Monday, June 26, 2017

More Blackberries & Fewer Peaches Ripe Now

   Since my last blog post 1 week ago, many, many people came to buy peaches. 1400 lbs. sold in 26 hours, from Tues. evening June 20 to Wed. evening June 21. We harvest peaches each morning Mon.-Sat. and will have them for sale until early Aug., but some days fewer peaches are ripe, and we may sell out by late morning or early evening.
   Please do not arrive earlier than our opening time. We open at 7:30 a.m. Mon.-Sat. for berry pickers, but those who want only peaches should arrive after 9 a.m. to give our workers time to pick the peaches. We're closed from 12 noon to 7:00 p.m. We're open 7-9 p.m. each evening, but call 620-597-2450 in the afternoon to be sure we'll have peaches that evening.  We often have no peaches to sell on Sun. evening, since our workers do not pick peaches on Sun. morning.
   We'll harvest the greatest amount of peaches from July 5 to about July 31.  We grow 17 different peach varieties that provide a succession of ripening over 2 months.  Each variety ripens over a 10-day to 2-week period.  Our mid- to late-season peaches had less bud kill from spring frosts, so will have bigger crops than our earlier varieties.  We've already finished harvesting 'Early Redhaven', 'Surecrop' and  'Blazingstar'.  We're now harvesting 'Newhaven', 'Challenger' and 'Allstar'.  I give taste samples of the varieties ripe at each time.  All these peaches are freestone.
   Small amounts of peaches cost $1.30 per pound + tax.  We pick directly into 20-lb. boxes, which I then weigh to exactly 20.0 lbs., so you save $1.00 if you buy a 20-lb. box of peaches for $25.00 + tax (when we have them).  We also have many nice 2nds peaches with small hail-damaged spots or other surface damage, which sell for just $0.74 per pound + tax.
   Some purple raspberries are still ripe now and will continue to about July 8.  A few everbearing red and yellow raspberries are also ripening.  More raspberries ripen each day, so those who come to pick blackberries can often also pick a few pints of raspberries.
   Harvest of our earliest thornless blackberry variety, 'Natchez', has started getting heavier, but they're still being heavily picked.  'Natchez' produces very large crops of huge blackberries, so they are very easy to pick, and they will continue ripening for the next 3 weeks or so.  Sat. morning is of course our busiest day, and we got picked out on 'Natchez' and our other thornless blackberry varieties last Sat.  Weekday mornings are great times to come for those able to do so.  If you come on Sat. morning to pick blackberries, try to arrive by 8 or 8:30 a.m.
'Natchez'  thornless blackberry produces huge blackberries, and they will continue ripening for the next 3 weeks or so.
   Some customers are also picking 'Ouachita' and  'Triple Crown' blackberries, which have just started.  'Ouachita' berries are smaller with great flavor, great for fruit salads where a larger blackberry would be too big for the other fruits in the salad.  'Triple Crown' blackberries have the smallest seeds and are the juiciest, so they're especially good for making jams and jellies.
   All berries are sold pick-your-own only.  Pick-your-own raspberries cost $2.08 per pint + tax.  Thornless blackberries cost $2.55 per quart + tax, pick-your-own.  There are NO chiggers, and you can pick a quart of blackberries in 5 minutes.
   We provide containers, and just ask that you return the containers to us for reuse on your next trip to Brenda's Berries.  Please also bring back any peach boxes or other containers you previously got from us.  Some customers bring plastic or metal trays to place their blackberry quarts on to bring them home, which also helps.  Please do not bring bowls to dump the berries into, as that damages them, and we want the berries to stay in the quarts you picked them into until you get them home.
   Have your vehicle cleaned out so there's room to put trays of berries and peach boxes or bags.  These fruits travel best in open trays, where they receive air conditioning from the vehicle, not in a car trunk or in an ice chest, so don't take up room in the vehicle with an ice chest.  We keep our cooler at 50 F, ideal for peaches, as they can get chilling injury at temperatures below 50 F or if put directly on ice.  Once you get them home, both blackberries and peaches keep well for 10 days in a refrigerator.

