We have a booth at the Trumansburg and the Sampson State Park farmers markets. We are also at the Hazelnut Kitchen, Liquid State Brewing, Shur-Save liquor store and Stone Bend Farm. We want the skills we’ve developed to be available to people. It feels really good to offer that, and we like that it brings people out here to the orchard.”

Information on Redbyrd Orchard Cider can be found on its website at redbyrdorchardcider.com and on its Facebook page at facebook.com/RedbyrdOrchardCider/.

Trumansburg Connection appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.

In brief:

Vintage baseball game

The History Center in Tompkins County invites community members to a friendly game of baseball set in the culture and trends of the late 19th century. This event is entirely free. Bring chairs and picnic blankets and relax in the sun for a baseball game with rules not played locally since the 1800s!

The game will be held at Taughannock Falls State Park’s ball fields, which are accessible via the lake entrance off Route 89.

The first game starts at noon and features the Delhi Polecats against the Bovina Dairymen. The Delhi Polecats (delcovintagebaseball.org) and Bovina Dairymen (bovinadairymen.org) are two visiting vintage baseball teams from the Delaware County Vintage Base Ball Association who will play with the outfits, rules and equipment used by their baseball “peers” from over 150 years ago.

At 2 p.m., there will be a screening of “Play Ball,” the title episode of the “Beatrice Fairfax” 1916 serial produced by the Wharton Studio in Ithaca. The second game, also between Delhi and Bovina, runs from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit thehistorycenter.net/theclassic.