>> NARRATOR: Come along for a once-in-a-lifetime journey through New England as you've never experienced it before.

A true insider's guide from the editors of Yankee magazine.

Join explorer, adventurer, and traveler Richard Wiese and his co-host, Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso, for behind-the-scenes access to the unique attractions that define this region, as they uncover the hidden New England that only locals know.

It's the ultimate travel guide from the people who know it best.

Coming up on Weekends with Yankee, we celebrate New England in the fall by taking in the beauty and the bounty of the cranberry harvest in South Carver, Massachusetts.

>> WIESE: I feel, since I'm corralling them, I need to be going "Yee-ha!"

>> (laughs) >> NARRATOR: We then get a glimpse of fall foliage at its peak as we travel along New Hampshire's scenic Kancamagus Highway with Yankee editor Mel Allen.

>> One thing about this drive is, there's no distractions except color.

There's nothing here but scenery.

This is the scenery road.

>> NARRATOR: Next, we head north to Jenne Farm in Reading, Vermont, which happens to be one of the most photographed farms in America.

From there, we join Richard as he visits his home state of Connecticut to get a glimpse of autumn from above.

>> WIESE: You know, I feel like a kid again.

>> NARRATOR: And finally, Amy heads to the Poverty Lane Orchards in Lebanon, New Hampshire, where they make Farnum Hill ciders with some of the best cider apples in the country.

>> The fruit is different, and the way we harvest it is different.

So these are the varieties that we use for the sort of structural elements of fermented cider.

>> NARRATOR: All coming up next on Weekends with Yankee.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Autumn in New England is cranberry harvest time, and all those bright red berries floating in their bogs make for a truly spectacular sight.

In Massachusetts, one of only a handful of states that grow cranberries, the bulk of the harvest comes from a few hundred small farms, including one owned by Susan Gilmore, a fifth-generation cranberry grower.

(machine whirring) >> My name is Susan Gilmore, and we are here on a family farm, Gilmore Cranberry Company, in South Carver, Massachusetts.

Cranberries originated in my family with my great-great-grandfather Abel D. Makepeace.

In the early 1900s, he came over to Cape Cod, and now they have about 1,900s of acres of cranberry bogs, and my husband and I have our own farm.

This is harvest season-- we harvest them once a year, which is in the fall, from the end of September up till November, depending how many acres you have and the weather.

>> WIESE: So I gather, the fact that we're wearing waders means we're going to get wet.

>> We're going to get wet.

And you're going to come and help us... >> WIESE: And I'm going to enjoy it.

>> Thank you-- come on, I'll show you the way.

Well, you're going to catch a lot of berries.

>> WIESE: That's beautiful.

>> This is a cranberry bog, and the cranberries grow on low, creeping vines, and when we get ready to wet-harvest, we add about six inches of water to the bog to do wet-harvest with the picking machines.

>> WIESE: So we have some guys who look like they're mowing a lawn, but they're, what, picking cranberries?

>> They're picking the cranberries.

They have discs on the front of the picking machines, and the discs will rotate round and round, and they tap the vines, and the cranberries will float to the top.

>> WIESE: How many years of an apprenticeship do they need to do this?

>> Well, let me show you.

>> WIESE: Okay.

>> You get right up and you can do the picking.

>> WIESE: Okay.

>> We'd love to have you, thank you very much.

>> WIESE: All right.

>> This'll be great.

>> WIESE: I think I'm coming up and getting the big lesson.

>> ...on the tire right there, either way.

If you don't mind lifting that first lever there... >> WIESE: This one?

(machine whirring) ♪ ♪ >> You did great.

>> WIESE: Thank you.

>> Now let me take you to where we do the corralling and we take off the berries-- it's right over here.

There you go.

(machine whirring) ♪ ♪ >> WIESE: I feel, since I'm corralling them, I need to be going, "Yee-ha!"

>> (laughs) Now, there's a good cranberry.

Massachusetts cranberry, that is good.

>> WIESE: Yeah, that's a Massachusetts cranberry.

>> That's it.

If we waited for all of them to turn this color, we'll be late in the season, and some of the ones that are already red would be squishy.

>> WIESE: I mean, do you ever just eat these raw?

>> Oh, all the time.

I love cranberries-- it's my life, my livelihood.

It is different every day.

It's outside.

We are stewards of the land.

