“After 95 years, it’s in blood,� David Easton says of his family’s farm, which started out as a small 15-acre apple orchard nestled in the Moutere Hills of Nelson, New Zealand. Now, he and wife Maryanne, who also have three teenage sons, are third generation apple growers who have been nurturing the land for over 30 years.

During the last three generations their orchards have grown to almost 100 acres, with the largest part in the heart of the Waimea plains – and, some very exciting events have occurred there. In 1990, David was wandering the Moutere Hills orchard and came across two red apples growing on a Braeburn branch. That particular branch gave birth to the Eve Red Braeburn variety, which has become a very popular apple around the world.

In addition to the Eve Red Braeburn variety, the Easton family also grows Royal Gala, Braeburn, Eve, Tentation and New Zealand Beauty apples. In all, their orchards produce about 120,000 cartons of apples that they export to many different parts of the world.

With almost 100 years of family farming knowledge, you can bet the Eastons have quite a few tricks up their sleeve. David says the single most important factor in growing their quality apples is the pruning and shaping of the trees. He believes it’s very important to shape the trees so that the apples are "exposed to the natural, unpolluted sunshine."

Growing apples in Nelson gives them quite an advantage in the sunshine department because it gets longer hours of sunlight than anywhere else in New Zealand. But, that doesn’t mean Nelson gets too hot – or too cold, for that matter. It’s surrounding by mountains on three sides, and the fourth is surrounded by the sheltered water of Tasman Bay. All of these factors lead to one thing: perfect weather for crisp and flavorful apples.

To keep their apples as flavorful possible during their trip from the orchard to your kitchen, the Eastons strictly monitor their packinghouses and cool storages. And, the family’s not done researching or experimenting with new, delicious varieties. The Eastons are currently looking into several new apple varieties they can introduce to families like yours, including the Pinova, Honeycrisp, Starlady and Moonglo.