Friday, July 29, 2016

Still Many Blackberries Ripe, Some Peaches

   'Triple Crown' thornless blackberries are still ripening very heavily, and we'll still have some to pick for the next 8 to 10 days, until Aug. 6 or so.  'Triple Crown' blackberries have the smallest seeds and are the juiciest with the most flavor, so they're especially good for making jams and jellies.
'Triple Crown' thornless blackberries are still ripening very heavily, and there are still many small white and red berries that will ripen over the next 8 to 10 days.
   Customers are still picking smaller amounts of 'Apache' and 'Ouachita' thornless blackberries also.  Berries are sold pick-your-own only.  Thornless blackberries are $2.55 per quart + tax, pick-your-own. 
   Peach season is winding down now.  Our late-season peach varieties don't have as many fruits this year as our mid-season peach varieties did, because though they ripen later they bloomed earlier, so they got more hurt by the 6 frosts during peach bloom in late March and early April.  Since there are fewer fruits on the trees, the fruits that survived the frosts grow huge, but we have only a limited amount for sale.
'Carolina Gold' yellow peaches will ripen for the next 10 days or so, but we'll have only a limited amount for sale.  Notice that this late-season variety has far fewer peaches this year than did the mid-season peach varieties, shown in the previous blog post.
   We'll still have some peaches for sale for the next 3 weeks.  Our workers are still harvesting 'Glowingstar' yellow peaches for the next 5 days or so, but in smaller amounts.  We started harvesting 'Carolina Gold' yellow peaches a couple days ago, and they'll continue for the next 10 days or so, but this variety has far fewer peaches this year.
'China Pearl' white peaches will continue to ripen for the next 14 days or so, until about Aug. 12.
   We just started harvesting 'China Pearl' white peaches, and they'll continue to ripen for the next 14 days or so, until about Aug. 12.  We'll also harvest a small amount of our latest peach variety, 'Flameprince' yellow peaches, from about Aug. 8 to Aug. 18.
     Peaches are sold harvested, for $1.20 per pound + tax.  A 20-pound box of peaches costs $23.15 + tax, which saves $1.00 off the per-pound price.  We also usually have some 2nds peaches, with limb rubs, cracks or bird pecks, for $0.69 per pound + tax.  Phone 620-597-2450 a day or more ahead and leave a message if you want more than 20 pounds of peaches, as we're still limited on peaches this year due to the 6 frosts during bloom. 
   We have peaches for sale Monday to Saturday morning during our summer open hours (7:30 a.m. to 12 noon), and usually have some peaches left to sell in the evenings (open 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. every evening).  However, since we are closed Sunday morning for church and the workers don't pick peaches on Sunday morning, we are often low on peaches to sell on Sunday evening.  We're also closed every afternoon from 12 noon to 7 p.m. during the summer due to high heat.
      You may come to pick berries any time during our open hours (no appointment needed in summer); just allow enough time to finish picking berries by our closing time.  Get here at 7:30 to 8 a.m. if you can, or at 7 p.m. in the evening, to beat the heat!  Those wanting peaches and/or apples, but not wanting to pick berries, should arrive in mid-morning, to give our crew time to get the peaches picked.