Monday, June 19, 2017

Many Peaches & Purple Raspberries Ripe Now

   We have plenty of peaches to sell now.  On Sat. morning June 17, our workers harvested over 500 pounds of peaches, and this morning our workers harvested over 400 pounds of peaches.  This year, peach harvest started two weeks earlier than the average start of peach harvest.  We have peaches to sell this evening and every morning and evening during our open hours (see sidebar at left).
We're still harvesting 'Surecrop' peaches, which are very juicy, sweet and flavorful.
   We grow 17 different peach varieties that provide a succession of ripening over 2 months.  Each variety ripens over a 10-day to 2-week period.  We're still harvesting 'Surecrop' peaches, described in the previous post, and have started harvesting 'Blazingstar'.  We've already finished harvesting 'Early Redhaven', our earliest peach variety, and have sold all of that variety.  I give taste samples of the varieties ripe at each time.
Many purple raspberries are ripe now.  Come this week for fast picking.
   Many purple raspberries are ripe now.  Purple raspberries are hybrids between red and black raspberries and exhibit hybrid vigor, so produce large crops of large berries that are bigger than the berries of red or black raspberries.  Purple raspberries have their own unique taste; we let customers taste a sample of all the raspberries that they'll pick.
   More purple raspberries will ripen for the next 3 weeks or so, but for fast picking, come this week if you can to pick purple raspberries.  We also still have some red and black raspberries to pick, but these are much less numerous than they were a week or two ago, so take longer to pick now.  We also have some yellow raspberries to pick now.
Rhonda Addis picked 3 types of raspberries last week: purple (left), black (middle) and red (right).  We now have some yellow raspberries to pick also.
   Thornless blackberries are ripening slowly this year; their harvest will be at the average time rather than earlier as peaches and red raspberries have been.  Only a few blackberries started ripening early, and those have been heavily picked.  The heaviest time for thornless blackberries is about June 26 to July 31. 
   Prices for peaches and berries are detailed in the previous post.  For payment, we accept cash or checks; NO debit cards or credit cards.  Please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover what you'll buy.
   Come during our open hours for summer: Mon. to Sat. 7:30 a.m. to 12 noon & 7 to 9 p.m., & Sundays 7 to 9 p.m. only.  We're closed Sunday mornings for church (as we are year-round), and from June 1 to Aug. 31 we're closed from 12 noon to 7 p.m. due to high heat.  (Please arrive at a time that allows you enough time to finish picking and check out by our closing time.  Thanks.)
Our cooler is now almost half full of peaches, all picked Sat. morning and this morning.  During peach season, we keep our cooler at 50 F, ideal for peaches.
   Have your vehicle cleaned out so there's room to put peach boxes and trays of berries.  These fruits travel best in open trays, where they receive air conditioning from the vehicle, not in a car trunk or in an ice chest, so don't take up room in the vehicle with an ice chest.  We keep our cooler at 50 F, ideal for peaches, as they can get chilling injury at temperatures below 50 F or if put directly on ice.  Once you get them home, peaches and blackberries both keep well for 10 days in a refrigerator. Raspberries keep well for 5 to 7 days in a refrigerator.

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Early Peaches & Purple Raspberries Ripe

   This morning our workers harvested over 250 pounds of peaches, our first day of a peach harvest over 50 pounds or so.  This is two weeks earlier than the average start of peach harvest.  We have a good amount of peaches to sell now, and will have them for sale this evening and Sunday evening during our open hours (see sidebar at left) as well as mornings next week.  We're harvesting our two earliest varieties, 'Surecrop' and 'Early Redhaven'.  I give taste samples of both.
'Surecrop' peaches are very juicy with a great flavor.
   'Surecrop' is semi-freestone, meaning the flesh clings to the pit a bit until it is fully soft; when fully soft it comes clean from the pit.  'Surecrop' is very juicy with a great flavor, and is great for fresh eating and freezing, but not for canning or baking pies or cobblers.  'Early Redhaven' is freestone, so the flesh comes clean from the pit.  'Early Redhaven' is less juicy with a subdued flavor, and is good for fresh eating, freezing, canning and baking pies or cobblers.
'Early Redhaven' peaches are freestone and good for fresh eating, freezing, canning and baking pies or cobblers.
   Small amounts of peaches cost $1.30 per pound + tax.  We pick directly into 20-lb. boxes, which I then weigh to exactly 20.0 lbs., so you save $1.00 if you buy a 20-lb. box of peaches for $25.00 + tax.  We also have many nice 2nds peaches with small hail-damaged spots or other surface damage, which sell for just $0.74 per pound + tax.
Jessica (left) and Jody Neef picked two flats (16 pints) of red raspberries this morning, and plan to make jam.
   We still have many red raspberries to pick, now until about June 20.  Purple raspberries are starting to ripen heavily now.  Purple raspberries are hybrids between red and black raspberries and exhibit hybrid vigor, so produce large crops of large berries that are bigger than the berries of red or black raspberries.  Purple raspberries have their own unique taste.  We also have some black raspberries to pick, which are mainly used for making jam or pies.  We let customers taste a couple fruit of all the raspberries that they'll pick.
The Smiles family was all smiles as they picked a flat of purple raspberries this morning.  They also picked a flat of red raspberries and 2 quarts of 'Natchez' thornless blackberries.
   Harvest of our earliest thornless blackberry variety, 'Natchez', has just started, but they've been heavily picked.  They'll be more plentiful from June 26 to July 20.  'Natchez' produces very large crops of huge blackberries, so they are very easy to pick.  'Natchez' will continue ripening for the next 5 weeks or so.
   All berries are sold pick-your-own only.  Pick-your-own raspberries cost $2.08 per pint + tax.  Thornless blackberries cost $2.55 per quart + tax, pick-your-own.  We provide containers, and just ask that you return the containers to us for reuse on your next trip to Brenda's Berries.
   From June 1 to Aug. 31 we're open our summer hours, shown in the sidebar at left.  We're open 7:30 a.m. to 12 noon & 7-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat., and closed noon to 7 p.m. due to high summer heat.  We're also closed Sunday mornings for church, so on Sundays we're open 7-9 p.m. only.  If you tell others about us, please let them know our summer hours.
   Please arrive at a time that allows you enough time to finish picking by our closing time.  Thanks.  For payment, we accept cash or checks; NO debit cards or credit cards.  Please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover what you'll buy.