Friday, November 28, 2014

Apples & Pecans Great for Holiday Baking

    We'll have harvested 'Enterprise' and 'Scarlett O'Hara' apples for sale for the next couple months (until they sell out), and harvested 'GoldRush' apples for sale for the next 6 to 7 months.  'Enterprise' apples are sweet-tart, great for both fresh eating and baking, stay crisp and juicy for 6 to 8 months in a refrigerator, and are a favorite of many customers.  'Scarlett O'Hara' apples are also sweet-tart, with a strong unique flavor that some customers love, and keep well for 3 to 4 months in a refrigerator.  'GoldRush' apples keep well for 8 to 10 months in a refrigerator, and are best after at least 1 month in the fridge, as they get sweeter as the starches convert into sugars.  Fully-ripened 'GoldRush' apples have a taste similar to 'Honeycrisp', and 'GoldRush' is my favorite apple for fresh eating.  They're also wonderful for baking, making applesauce or apple butter, etc.

I used 'GoldRush' apples and 'Kanza' pecans in this Apple Pecan Bread with Dried Tart Cherries.  The recipe is posted as a Note on our Facebook page, Brendas Berries.
   Prices are the same as last year: $1.21 per pound + tax for small amounts of harvested #1 apples (practically perfect) and $0.83 per pound + tax for small amounts of harvested #2 apples (with small cracks or other surface damage).  A box of 20 lbs. of harvested #1 apples costs $23.22 + tax, which saves $1.00.  A box of 20 lbs. of harvested #2 apples, great for economical holiday baking, costs $15.79 + tax, which also saves $1.00.  Buying 40 lb. of harvested apples (2 boxes) saves another $1.00 per box, for a total of $4.00 off the per-pound price.
   Harvested apples are kept in top condition in our cooler, which is now full of 4000 pounds of apples.  We also still have a few bags each of many selections from my apple breeding program.  I give taste samples of all of our apple varieties and selections, to those interested in buying them.
We now have 5-lb. bags of cracked 'Kanza', a larger pecan variety with excellent flavor, pecans for sale. 
   Bill is now very busy harvesting, cleaning and cracking pecans.  We now have 5-lb. bags of cracked 'Kanza' pecans for sale, for $14.86 + tax per bag.  'Kanza' is a larger pecan variety, with excellent flavor.  Our Facebook page, Brendas Berries, has many recipes posted as Notes that feature apples and pecans.
   Our workers and I have been transplanting strawberries on warmer afternoons, and applying mulch to the new strawberry beds that Bill prepared a few weeks ago.  In a few weeks I'll apply mulch on top of the strawberry plants to protect them from winter cold.
Our workers Brandon Ledford (left) and Ben Miller (right) applied mulch to our new strawberry beds this afternoon.  Our apple orchard, in the background, was completely harvested 3 weeks ago, and the trees are now hardening for winter.
   Our fall hours continue for this weekend, until Nov. 30.  During this period, we are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and 1 to 6 p.m. on Sundays.  I appreciate phone messages a day or so ahead, letting me know when you're coming.  From Dec. 1 to May 31 we're open by appointment, so phone 620-597-2450 a day or so ahead and leave a message on the answering machine saying when you're coming.  If you drop by and I don't see you come in, since I'm working elsewhere on the farm, ring the bell on the sales building.  If it's very cold or raining and I'm not in the sales building, phone the number at left (620-597-2450) or come up to the house.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Many Apples and Pecans for Sale

