Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Blackberry & Peach Seasons Winding Down

   We still have many thornless blackberries to pick, for the next 10 days or so.  'Apache' plants still have many very large berries, and 'Ouachita' plants still have many medium-large berries.
'Triple Crown' blackberry plants have many large, ripe fruit ready to pick now, plus still have many red berries that will ripen for the next 2 weeks.
   'Triple Crown', our latest-ripening blackberry variety, still has a large amount of ripe fruit now.  It will continue ripening for the next 2 weeks, and the plants will be heavy with fruit until about Aug. 5.  'Triple Crown' blackberries are large, have the smallest seeds and are the juiciest, so they're especially good for making jams and jellies.
'Triple Crown' blackberries are large, have the smallest seeds and are the juiciest, and I think they have the best flavor of our 4 blackberry varieties.
   Thornless blackberries are sold pick-your-own only.  They 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.
   Weekday mornings are great times to come for those able to do so.  Come early to beat the heat.  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.
   Our peach season is winding down now, since this year it started almost 3 weeks earlier than the average start date for peaches.  We're now harvesting 'Carolina Gold' yellow peaches and 'China Pearl' white peaches, and these will continue until about Aug. 5.  These are our last main peach varieties, and the trees are producing less than our mid-season peach varieties did, because these late-ripening peach varieties were hurt more by the March freezes.  Since there are fewer peaches on the trees, the peaches of these varieties are very large.
We're now harvesting 'Carolina Gold' yellow peaches (left box) and 'China Pearl' white peaches (right box), our last main peach varieties.  We'll have these for sale in limited quantities until about Aug. 5.
   Both these peach varieties are freestone, and I give taste samples.  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 usually have some nice 2nds peaches with small hail-damaged spots or other surface damage, which sell for just $0.74 per pound + tax.
    Peaches are sold harvested; we do not allow customers to pick peaches.  Our trained workers harvest peaches each morning Mon.-Sat. when it's not raining.  Some days fewer peaches are ripe, and we may sell out by late morning or early evening.  We often have no peaches to sell on Sun. evening, since our workers do not pick peaches on Sun. morning as we're closed for church.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Still Many Blackberries & Peaches Ripening

   All 4 of our thornless blackberry varieties still have many ripe berries to pick now.  'Natchez' produces huge blackberries, very popular especially for making cobblers, and they will continue ripening for the next week or so.  'Apache' berries are almost as big and are also great for making cobblers, and are loaded with ripe fruit now and for the next 10 days to 2 weeks.

Three members of the Rather family, including Gail (left) and Jace (right), picked 18 quarts of 'Apache' thornless blackberries in 30 minutes a couple days ago.
   'Ouachita' blackberries are also ripe now and for the next 10 days to 2 weeks.  'Ouachita' berries are medium-sized with great flavor, especially good in pies and in fruit salads where a larger blackberry would be too big for the other fruits in the salad.  'Triple Crown' blackberries are large, have the smallest seeds and are the juiciest, so they're especially good for making jams and jellies.  'Triple Crown' is our latest-ripening blackberry variety.  There's a good amount ripe now, and they will continue ripening for the next 3 weeks, and they'll be heavy with fruit until about Aug. 5.
   Thornless blackberries are sold pick-your-own only.  They 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.
   Weekday mornings are great times to come for those able to do so.  Come early to beat the heat.  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.
    Peaches are sold harvested; we do not allow customers to pick peaches.  Our trained workers harvest peaches each morning Mon.-Sat. when it's not raining.  Some days fewer peaches are ripe, and we may sell out by late morning or early evening.  We often have no peaches to sell on Sun. evening, since our workers do not pick peaches on Sun. morning as we're closed for church.
We're now harvesting many 'Glowingstar' yellow peaches, and we'll continue harvesting them for another week.
   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 now harvesting mostly 'Glowingstar' yellow peaches, and we'll continue harvesting them for another week.  We should start harvesting 'Carolina Gold' yellow peaches and 'China Pearl' white peaches early next week, and those will continue for about 2 weeks, until about Aug. 5.  Peach season will end almost 3 weeks earlier than the average date this year, since it started almost 3 weeks earlier than the average date.
   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 usually have some nice 2nds peaches with small hail-damaged spots or other surface damage, which sell for just $0.74 per pound + tax.
   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, July 10, 2017

