The orchard has been open for one week and we have seen many people stop by, pick apples(at a 20% discount),and buy veggies, jam, honey and pottery.
As a result of the intense heat, the apples are ripening more quickly than usual. This weekend we start with three new varieties.
Sunrise-a summer/fall apple which is known for it crunchy, sweet deliciousness!
Paula Red-the first of the fall apples-just coming in-very hard, and quite tart.
Dolgo Crab Apples- great for crap apple jelly-soon Chris will be making some of his own for sale at the stand.
We continue with the Yellow Transparents-very ripe now, great for pies and apple sauce, and for those of you who love a soft sweet apple.
Also still available are the Vista Bellas. These apples are interesting in that you can get some which are very soft, sweet, juicy-perfect for apple sauce- while others are crunchy, and more tart. All of them have a very recognizable Vista Bella flavor. If you pick your own, you can taste and then choose the ones you like the best.
People are phoning and asking about the Duchess- the quintessential cooking apple and Melba-great for cooking and amazing for eating. Unfortunately, as we had a bumper crop of both these varieties last year, these are few and far between this year. We will not be picking them for the stand, but come and search them out. But come early.
We are happy that our squash and pumpkins are thriving, despite the lack of rain. See the buttercup!
Remember we are open every day, from 9-5, and later, if you let us know you are coming. Lots of specialty honey, jams, and beautiful pottery and Chris’ 4 amazing current Cds. Come and visit, walk in the orchard, look around the stand and enjoy the first fruits of the orchard!
PS-don’t forget that there is a 20% discount on all pick your own apples. This is to show our appreciation to our customers who stood by us after LAST year’s disaster (3 Hail storms), and to recognize that, as we did get one short hail storm in THIS July, there are marks on some apples.