Lanni Orchards' Perfect Pies

What is better than finding fresh fruit from a local orchard available every week at your local farmers market? Regulars to Lanni Orchards’ tent might say it’s the fruit pies, the no-holds-barred pastry masterpieces. Take your pick from apple crisp, apple, peach, four berry, cherry, blueberry, and their best-selling strawberry-rhubarb pie.

Eric and Malaina, who man the Lanni Orchards tent on Saturdays, caution that they usually sell out of their pies. If you have your heart set on one, don’t delay.

If you prefer your fruit fresh, there’s a variety to choose from. Lanni Orchards specializes in freestone Italian sugar plums, nectarines, and peaches from which the pits come out freely rather than needing to be cut out. Eric and Malaina note that they also currently have Clapp pears (firm, with a sweet-and-sour taste), Paula Red apples (crunchy and sour-sweet) and Jersey Mac apples (sweet and soft). You’ll also find a generous spread of vegetable produce that, this week, includes salad greens, tomatoes, parsley, leeks, cucumbers (regular and pickling), beets, and summer squash.

Lanni Orchards was established in Lunenburg when Pasquale Lanni, his wife Rosa, their four sons, and their one daughter emigrated from Avellino, Italy, and in 1963 purchased the land now known as Lanni Orchards. It is still a family-run business, now managed by Pat Lanni and his brothers, all third-generation farmers, with more than 180 acres of fruit trees, berries, and vegetables. They are one of the largest suppliers of the Massachusetts Farm to School Project, sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resource to bring locally grown food to the of school and college cafeterias in the state.