Four Thornless Blackberry Varieties Ripe Now

   All 4 of our thornless blackberry varieties have lots of ripe fruit now.  'Natchez' produces huge blackberries, very popular especially for making cobblers, and they will continue ripening for the next 10 to 14 days.  'Apache' berries are almost as big and are also great for making cobblers, and are loaded with ripe fruit now and for the next 2 to 3 weeks.
'Natchez' produces huge blackberries, and will keep ripening for the next 10 to 14 days.
    'Ouachita' berries are medium-sized with great flavor, especially good in pies and in fruit salads where a larger blackberry would be too big for the other fruits in the salad.  'Triple Crown' blackberries are large, have the smallest seeds and are the juiciest, so they're especially good for making jams and jellies.  'Triple Crown' is our latest-ripening blackberry variety; there's a good amount ripe now, and they will continue ripening for the next 3 to 4 weeks, until about Aug. 5.
'Triple Crown' blackberries are large, have the smallest seeds and are the juiciest, and many are ripe now.
   Thornless blackberries are sold pick-your-own only.  They 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.  We greatly appreciate it when customers bring us some cardboard trays to use for other customers, since we are now almost out of the size that holds 6 quarts.  Chetopa Foods saves cardboard trays for us, which we greatly appreciate, but we run through thousands of cardboard trays each summer, so we can always use more.
   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 plastic quarts that you picked them into until you get them home.
   Weekday mornings are great times to come for those able to do so.  If you come on Sat. morning (our busiest time) to pick blackberries, try to arrive by 8 or 8:30 a.m.  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.
    Peaches are sold harvested; we do not allow customers to pick peaches.  Our trained workers harvest peaches each morning Mon.-Sat. when it's not raining.  Some days rain may curtail harvest or fewer peaches are ripe, and we may sell out by late morning or early evening.  We often have no peaches to sell on Sun. evening, since our workers do not pick peaches on Sun. morning as we're closed for church.
     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, that we're harvesting now, had less bud kill from spring frosts, so have bigger crops than most of our earlier varieties.  Most weekday mornings we have a good amount of peaches to sell.
   We're now harvesting 'Contender' peaches, and should start harvesting 'Glowingstar' peaches later this week and next week.  I give taste samples of the varieties ripe at each time.  All these peaches are freestone.  Scroll down 2 posts for peach prices. 

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Prime Season for Blackberries & Peaches

   Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Independence Day.  Many, many people came to pick thornless blackberries and buy peaches in the week leading up to July 4, as happens each year.  Now the prime productive season is starting for both blackberries and peaches, July 5 to about July 31.
   That's the heaviest time for blackberries every year.  This year it's also the time that we'll harvest the greatest amount of peaches, since they started almost 3 weeks early this year, and will end almost 3 weeks early, about Aug. 5.
   All 4 of our thornless blackberry varieties have ripe fruit now.  'Natchez' produces huge blackberries, very popular especially for making cobblers, and they will continue ripening for the next 2 to 3 weeks.  'Apache' berries are almost as big and are also great for making cobblers.
'Apache' blackberries, very large and great for making cobblers, have started and will continue ripening for the next 2 to 3 weeks.
   'Triple Crown' blackberries are large, have the smallest seeds and are the juiciest, so they're especially good for making jams and jellies.  '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.
I made this Berry Apple Salad for a church potluck for visiting missionaries this past Sunday, and all got eaten.  I used 3 'GoldRush' apples (which we still have for sale), 3 types of raspberries (purple, red and yellow) and 'Ouachita' blackberries, so the blackberries aren't too big for the other fruits in the salad.  I'm posting the recipe on our Facebook page, Brendas Berries, as a Note, along with my other fruit recipes.
   All berries are sold pick-your-own only.  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.  Raspberry season has now ended, except for a few everbearing red and yellow raspberries which are still ripening.
   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.  Several customers have brought us some cardboard trays to use for other customers, which we greatly appreciate!  Chetopa Foods saves cardboard trays for us, which we also greatly appreciate.  We can still use more, since we run through thousands of cardboard trays each summer.
   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.
   Weekday mornings are great times to come for those able to do so.  If you come on Sat. morning (our busiest time) to pick blackberries, try to arrive by 8 or 8:30 a.m.  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.
    Peaches are sold harvested; we do not allow customers to pick peaches.  Our trained workers harvest peaches each morning Mon.-Sat. when it's not raining.  Some days rain may curtail harvest (such as this morning) or fewer peaches are ripe, and we may sell out by late morning or early evening.  We often have no peaches to sell on Sun. evening, since our workers do not pick peaches on Sun. morning as we're closed for church.
We're now harvesting 'Intrepid' (photo), my favorite peach variety, and just started harvesting 'Contender' peaches.
   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 most of our earlier varieties.  We're now harvesting 'Intrepid' and just started harvesting 'Contender' peaches.  I give taste samples of the varieties ripe at each time.  All these peaches are freestone.  Peach prices are detailed in the previous post (scroll down).
   We also still have some 'GoldRush' apples for sale.  These stay crisp and juicy with great flavor for 10 to 11 months in our cooler or a fridge.  We're now down to about 180 pounds of 'GoldRush' apples (#1's and #2's combined) left to sell.  Pecans have sold out until the new crop starts in mid-Nov.