Saturday, April 29, 2017

2nds Apples on Sale

   With all the excess rain lately, the Neosho River will flood over the next few days.  The peak of the flood is predicted to occur on Mon. morning May 1, when water will be over our road, 95th St.  Hopefully the flood will recede quickly.
   The rain has curtailed our field work today, but yesterday one worker and I were able to start thinning the peach orchard.  Leah Porter goes to Chetopa High School, which has no school on Fridays, so she was able to work here.  We thinned 10 of the 12 trees of one of our earliest peach varieties, 'Surecrop'.  True to its name, this variety set a very good crop, and we did have to remove many young peaches where they set too close together, so the remaining peaches will grow to a good size and not develop fruit rot as they would if ripe peaches touched each other.
Leah Porter and I thinned one of our earliest peach varieties, 'Surecrop', yesterday.
   We also removed some young peaches with stinkbug damage, and a fair number with hail damage.  During last Tuesday night's rainstorm, we unfortunately had hail for about 1 minute, which dents the young fruit.  It caused some damage on the peaches, and even more on the young apples, so we'll have to thin off those damaged fruit.  Once we finish thinning the 140 remaining bearing peach trees, we'll start thinning the 180 or so apples trees, then the 80 or so pear trees.
   The peach crop looks even better now, praise God.  Overall we should have about 75% of a full peach crop this year, which means if all goes well, we should harvest about 17,000 to 18,000 pounds of peaches over the entire season.  That would be 2 1/2 times as many peaches as last year.
   During rainy weather, I'm still sorting apples in the sales building.  We still have many 'GoldRush' and some 'Enterprise' apples for sale.  Our #1 apples, with no damage, sell just as fast as I sort them.  A 20-lb. box of #1 apples still costs $23.15 + tax ($1.15 per pound + tax), which saves $1.00 off the per-pound price.
   We have many 2nds apples, with small cracks, cork spots or other surface damage, so we've just reduced the price on these.  A 20-lb. box of 2nds apples now costs just $14.82 + tax ($0.74 per pound + tax).  When you buy two boxes, each 20-lb. box of 2nds apples costs just $13.89 + tax ($0.69 per pound + tax), so that's $27.78 + tax  for 40 lbs. of 2nds apples.
We still have many 2nds apples, with small cracks, cork spots or other surface damage, of both 'GoldRush' (left box) and  'Enterprise' (right box).  So we've just reduced the price on these 2nds apples, which are great for making pie filling, applesauce, apple butter, etc.
    Cracked pecans are $15.28 per 4-pound bag + tax, which is equivalent to 6 pounds of in-shell pecans since the excess shells are blown off, and they're 78% nutmeats and just 22% shells.  We still have lots of fresh asparagus, sold harvested for $2.78 per pound + tax.
We still have lots of fresh asparagus for sale.  These are nice thick spears, and I snap asparagus off where it breaks easily, so almost the entire spear is tender and usable.
   Phone 620-597-2450 a day or so ahead, and leave a message on the answering machine saying the day and about what time you're coming.  Our phone rings in the house, and I check for messages when I come in from working in the orchards or sorting apples in the sales building.  If you wait to call until on your way here, I probably won't get your message before you come.  I do not have a cell phone or smart phone (cell reception is terrible here), nor is there a phone line to the sales building.
   When I'm thinning the peach orchard, I can't see or hear vehicles come in the driveway, so it's best to call ahead, but if you drop by, ring the bell on the sales building, which I can usually hear.
   Please remember, since there is no phone line to the sales building, we do not have a card reader.  So we can NOT accept credit cards or debit cards for payment.  We accept cash and checks from any state, so please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover the amount of food you want to buy.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Lots of Fresh Asparagus for Sale

