Good News or Bad News First?

Don't worry it isn't life or death, let me say that first! I always like to get the bad news over with first....

Bad News:  Gravenstein apples have all been picked. Do I hear some groans? I think this was a record fast year for picking!  Wow!  You guys love your Gravenstein :)

Good News:  We do have another apple ripe! Ruby Mac are ready to pick now!

Ruby Mac are a great eating apple and for applesauce.  You can use them in pies too but is best to mix with another apple since Ruby Mac break down easily when cooked.

Ruby Mac 1

ruby mac 3

We also have Bartlett pears pre-picked available to you.  $5 for a small bucket, $11 for a 5 gallon bucket.

bartlett  pears

 

 

Apple Season is here! Gravenstein apples are starting us off.

Everyone keeps asking if the Gravensteins are ready.  It is finally time!

We are open for picking starting tomorrow (Monday) at 8am to Dusk. (Open Daily)

(Gravenstein are the only apple ready now!  Ruby Mac and Gala will be coming next but NOT ripe yet).

Gravenstein apples are an old time favorite.  They are excellent for baking and applesauce, probably one of the best, in many people's opinion.  Sweet-tart flavor with an excellent crunch.

Many people I know, will let the apples sit for awhile before they use them for their pies, almost until they are getting a few days from throwing out, but not too soft that you can't use one of those apple/peeler/corer "machines."   They make a really good pie filling that breaks down some, instead of staying in stiff slices.

We have half a row of Gravenstein so if they are a must for you, don't waste time in coming.  They usually go pretty fast.

The closest way to find the Gravenstein apples,  and the least far to carry the buckets are if you park up by the office/shop instead of out back like you would later in the season.  Follow the signs that are to the south of the shop and they will take you out to the Gravensteins.

It will be a bit self-serve for Gravenstein, but once we get going with Ruby Mac and Gala, we will have people working to help you more out in the orchard.  In the meantime, I hope the signs will guide you to where you want to go!

 

Honeycrisp Trees are in the ground!

Small Updates First:    We will be having We-Pick/U-Pick Blueberries this Saturday, 9am-4pm but Saturday may be the last day.  Possibly next Thursday thru Saturday we may be open depending on how the fruit looks.  But after that we say good-bye to blueberries for another year.

But the good news is that U-Pick apples are right around the corner.  We keep checking our Gravensteins.  Still a bit too green but will keep checking and I will post on here when they are ready.

 

Farm Happenings:

Skid steer with auger = good!  Shovel = No good!

I am so thankful for advances in technology.   Using the auger to dig the tree holes was great.  We even had a smaller one for the post holes.  Of course, I AM thankful for shovels too because they do fill the holes in.

Doug digging holes

 

trees before planted

We strung a line to keep the row straight, then started planting.

 

graphed

If you look closely, you can see the tree is grafted.  I think I talked about this in a previous post a bit but a little recap.  It is impossible to get Honeycrisp trees right now ordered in so we took some cuttings and grafted them onto  Golden Delicious trees.  Eventually we will cut the Golden Delicious tree off as the Honeycrisp graft takes off. (And actually ALL apple trees are grafted....the bottom rootstock decides how big the tree will grow, and the top graft decides what kind of fruit the tree will bear.)

completed apple orchard

And there they be!  All planted and ready to grow.

Next things to check off are to get some sprinkler heads attached to the underground irrigation and plant some grass rows.  Oh and of course continue putting the posts up (working on that now) and stringing some wire to help train the trees to grow straight.

 

And something just for fun.....

We are hoping this keeps the birds from stealing our blueberries.

All Birds Do not Go Beyond This FenceBurma Shave style  :)

Hope you are all are surviving the heat!  I'm sure some of you LOVE it!  And others, like me, are just trying to survive it :)