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.