   We harvested all remaining apples before the 18 F freezes we've had on Nov. 12 & 13, so our pick-your-own apple season is now over.  We'll have harvested 'Enterprise' apples for sale for the next 3 to 4 months, and harvested 'GoldRush' apples for sale for the next 7 to 8 months. 
We have many 'GoldRush' & 'Enterprise' apples (front box) for sale, plus boxes of all  'Enterprise' (2nd box), all  'GoldRush' (3rd box), and  'Scarlett O'Hara' (4th box).
   'Enterprise' apples are sweet-tart, great for both fresh eating and baking, stay crisp and juicy for 6 to 8 months in a refrigerator, and are a favorite of many customers.  'GoldRush' apples keep well for 8 to 10 months in a refrigerator, and are best after at least 1 month in the fridge, as they get sweeter as the starches convert into sugars.  Fully-ripened 'GoldRush' apples have a taste similar to 'Honeycrisp', and 'GoldRush' is my favorite apple for fresh eating.  They're also wonderful for baking, making applesauce, apple butter, etc.
   Harvested apples are kept in top condition in our cooler, which is now full of 4000 pounds of apples.  Besides 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush', we have many harvested 'Scarlett O'Hara' apples for sale.  We also have a few bags each of many other varieties and selections, including some from my apple breeding program.  I give taste samples of all 28 of our apple varieties and selections, to those interested in buying them. 
   Apple prices are the same as last year, and are listed in the previous post.  We have many #2 apples for economical holiday baking.  If you want to buy harvested apples, we'd appreciate it if you can come soon, so we'll have room in the cooler to store the rest of the apples we've picked!
I made this apple crostata with caramelized pecan topping on Wed. Nov. 12 to bring to "Pie Night" after the closing night of our revival at Center Christian Church. The recipe is posted as a note on the Facebook page for Brendas Berries, as are many other recipes featuring apples and pecans.  
   Bill is now very busy harvesting and cracking the new pecan crop.  We now have 5-lb. bags of cracked pecans for sale, for $14.86 + tax per bag.  We still have 4 bags of 'Peruque' pecans, a very early-ripening pecan variety with a very thin shell and excellent flavor.  We've just started harvesting and cracking 'Kanza', a larger pecan variety, and we now have some bags of 'Kanza' for sale also.
   Our fall hours continue until Nov. 30.  During this period, we are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and 1 to 6 p.m. on Sundays.  I appreciate phone messages a day or so ahead, letting me know when you're coming.  From Dec. 1 to May 31 we're open by appointment, so phone 620-597-2450 a day or so ahead and leave a message on the answering machine saying when you're coming.  If you drop by and I don't see you come in, since I'm working elsewhere on the farm, ring the bell on the sales building.  If it's very cold or raining and I'm not in the sales building, phone the number at left (620-597-2450) or come up to the house.
Fall color is still beautiful on the 'Brandywine' red maples I planted around our sales building 3 years ago, and the bur oak trees I planted along the driveway 19 years ago.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Many Apples & Early Pecans for Sale

   We harvested all remaining 'Enterprise' apples before the 23 F freeze we had on Sat. morning, Nov. 1.  We'll have harvested 'Enterprise' apples for sale for the next 3 to 4 months.  'Enterprise' apples are sweet-tart, great for both fresh eating and baking, stay crisp and juicy for 6 to 8 months in a refrigerator, and are a favorite of many customers. 

Our worker Rachael Triebel and I have been harvesting many 'GoldRush' apples into large bins holding 30 lbs. each.  We now have 68 bins of 'GoldRush 'in the cooler, and will finish harvesting in the next few days.
   We've now harvested almost all the 'GoldRush' apples, and will finish harvesting these in the next few days.  We'll have harvested 'GoldRush' apples for sale for the next 7 to 8 months.  'GoldRush' apples keep well for 8 to 10 months in a refrigerator, and are best after at least 1 month in the fridge, as they get sweeter as the starches convert into sugars.  Fully-ripened 'GoldRush' apples have a taste similar to 'Honeycrisp', and 'GoldRush' is my favorite apple for fresh eating.  They're also wonderful for baking, making applesauce or apple butter, etc.
   Harvested apples are kept in top condition in our cooler, which is now full.  Besides many 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush', we have many harvested 'Scarlett O'Hara' and 'Sundance' apples for sale.  We also have a few bags or boxes each of many other varieties and selections, including some from my apple breeding program.  I give taste samples of all 28 of our apple varieties and selections, to those interested in buying them.  If you want to buy harvested apples, we'd appreciate it if you can come soon, so we'll have room in the cooler to store all the apples we've picked!

We have many harvested 'Enterprise' and 'Sundance' (front box), 'GoldRush' and 'Enterprise' (2nd box), 'Sundance' (3rd box) and 'Scarlett O'Hara' (4th box) apples for sale. 
   Prices are the same as last year: $1.21 per pound + tax for small amounts of harvested #1 apples (practically perfect) and $0.83 per pound + tax for small amounts of harvested #2 apples (with small cracks or other damage).  A box of 20 lbs. of harvested #1 apples cost $23.22 + tax, which saves $1.00.  A box of 20 lbs. of harvested #2 apples cost $15.79 + tax, which also saves $1.00.  Buying 40 lb. of harvested apples (2 boxes) saves another $1.00 per box, for a total of $4.00 off the per-pound price.

We now have 5-lb. bags of cracked  'Peruque' pecans for sale.   'Peruque' is a very early-ripening pecan variety, with a very thin shell and excellent flavor.
   We just started harvesting and cracking the new pecan crop.  We now have 5-lb. bags of cracked  'Peruque' pecans for sale, for $14.86 + tax per bag.  'Peruque' is a very early-ripening pecan variety, with a very thin shell and excellent flavor.  The nuts are not as large as our later-ripening pecan varieties, 'Kanza' and 'Pawnee', which won't be ready to harvest until late Nov.
   Our fall hours continue until Nov. 30.  During this period, we are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and 1 to 6 p.m. on Sundays.  I appreciate phone messages a day or so ahead, letting me know when you're coming.  If you drop by and I don't see you come in, since I'm out harvesting apples or working elsewhere on the farm, ring the bell on the sales building.