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This Week on the Farm
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Tart Cherries - slow ripening this year
Wednesday July 23rd, 2003
Tart cherries are slow to ripen. although we have had some u-pickers, the picking will be easier next week after the 27th. Because they're so slow to ripen, I think we'll have them around until August 17th or so. The pitting machine is working great!
The black sweets are still in the market but u-pick is over. The Queen Annes (light sweets) are in the market and should last another 10 days.
I haven't heard from my apricot connection but hope to have some in the markets soon.
Bay City sweet corn will be in after the 27th, like the tart cherries, it's slow to ripen.
We'll have Indiana melons next week around the 31st.
On the farm front: The harvest crew is shaking some light sweet cherries on a lease farm. The cool weather makes the job easier. After a slow start and with the trees having less fruit, we ended the day with a harvest total of 21 tanks (holding about 1,000 lbs of fruit each). The lease farm we are harvesting has the tallest trees I've ever seen and all the growth is at the tops of the trees, it is a very strange orchard! If you can imagine it, there's no fruit until about 10 feet up. It is like walking in a canopy with no leaves down close but all the growth up high over your head. (I have always though it would be fun to have a party under the canopy.) We trim our trees to encourage growth down inside and low, that is why this orchard is so unique. OOPS! Someone needs some cherries pitted, I'm off to the pitting room!
The Fruit Stand - we are in full swing now
Friday July 18th, 2003
In the fruit stand:
Dark sweet cherries are available in quarts and deals on 8-quart flats.Light sweet cherries just arrived in the market today.Frozen pitted tart cherries in the 4-cup tubs are available for $4.00 each or 4 tubs for $15.00.
*We hope to see some fresh, ripe tart cherries by the 22nd of July. There will be u-pick in the 85-95 cents/lb price range. The pitting machine is getting ready to go! We will have the 10 & 20lbs of fresh-pitted cherries available after July 23rd, these are great! Give us a call the day before you plan to pick them up and we'll have them ready. These bags of pitted cherries are so easy to use, they're already washed and pitted. All you need to do is simply put them into smaller containers and stick them in the freezer. Cherries taste great in the middle of winter.
You're probably already aware that our farms were damaged by the cold and we don't have an apricot on the farm. However, I found a farmer downstate that I can buy some from so I'm planning on bringing them up. Looks like I should have them around July 24th-28th.
We'll have Bay City sweet corn around July 23rd to 26th.
Peaches look great! August 10th is my educated guess on when to start looking for them.
Paula Red/McIntosh-September 22nd Ginger Gold (first quality sweet&firm apple)-September 27th
*Of course these are guesses so keep in touch*
In the garden: Beans-lots coming August 1st-ishZucchini/summer squash-blooming, ready in 10-14 daysCucumbers-growing, but not as fast as the zucchini
Pumpkins-look great, they're growing like weedsBaby's breath-picked, $4.00/bunch (huge bunch!)
Statice-gorgeous, will be picking in 6 to 7 daysIn the orchard: Things look great. The sweet cherry trees that have had two years of vacation (no fruit!) better come through next year. Our little trees we planted got rain just in the nick of time so 98% of them are alive and growing. Apples are the shining star this year, just the right number on each branch. Apples will be big this year!
Sweet Cherries - short crop this year
Wednesday July 8th, 2003
We are anxious to get some local sweet cherries into the market. The Oregon sweets were delicious, but customers want home-grown. There is a farm nearby which sells its crop to a commercial processor. We have arranged, with the owners, for our pickers to go in to harvest their dark sweets. We are waiting only for those cherries to ripen, and expect that to be by this weekend (12-13 July). We still cannot get over the fact that, for two years in a row, the sweets have been all but wiped out by late frosts.
Our strawberries are delicious but disappearing fast; we'll have them for another few days. There are fresh vegetables and watermelons in the market, too.
On the fun side, John and I drove the fork-lift, converted from a 1989 chevy truck, in the 4th of July parade. Of course, kids were perched all over the fenders!
As far as farm work goes, we have started watering trees. We hope that this will bring on the rain, as it is very dry here. We need rain for weed control and as a boost to the nutrients contained in the special fertilizers used on the pumpkins and small trees. What to look for:
July 11- local sweet cherries
July 20- start of tart cherry season U-pick or we pick. Pitter ready to go
End of July- sweet corn!
I'm trying to update on Wednesdays, so I can keep everyone posted.
See you at the market-
Betsy
Friday June 27th, 2003
Strawberries -- really!
Strawberries are in! It has been a strange start to the strawberry
season. I don't remember ever having the "on-then-off" start to the season.
The strawberry man said we may be seeing some results from winter injury.
The berries are excellent, and are well worth the wait.
We brought in some sweet cherries from our neighbors to the west--far
west, that is: Washington state. They look beautiful and it is fun for us to make
the connection with sweet cherry growers across the country.
The markets are busy. We have ice cream at the US 31 Market, pies from
McColly's at both markets, and lots of jams, jellies, and salsas. See you
in the market!
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