Just a reminder that our business hours have changed somewhat for this season only. We will open beginning September 4th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm at the u-pik location. There will be signs posted. We hope to be able to remain open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, thereafter, but please remember these hours are tentative and dependent on the amount of produce we can make available to our customers. WE HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF APPLES as we sell ONLY what we grow. We do not contract buy from other sources and when you buy from our orchard, you buy what has been truly locally grown and harvested by us. We do love to sell apples but we are dealing with circumstances beyond our control this season.
It most definitely is an understatement to say this year is presenting new challenges for all of us. We’ve started picking the apples that survived the Mothers’ Day weekend freeze and normally by this time in the season, we are busy, busy, busy, but not this year. We have picked the Blondees, Gala and Sansa and really not much coming in from the pickers’ efforts in the orchard. Picking the ripening fruit is quite a challenge this season as most trees have a few apples here and a few there. Too many to just leave hang and drop to the ground but not enough to justify setting the ladders just to pick one or two at each set. The flavor of the fruit is good and overall we are satisfied with the appearance as well.
Numerous times we have been asked what we are doing with all our time since the harvest is so small. Well, I’d like to say sitting on the back porch and watching the sunrises and sunsets but that’s not quite what is happening. We are working to maintain control of the grasses, weeds, insects, fungus and bacteria. All of these factors are not dependent on if the trees are producing fruit. They are a part of the natural order of life in the orchard. While we spend countless hours in our control attempts we are fighting a somewhat loosing battle. More rain than usual during this past month promoted growth of the weeds and grasses while high humidity created conditions conducive to fungus and bacteria. So not too much time is spent on the back porch but quite a bit on the mowers, tractors and use of the weed-eaters.
The most difficult aspect of all these challenges this season is not being able to go to the local Farmers’ Markets and meet our customers, both old and new. We feel that “grower transparency” is a vital link between the grower and the consumer at the local markets. Again, we personally may not be able to participate this season, but we strongly encourage everyone to support the local grower. Make the slogan, “Buy Locally,” more than just a slogan but a weekly household routine.