   We have lots of fresh asparagus for sale, now until late May.  These are nice thick spears, and I snap asparagus off where it breaks easily, so almost the entire spear is tender and usable.  Asparagus is sold harvested for $2.78 per pound + tax.  Phone 620-597-2450 to order asparagus, and leave a message on the answering machine saying when you're coming for it.
  We also still have many apples and pecans for sale.  Just phone 620-597-2450 a day in advance, and leave a message on the answering machine saying your name and the day and approximate time you're coming to get them.
   The phone rings in the house, and I check for messages when I come in from working in the orchards or sorting apples in the sales building.  When the weather's nice it's especially important to call a day ahead, as I can't always see the driveway from some parts of the fruit plantings, and when I'm working on a tractor I can't hear vehicles come in if you just drop by.
'Natchez' blackberry canes have started blooming, and raspberry plants are blooming also.
   I've been very busy lately pruning apple and pear trees, pruning raspberry and blackberry canes and tying them to the trellis wires, applying herbicides to raspberry and blackberry rows, and picking asparagus twice each day.  Raspberry plants are blooming, as are 'Natchez' and 'Ouachita' blackberry plants, so berry ripening seasons this year should start earlier than average, as shown in the fruit harvest seasons sidebar at left.  Soon we will start thinning the young peaches.
These 'Contender' peaches set a pretty good crop despite frosts during bloom, praise God.  Soon we will start thinning the excess young peaches where several fruit set close together, as in the bottom right of the photo.
   Small amounts of harvested apples cost $1.20 per pound + tax.  A 20-lb. box of apples costs $23.15 + tax, which saves $1.00 off the per-pound price.  I pack harvested apples into two plastic bags per box, so you can get a mixed box of one bag of each of two different varieties of apples, and still get the 20-lb. discount.
   We have many harvested 2nds apples, great for baking or for making apple butter.  Usually 90 to 95% of the fruit is still usable, but they're 69% the cost at $0.83 per pound + tax.  A 20-lb. box of harvested 2nds apples costs just  $15.74 + tax ($0.79 per pound + tax), which saves $8.00 off a 20-lb. box of #1 apples.  If you get 40 lbs. of 2nds apples, the price goes down to just $0.74 per pound + tax ($14.82 + tax per 20-lb. box).
   We also still have cracked 'Kanza' pecans for sale.  'Kanza' pecans are known for cracking out almost entirely in intact kernels, and our new high-efficiency pecan cracking machine cracks this variety so well that 2/3 of the shells are removed by the blower.  The price for pecans is $15.28 per bag + tax.  Each bag has the equivalent of 6 pounds of in-shell pecans, and when you pick them out, you get at least 3 pounds of nutmeats.

Monday, April 3, 2017

Asparagus, Apples & Pecans for Sale

    Asparagus harvest has started, and goes until late May.  These are nice thick spears, and I snap asparagus off where it breaks easily, so almost the entire spear is tender and usable.  Asparagus is sold harvested for $2.78 per pound + tax.  Phone 620-597-2450 to order asparagus, and leave a message on the answering machine saying when you're coming to get it.
We have quite a bit of harvested asparagus for sale, now until late May.  Phone a day in advance
to order asparagus.
    We still have a few #1 'Enterprise' apples for sale, and we should have #2 'Enterprise' apples (great for making pies or apple butter) for sale until late April or early May.  'GoldRush' apples keep well in our cooler or a fridge for 9 to 10 months, and we still have a good supply, so we'll probably have 'GoldRush' apples for sale until late May or early June.
These 'Enterprise' apple trees are in beautiful bloom now.
   Our apple orchard is in beautiful bloom now, and is buzzing with bees pollinating the flowers to produce the 2017 apple crop.  Last week I made all this year's controlled crosses for my ongoing apple breeding program, using 'GoldRush', 'Sun Giant' and 'Honeycrisp' as parents this year.
These young 'Sun Giant' apple trees, which Bill grafted 2 years ago, will bear some fruit this year.  'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apple trees bloom in the background.
   This past weekend, my husband Bill grafted my favorite apple selection from my breeding program, 'Sun Giant', onto 24 young rootstocks in pots.  He also topworked a 20-year-old tree in our apple orchard to 'Sun Giant'.

Bill topworked this 20-year-old tree in our apple orchard to 'Sun Giant' yesterday.  The scions (small stem pieces sticking out of each limb) will grow together with the existing tree, and will bear 'Sun Giant' fruit in a few years.
   We still have cracked 'Kanza' pecans for sale, now until about June.  Bill cracks more pecans in small batches as the bags of cracked pecans sell, since they store best in-shell.  Once cracked, pecans should be kept in the freezer for long-term storage of up to 3 years, or in the fridge if they'll be used within the next 2 to 3 months.
    Scroll down 3 posts for apple and pecan prices.  Just phone 620-597-2450 a day in advance, and leave a message on the answering machine saying your name, the day and approximate time you're coming, and which crops you want.  Our phone rings in the house, and I check for messages when I come in from working in the orchards or sorting apples in the sales building.