We have done that for so many years, and hope to carry that on for years to come.

>> WIESE: You know, this is sort of a little therapeutic, doing this.

>> It is nice doing it, it is.

>> WIESE: You don't have to think too hard, but you're doing something.

>> You're outside, you're in nature.

>> WIESE: It's going into a pipe that's taking it up into the truck?

>> Right, there's a pump that pumps it up into the truck, and it goes into a bin up there, and it's washed.

And the people up there are going through, taking out any weeds that they can.

Hopefully we don't have many.

And then the trash, and a lot of the... You'll see, a lot of the leaves are going into this truck.

The water will go right back down in that pipe, back to here to the bog, and the cranberries are going in that long truck there that you see.

>> WIESE: I mean, it's pretty incredible.

That's 40,000 pounds of cranberries in that truck, and, you know, it's just, I think, so satisfying to see it coming out of its farm area, the bogs, you know, quickly corralled, put into this sort of weed separator, and then put into trucks.

And then you've got your tasty Massachusetts-grown cranberries.

♪ ♪ >> I want to be remembered for the cranberry farm that my husband and I started and hope that the family will carry it on for generations to come.

>> NARRATOR: Next, we travel north to New Hampshire, where autumn is ablaze.

In New England, leaf-peeping is not only a favorite pastime for many residents, but an event that attracts people from around the world, who come here to experience the breathtaking landscapes created by peak fall colors.

In fact, the tourists who flock to New England's countryside in autumn spend upward of $3 billion a year for a glimpse of the brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges that have made the region's foliage so legendary.

Among New England's many scenic fall drives, the Kancamagus Highway is widely considered the best.

Named for an Indian chief known as "the Fearless One," this 34-mile road runs through the heart of the White Mountains from Lincoln to Conway, with views of soaring mountains and swift rivers at every turn.

>> I get excited to bring people just to look at the awe in their eyes.

There are many people who are from the Midwest, or from the South, or from the West, and they have many beautiful scenes, but they don't have the fall colors like we have here in New England.

♪ ♪ Right now, we're just really starting what's considered one of the most beautiful scenic foliage drives in America.

It's 34 miles-- it was kind of built during the Depression, you know, the Conservation Corps.

And it's only been paved since the 1960s.

You're going to see no stores, there's going to be no food, there's going to be no gas stations.

It's simply a road cut through the mountain, and there's foliage all around.

One thing about this drive is, there's no distractions except color.

There's nothing here but scenery.

This is the scenery road.

You can't just come any day of the week, any month of the year.

You're here for a short time.

You could even say it's a microcosm of life.

It's like a little love affair with nature.

You know, it's that blistering first... blush of love.

♪ ♪ I always say the Kanc rhymes with bank, because it's a $3 billion industry, foliage in New England.

Just on this highway alone, there's 775,000 cars come every year.

So there are people who come, and they actually will call us at Yankee, and they'll say, "When will the peak foliage day be?"

And they actually think it's, like, a set time, like a schedule, like catching a train.

And we always tell them the same thing, that it's not like a wild animal that you can corral, but generally speaking, nature has a timetable.

It always goes from the north to the south, and it goes from high elevations to lower elevations.

♪ ♪ But if you're trying to time your vacation just to peak, you're kind of maybe missing some of the reason that you come up here for fall.

It's not just driving and looking, what I call being a hit-and-run leaf-peeper.

It's getting out and it's walking.

It's having a picnic, it's going to apple orchards.

It's going to farm stands.

It's taking some leaves back and preserving them.

There's so much more to fall foliage in New England than just the leaves, though the leaves are pretty cool.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Beyond taking a drive down a foliage-filled highway, there are a number of creative ways that visitors to New England can enjoy the autumn splendor, depending on their interests and their taste for adventure.

For example, a foliage photography workshop, like this one we discovered in Reading, Vermont, can help participants see the fall landscape with fresh eyes.

>> So I'm leading a photography tour for eight people, and Jenne Farm is a must-see.

Mainly because it's the expectation of, "I'm going to Vermont to see fall foliage."

Jenne Farm is an icon.

>> NARRATOR: Keeping the class size small, instructor Ben Williamson leads both amateur and experienced photographers into the countryside, where they can capture some of the iconic images associated with New England, including Jenne Farm, here in Reading.

This cluster of historic red buildings nestled in rolling hills is one of the most photographed farms in the country, if not the world, and has been featured in several movies and commercials.

