spiced apple hand pies

5” hand pie, 1 piece per order.
A flaky pie crust filled with apple chunks spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and black pepper.

Allergens: Wheat, Milk, Egg.
Processed in a facility that also processes nuts.

Key ingredients in all of our baked goods benefit greatly from pollinators! Just in the eastern United States, over a hundred species of wild bees, most of which are native to the region, have been recorded visiting apple orchards. “When abundant, wild bees provide all the pollination an orchard needs…and can be more effective pollinators than honey bees on a per-visit basis…Wild bees are a valuable orchard asset whose contributions are only now beginning to be fully appreciated” (Park 2). Those wild native pollinators include mason bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, mining bees, sweat bees, and cellophane bees.

Even some spices have pollinators to thank! Nutmeg trees have been observed being pollinated by beetles, which are thought to be the original insect pollinators before bees even existed! Thrips are also important pollinators of nutmeg as well as sweat bees and syrphid flies.

References:

  • Park, M., et al. 2015. Wild Pollinators of Eastern Apple Orchards and How to Conserve Them. 2nd ed. Cornell University, Penn State University, and The Xerces Society. (www.northeastipm.org/park2012)

  • Sharma MV, Armstrong JE. Pollination of Myristica and Other Nutmegs in Natural Populations. Tropical Conservation Science. 2013;6(5):595-607. doi:10.1177/194008291300600502