Weather looks good for opening weekend – Sept. 5 & 6

We will start our normal hours 9:00 to 5:30 on Saturday & Sunday, then closed Monday and back open Tuesday thru Sunday.

Zestars , Sansas and Ginger Gold all look good (see photos).  MacIntosh in the old orchard are very tart – OK for baking – they will be riper in a week.  Galas are getting good color, but like the Macs, they need a week or ten days more before they get better flavor.  Honeycrisp and other varsities need more time yet – I will post as they ripen.

I picked up 50 gallons of cider today.  Zechers are bringing syrup tomorrow afternoon.  The trial run on donuts worked well last week – grandkids were pleased to find fifty donuts when they arrived.

Please check our safe picking policy – come help us start the season.

 

Saturday Sept. 5 – Zestars, Ginger Gold, Sansa and some tart Macintosh !!

We are starting with the early apples – Zestars, Ginger Gold and Sansa all look good – there will be plenty of tart Macintosh as well.  As varieties ripen, I will post.  Honeycrisp and other varieties will be later in September.

We are setting up for a trial run on the donut machine and hope we can remember how it works !!  Hopefully we will have donuts on Saturdays and Sundays (only) until they run out.

Photo shows some nice Zestars ready to pick soon.

Please check our Safe Picking Policy.

Look forward to seeing you.

 

Plan to start harvest on Saturday September 5

We are cleaning out the barn and setting up checkout stations so we can operate safely – I will post more details in about a week.

Apples continue to grow well AND grapevines also. Lots of work pulling vines out of the trees and getting the mowing done.

The young crows are sitting on the fence posts waiting for the Honeycrisps to ripen. The old crows know that the Zestars come first and the Honeycrisps will be later in September.

Look forward to seeing folks soon.

APPLES GROWING WELL

Apples are up to an inch or more in diameter and growing well.  Our irrigation system has been working overtime – rainfall for all of June and July so far is under 3 inches.  We reduce competition for water for the trees by keeping the grass mowed – yes it still grows even when it is dry.  Most of the crop has a good balance of fruit set on the tree, but we are having to do some hand thinning.

We are making plans on how to safely run pick your own sales this fall – we will have customers enter thru the gate beside the barn and check out going thru the barn.  We will ask you to use face covering as you enter and check out – there is ample room for social distancing in the orchard.  I will post more info as we get closer to harvest.

We (and our family) are all weathering the lockdown ok – we are fortunate to live in Vermont with relatively low levels of the Corona virus.

The photo shows some of the same Zestars with nice apples that were in bloom at the time of my post in May.  Put us on your calendar for the fall.

 

 

FULL BLOOM & LOTS OF BUMBLE BEES OUT WORKING !!

We are well launched on another growing season. The apple trees are blissfully unaware of coronavirus. Bloom did not start until May 21 – very late after a very cold spring and some near misses on freeze damage. Now very warm and bloom will be over quickly.  At this point the potential is there for a good crop, but many steps still to go. We are planning how to safely manage pick your own with social distancing.

Our daughters are all dealing with over full households as all the college grandchildren were sent home – two seniors will have “virtual “ graduations – but everyone is healthy and still employed. We are very glad that all my trips to Boston for chemo were completed just before the lockdown and that the treatments are working.

The photo shows some nice bloom on new Zestar trees.

Hope everyone is managing ok thru the lock down and staying healthy.