>> I think the best time of day is usually in the morning, this time when the sun's coming in from the side and kind of side lighting.

And we have some nice clouds today.

We like to see white puffy clouds.

And to time the foliage right is really important, too.

You can be early, and it can be still really green, or you can be late and lose a lot of the leaves, but right now, it's looking really good.

And the general rule with photographers is, if you're there first, you are allowed to have a free field of view in front of you.

But that doesn't, obviously, always work out that way.

>> NARRATOR: Even for those who might not consider a class setting to be their cup of tea, spending time out in the landscape can be a great way to fulfill their lifelong dream of experiencing New England in a blaze of glory.

From beautiful Jenne Farm, we travel south to the town of Kent, Connecticut.

Richard drives over to the Spirit Horse Farm, where he connects with arborist Ian Sporré.

Together, they decide that the best way to get a view of the fall foliage is to get up into a tree.

>> WIESE: Ian, good to see you again.

>> Richard, good to see you again.

>> WIESE: You're all geared out!

>> You ready to climb some trees?

>> WIESE: Oh, definitely.

I'm looking for a different perspective on autumn.

>> Well, we sure can give that to you up top.

>> WIESE: Okay.

>> Why don't we get saddled up?

Come on.

>> WIESE: Okay.

♪ ♪ >> My name is Ian Sporré, and I'm a Connecticut licensed arborist.

What arborists do is, we care for trees.

We climb and remove and prune trees.

We're setting our work positioning line.

We've got a 12-ounce beanbag and we've got a slingshot that can shoot over 100 feet high.

(slingshot rattles) Whoo!

An arborist cares for trees.

We climb trees to remove trees that are on homes.

We inspect trees to see if they're sound.

We prune trees to better the health of the trees, and make them safer for families to play in their backyards.

>> WIESE: Climbing this is, I assume, not like gym class where I'm going to get rope burn in funny places.

>> Yeah, you're not going to get rope burn.

That's why we have the gloves to protect our hands.

You know, without the gloves, you know, this hitch cord, you know, descending, creates a lot of heat.

So what we're going to do is, we're going to set up your knee ascender.

First few feet are always a little tedious.

And then you're going to go hand over hand... >> WIESE: Okay.

>> And you're going to raise your right leg and push down, and literally hold your body up a little bit until you get up.

It's going to be a little frustrating the first few feet.

>> WIESE: This isn't easy.

>> And push down, then raise hand over hand, up, until we get about four feet, and then we'll put your left knee ascender on.

>> WIESE: This is a very comfortable position.

I know a lot of people might be a little nervous about going up in height.

But the idea of seeing a tree from the top, almost like a bird or an animal up there, is very seductive.

>> It just gives you a totally different perspective.

>> WIESE: Absolutely.

>> You know, like a spider.

You know, it's, like, they call it, like, being in space.

You're going to do the rope walker system.

And I'll wait until you get up a little ways.

>> WIESE: I feel like I'm getting higher.

I don't know if I'd want to race you.

>> So, Richard, I'm going to... We're going to get you to the ultimate view of this fall foliage.

It's incredible up here, Richard.

>> WIESE: Oh, you know, I'm loving it.

There's definitely, like, the inner child coming out right now.

>> The view is incredible out here.

You can see all the fall foliage really turning up there on the hillside.

So we're going to get you over to this crotch over here.

>> WIESE: Okay.

>> This branch union.

>> WIESE: Yeah, the one that's dead, okay.

>> I'm going to swing you over.

Yeah, somebody needs to prune this.

>> WIESE: This is definitely, like, a leap of faith.

>> So just watch my steps and you might be able to do it yourself.

There you go.

So now you're going to disconnect your left foot.

>> WIESE: Not being the most flexible of people.

>> Pull that down, then out.

And then you can unhook it and just let it, let it hang.

>> WIESE: All right, here we go.

Ready?

(grunts) >> Nice job.

Get your feet in there, and then pull the slack out.

And then lean backwards towards me.

>> WIESE: You must love doing this.

>> Oh, God, it's incredible.

You know, every tree's so different, and every experience is so different.

Especially this time of year, you know, peak foliage.

You really can appreciate nature.

>> WIESE: Are those doves?

>> I don't see them.

>> WIESE: Can you lean over... >> Oh, yes, I do see those-- yeah, wow.

