All Golden Delicious rows are ripe!

Golden Delicious are ready for the picking!  

We have 3 rows of them plus many, many loaded trees in the older, front section of the orchard. 

Golden Delicious have a mild but sweet flavor.  They are very popular to use in pies and baking because it keeps it shape well when cooked.  They are also a good eating apple.  

We still have a ton of beautiful Melrose and Jonagold apples out there.  The three Jonagold rows all the way to the back next to the railroad tracks are loaded and BEAUTIFUL!!  Check them out!  You will not be disappointed.

(Pictured below are the Jonagold)



Ruby Jon - half a row left.

Gala- You'll find some easily enough if you walk halfway down.  (plus some random trees behind the shop so ask if you want us to show you those!) They are perfect still for applesauce but getting a little less crunchy for eating. 

Honeycrisp- if you look inside the trees at the far ends of the rows, you will find some small ones if you are motivated.

All pears are sold out for the season.

Fun time with kids!!

And to wet your appetite....We have added an Apple Crepe Filling recipe to our Recipe Tab.   Coming soon we will also have a recipe for Apple French Toast Bake thanks to our resident food connoisseur Sherri Gentry!

Ruby Mac apple have all been picked.

Quick Update:

Ruby Mac apples have all been picked! 



But do not worry, there are LOTS of other varieties still:

Gala
Honeycrisp
Early Variety of Golden Delicious
Jonagold
Ruby Jon
Liberty
Melrose

And also still lots of D'Anjou pears!

Pre-picked D'Anjou pears available now.

D'Anjou Pears are pre-picked and waiting for you!

D' Anjou pears are a great all-purpose pear.  They are great for slicing into salads, baking into pies, pureeing for sauces and beverages, and of course eating fresh from hand.

They have a mild flavor and firm texture, but still sweet and tasty.

 

These pears are picked straight from the tree, because of that they need to be chilled at least 2 weeks in the fridge to ripen properly.  After they have been chilled, set them on your counter and let them ripen from there. Otherwise, like I did last year, you will wait and wait, and then they will go from crunchy to just rotting in the bucket.  When you buy these at grocery stores, they have already gone through the chilling process, so they ripen like you would expect a Bartlett pear too.  Just wanted to give you a heads up!


D'Anjou pears also do not turn yellow when they are ripe like a Bartlett pear.  So don't judge by the outside color if they are ready to eat.  "Apply the thumb to the pear flesh just below the point where the stem joins the fruit. When the flesh beneath your thumb yields evenly to gentle pressure, it is time to eat your pear. If you have to push more than slightly, it is not ready yet," explains the OSU extension service website.


Fun fact from Wikipedia: D'Anjou purée is used for Jelly Belly's Juicy Pear flavor of jelly bean.^[2]

^{Check back to the previous post for what apples are ready now.  There are many varieties available now!}

Ruby Jon, Liberty, Melrose and Jonagold all ripe now.

I can't keep up with all the apples coming ripe!  Apples definitely don't seem to be ripening as spread out as last year.  But I guess I shouldn't be as surprised because the same thing happened with all the other crops we grew this year.  Hopefully you guys don't miss out on any of your favorite apples because of it though!!!

More Apples that just came ripe:

Melrose:

Melrose are a great baking apple.  They keep their shape and flavor after baking .  It is a great apple for baking whole.  They are a nice eating apple too, especially if you let it sit for a bit after being picked.  Melrose are a cross between a Red Delicious and Jonathon apple.

We have a row of Melrose that is a few years old, and we have some scattered trees in the older portion of the orchard.  Ask about those if you'd like them.

Ruby Jon:

Very similiar looking to RubyMac.  Ruby Jon are part Jonathon variety which some people really love to cook with.  Ruby Jons make great applesauce and are used for general baking but are enjoyed as an eating apple too.

Liberty:

We have a small amount of these but they are quickly becoming a customer favorite.  They have a great crisp, sweet flavor to them.  Very crunchy.  I read they are one of the best for apple butter too.  Very yummy eating apple.

 

Jonagold:

Check the post from yesterday for more about Jonagold.  But they are a great overall apple that are great for eating, baking and applesauce.  Love them!

And of course still lots of Gala, Honeycrisp, Ruby Mac, and an Early Variety of Golden Delicious.

Jonagold Apples just came ripe!

Jonagold Apples are ripe now!  

I am bias but these are my favorite because they are such a good all around apple.  But of course everyone has their own opinion :)

Sweet apple with a nice crunch.  They are great for applesauce, pies, and of course, eating.

I can't wait to make a batch of applesauce with these!



Still have lots of Honeycrisp, Ruby Mac, Early Variety of Golden Delicious and Gala.


For a guess, the next apple to ripen will be the Melrose.  I will let you know when those come up!

It has been fun talking with you all out in the orchard!  One customer I was talking to was picking apples to make 125 mini pies for her son's wedding coming near the end of September.  They will give them out as favors for the guests, if I understood correctly.  WOW, I would love to see those!  What a great idea and what a fun project to take on. 


Other Farm Happenings:

Last week, we got a few new grass seed fields planted.  Then the next day was the big downpour/thunder/lightening so hopefully all our seed didn't wash away!  We will plant another field next week I think.

This week, we will probably start working on taking down the net over 7 acres of our blueberries.  We put it up most years to keep out all those pesky birds that feast on our blueberries.  We use a scissor lift to help the job along.  It takes about a week to roll it all up.  I think I have posted pictures of the process in the past but I can post more once they start taking down the net.

We also finally finished our last machine picking of blueberries!  This year was definitely one of our most stressful years of getting all the blueberries picked in a timely manner.  Thankfully we survived and like my Grandpa always says, "At least being a farmer, we always hope next year will be better!"  It definitely could have been worse too so we are thankful for what we were given!

On a side note, we are also waiting for another grandchild to be born!!  She is one day overdue today so it is exciting times.  Then we have another grandchild coming in about a month.  Also another girl! I think my parents think they are pretty lucky right now!

Well that is all for now!  See you out in the orchard this week!

Honeycrisp, Ruby Mac and Early Variety of Golden Delicious are now ripe!

New varieties ready today!

For all those who we told the Honeycrisp would be ready in 2 weeks...SURPRISE!  Looks like they are ready now!  They snuck up on us.  They are ripe for the picking on the 3 main rows on the eastern-most side!

Ruby Mac and our early ripening variety of Golden Delcious are ready too!  So many good kinds to choose from right now!

Honeycrisp are probably our most raved about apple.  They are very sweet and juicy, plus they are a steal of a deal compared to a grocery store prices. 
They are best for eating out of hand, but also great for applesauce and pies.  They don't break down when you cook them so if that is what you are looking for, this is the apple for you.

Ruby Macs are a beautiful red apple with white flesh.  When you rub them against your pant leg, they just sparkle!  They are great for eating and baking.  If you are looking for a Macintosh apple, this is part Macintosh, part Rubinstar.  They have a heavier on the tart flavor but a touch of sweetness.  They are becoming a customer favorite.

We have a early ripening variety of Golden Delicious, actually called Smoothie.  To keep it simple though, we just call them Golden Delicious.  They get a pretty pink blush and are super sweet and crunchy.  These are my favorite of all the Goldens.  They just seem to have something special about them. 
Goldens are a good all-around apple, good for baking and eating.  They keep their shape when cooked.
Follow the signs to find them, because they start halfway down the row.  The first part of the row are also Golden Delcious but ignore them because they ripen later.


Also still LOTS OF YUMMY GALA!

 

Happy Customers with their Honeycrisp apples!

That is one fun thing about having a u-pick orchard.  You sure get to meet lots of neat people!