Apple Holler Introduces Enticing Fresh Fruit Pastries at Tosa Farmer’s Market

Saturday morning customers ambling through the Tosa Farmer’s Market with a fresh cup of Valentine Co. coffee find themselves drawn to the small pillows of fresh pastry at a nearby stand. Cinnamon-sprinkled and frosted, these plump pastries beckon with the promise of flaky mouthfuls of sugary goodness. In low tones, two shoppers converse, then decide. “One cinnamon roll, please. And an apple turnover.” In this Puritan-descended community, it’s a tough call. But it’s time. Time for dessert first.

Starting around 3 A.M., bakers at Apple Holler in Sturtevant begin the cinnamon rolls and other fresh bakery items that will tempt shoppers on their round of Tosa Farmer’s Market.

“Everything we bring to the market is fresh and made at the farm,” says Sheri Gavin, marketing manager. “The apple turnovers are made from apples in our orchard.”

Besides apples, many of the products that are featured at the market include other seasonal fruits grown in the farm’s orchards. For example, Gavin says that mid-July bakery items will feature cherries, which are in season now, and late-July products will include blueberries.

In addition to their popular cinnamon rolls, dumplings and turnovers, the stand also offers fresh fruit grown on the farm. This is the first year the orchard will have peaches to sell, which will be coming to the market in August, according to Gavin.

Local apples are also prized by market shoppers; Gavin says these could be available as early as mid-August, but will definitely be at the market in September and October, when apple-picking is in full swing at the farm.

In this weather-dependent industry, Gavin notes that it pays for shoppers to check often for their favorite fruits, since the selection changes week to week. “We grow over thirty varieties, and each week is different, depending on what’s available.”

Gavin said that the cold spring temperatures didn’t affect their crop this year, unlike the late hard frost of the previous spring. Fruit crops seem to be withstanding the dry spell of recent weeks, as well. “We are really lucky with the weather this year. We’re anticipating a good harvest.”

Apple Holler has stands at other farmer’s markets, including those in West Allis and Cathedral Square, but this is its first year at the Tosa Farmer’s Market. Gavin says their vendors are enjoying meeting Wauwatosa shoppers. “The customers are so much fun and so wonderful.”

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This is the first in a series of "Get to Know Your Farmer" features by Natalie Wysong. Each week she will introduce readers to a different vendor at the Tosa Farmer's Market and find out what's in store for the season.