>> WIESE: Those are all white doves.

What a view, huh?

>> That's incredible.

They're in that Norway spruce over there.

>> WIESE: Ian, thank you for showing me Kent from a different perspective.

And this really is a different perspective, but it's a wonderful town, and what you do is... You know, I feel like a kid again.

>> Anytime, Richard, it was my pleasure.

I'm looking forward to doing it again.

>> WIESE: I'll race you to the bottom?

>> Let's do it!

>> WIESE: I'll let him go first.

♪ ♪ >> All right, yeah.

All right, that was great!

Good job!

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: From Kent, Connecticut, we travel north to Lebanon, New Hampshire, to visit Poverty Lane Orchards, home of the widely acclaimed Farnum Hill brand of hard cider.

This family-run operation was a conventional apple orchard until it started experimenting with cider apple varieties in the 1980s.

Today, Poverty Lane Orchards is one of the biggest growers of heirloom and specialty cider apples in the U.S., and its Farnum Hill ciders have garnered praise from The New York Times an d Wine Enthusiast, among others.

>> I'm Stephen Wood.

I grow apples, and incidentally, I make cider from those apples.

>> TRAVERSO: So, Stephen, I know we're in an orchard.

It looks like an orchard.

But this is not a pick-your-own orchard-- people aren't going to come and get their McIntosh and their Cortlands and stuff.

>> Nope, it's a cider orchard.

>> TRAVERSO: So how is it different?

>> The fruit is different, and the way we harvest it is different.

The varieties in this field are very high in tannins and they're high in sugars, and low in acidity.

So these are the varieties that we use for the sort of structural elements of fermented cider.

>> TRAVERSO: The structure of wine is often determined by tannins.

>> It comes from the tannins and the grape skins.

The other thing, as you can see, is that we harvest most of this fruit from the ground.

And we shake it down.

And these guys are grading and picking fruit off the ground.

You'll see them flick stuff out into the aisle.

That's the stuff we don't want in the bins.

>> TRAVERSO: And so you're shaking the tree, apples come down, you're picking them up off the ground.

>> Yeah, it's a fairly labor-intensive process, and in France and England, it's mostly done mechanically.

>> TRAVERSO: So, I'm going to taste this-- this is Dabinett?

>> Yeah, I'll let you make your own judgment.

Yeah, it's one of the workhorses of our... Don't feel compelled to swallow it.

>> TRAVERSO: Ooh, yeah!

It's like, all the sweetness and the bitterness and none of the acidity that makes it yummy.

>> Right-- we grow other apples with very high acidity.

Some of these varieties that were actually very good to eat but very acidic were beautiful sources of acidity for this stuff.

>> TRAVERSO: Right.

>> So we wound up by total happenstance-- I'd love to say it was by genius-- but by total happenstance, with a mixture of bittersweet and acidic apples that was not replicated anywhere else in the world.

>> TRAVERSO: There's a big cider revival in America in general.

I remember reading, it's, like, the fastest-growing beverage category in the country.

>> It is-- this exploding industry all had to do with appleyness.

>> TRAVERSO: Right.

>> It was and continues to be made mostly from culled dessert fruit, not apples like these, grown for the purpose, but, you know, what's left over after you've graded your Honeycrisp or your McIntosh or your Gala-- very low-priced apples, or apple juice concentrate.

But it's miles from what we're making.

>> TRAVERSO: It smells so good, and even the wood here, it just absorbs that smell of years and years of apples.

>> Yeah, here comes my wife and partner, Louisa.

She's well into this... all of the... particularly the aromatic thing.

>> My name is Louisa Spencer, and I am co-owner of Poverty Lane Orchards/ Farnum Hill Ciders.

And I guess, if it can be summarized, what I do is try to persuade Americans that fermented cider of distinctive character which originates in a particular orchard is highly desirable.

That's my job.

>> TRAVERSO: You're growing McIntosh, Cortland, all the sort of typical New England varieties that everybody would buy at the supermarket.

And now you're growing cider apples.

So how did that happen?

>> You know, we were doing regular... Grower, packer, shipper of the regular varieties, right?

But we did start, in the early '80s, a grafting trial of all these English and French and American varieties, just wondering whether we could grow them in our very different climates and soils from their place of origin.

