Hidden Star Orchards
Clements, CA
Johann Smit and Wendy Holm welcome you to Hidden Star Orchards. Our family farm is located in the rolling foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just below the town of Jackson. Once home to a dairy, this beautiful setting completed its transition to an apple orchard in 1985. After a rigorous three year process, our CCOF certification was granted in May of 2005. Adding an extra measure of purity, we boast irrigation with potable, 99.9% pure well water drawn from an aquifer 1000' below the ground. Today 80 acres are cultivated in a variety of fruits which include apples, cherries, blueberries, pomegranates and grapes. Everything is grown specifically for farmers' markets in the Bay Area.
Hidden Star Orchards is committed to a zero waste ideal. Fruit that isn't sold at the market is transformed into a variety of value added products. Keeping this in mind, Hidden Star Orchards has developed a specialty niche in freshly pressed cider. Each week a blend of apples are prepared for juicing. From start to finish this process runs about four hours and fills a 300 gallon tank. Once pressed, our cider is flash pasteurized, bottled and then frozen to preserve the integrity of its flavor and to extend its refrigerated shelf life.
In addition to apple cider and cider blends, Hidden Star Orchards produces a variety of delicious fruit extracts. These concentrated blasts of flavor add a nutritional punch to yogurt, sauces, smoothies and more.
We make our apple sauce, apple butter, blueberry preserves and grape apple jam with no added sugar! The sweetness of the fruit is all that is needed. Everything is made with a little extra love in small batch quantities.
Our addictive apple chips are crispy thin, tangy delicious and a raw product! After being dehydrated at 115 degrees for 8 hours, each chip retains its original nutrient value.
And for you hard cider lovers there's no need to look elsewhere. Ours is a true farmstead cider. Naturally fermented, semi-dry with an authentic effervescence. Tip a bottle and you'll discover a cider experience unlike any other.
Stop by one of our farmers' markets soon for some of the tastiest organic fruit, ciders and specialty fruit products in the Bay Area. We look forward to saying hello and putting a big smile on your face!