And we discovered, to our surprise, that out of the couple of hundred varieties we tested, that there were... there was a handful that really grew to a very high standard here, maybe, in some cases, higher than anywhere else we'd seen.

Um... And so we decided to plant a little, like, thousand-tree orchard for a little sideline.

We thought it might just retail, local, wholesale, or something.

>> TRAVERSO: So when did you make that gamble of, like, "We're going to bet the farm's future on cider"?

>> It was really over the next couple of years we started to realize that, at least by our judgment... >> There was no going back.

>> Right.

>> TRAVERSO: Are you, like, comparatively, one of the larger cider apple growers in the country now?

>> Well, comparatively, yes.

We were the largest for a very long time, but we have the irony of having achieved regular longtime critical acclaim and a very good reputation in the cider industry.

>> TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

>> But... and we've helped a whole lot of people develop very successful cider businesses.

We're still tiny in trying to figure out how to make these orchard-based ciders for the prices they need to command in order to be able to use these very specialized apples, how to make them in a large volume profitably.

>> TRAVERSO: Right, and how long are you picking through the season?

When do you start, when do you finish?

>> We start in September, and we finish, usually, in early November.

But it varies by the season.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah, yeah.

>> This is not unskilled labor.

These guys are very good at what they do, and we rely very heavily on both the domestic guys who have been working with us for a while, but also the gentlemen from Jamaica who've worked with us for a while, and they're, I mean, they're not replaceable.

>> TRAVERSO: Well, we're talking about cider a lot.

And now I'm getting thirsty.

So could we maybe go back to the cider house and taste some?

>> Sure.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, great.

>> This way.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> So you wanted to taste some ciders.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah-- this is a stainless tank which... Where are we in the process here?

>> This is 2017 crop cider that is ready to go, ready to blend into a finished cider.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, great.

>> And this is 2016 crop.

>> TRAVERSO: I'm guessing the stuff in the barrels can have flavors that it has not yet acquired.

>> Well, it's actually a lot more elaborate than that.

But yes, that's true.

>> TRAVERSO: They're going to taste different.

>> These things, also, though... >> We can make anything boring, darling-- don't ask for details.

>> Every tank has something different in it, and most barrels have something different in them.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> And the barrels are our fine dial turners.

These are our bulk blends.

But they all get blended together to make the finished ciders.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, okay, great.

>> So this is a late-season last year.

It's got a lot of the Dabinett you were watching get harvested.

Also got other bittersweets and acid varieties, and some Golden Russet.

>> TRAVERSO: So, I mean, I definitely am getting those apple aromas that we were talking about.

>> Yeah, you're getting, there's a peach and apricot.

>> TRAVERSO: Peach?

Yeah.

>> A lot of citrus.

>> Smells to me like being downwind from a... some kind of tropical island.

>> TRAVERSO: There's, like, that little tart edge that makes your mouth, like, feel really, it's juicy.

>> Yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: It's, like, really juicy.

>> Yeah, well, it's called the acid... mouthwatering effect of the acid, and then you get the drying effect of the astringency.

>> That's a sort of basic bittersweet blend.

Would you like to taste a barrel?

>> TRAVERSO: Yes, I'd love to taste a barrel, okay.

>> This is 2016 Golden Russet, which is one of our fruit bombs.

It's got good, bright, but not strong acidity.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah, that has, like, a... Kind of a syrupy quality, not in flavor, but just... Texture is, I'm seeing it's a little more viscous.

>> You're seeing legs, darling.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> I mean, it just has nothing like the legs that wine would have, because the alcohol is nothing like that high, but, yeah, that viscosity is, you know, sort of part of the deal.

Cheers-- Gold Russet.

>> TRAVERSO: What I'm getting is, like, orange and apricot blossom.

>> That sounds good.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> Love that.

>> TRAVERSO: It's like a spring day, something like that.

There's very much a wine-like quality, almost like a pinot grigio quality.

>> Can't help it, girl!

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

You make it like wine.

>> And if you look at the molecules in fruit, they overlap massively from fruit to fruit.

>> TRAVERSO: Mmm.

Oh, that's so nice, it's just really... >> It's really nice, and it's all there for you at seven and a half percent alcohol.

And it's great with food.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

Really good with food.

Well, I love the direction you're taking your cider, and let's just do a quick cheers.

>> Cheers.

>> TRAVERSO: Celebrate Farnum Hill.

>> Thank you.

>> That's it, yay!