Thursday, August 31, 2017

Many Pears & Asian Pears for Sale

   I've harvested lots of 'Blake's Pride' European pears over the past 10 days, so we have many for sale now.  This pear variety gets huge, and has a fine-grained texture and a smooth, buttery taste.  They're great for fresh eating, baking, and canning.  More will ripen until about mid-Sept.
   'Shinko' Asian pear harvest is now about 80% complete, as they've ripened fast over the past 5 days.  Asian pears are shaped like apples, stay crisp like apples, and are very juicy and sweet.  They're mostly for fresh eating.  Many people bought Asian pears last weekend, but we still have many boxes for sale now, and we'll have them until we sell out.
Today I harvested more 'Blake's Pride' European pears (in green box at right) and 'Shinko' Asian pears (in blue boxes at left), and we have many for sale. 
  We still have many 'Luscious' European pears in our cooler also, ready to sell.  We also now have Bill's homemade pear butter for sale again, freshly made last weekend from 'Luscious' European pears, which are especially good for making pear butter.  'Harrowsweet' European pears should be ripe from mid-Sept. to early Oct.
   We also have a small amount of a few early apple varieties, and some selections from my apple breeding program, which I harvest and have for sale.  I give taste samples.  Our pick-your-own apple season will start about Sept. 22 and run until about Nov. 12.  That's also our main apple season, when we'll have many harvested apples for sale.
       Small amounts of harvested pears and apples cost $1.20 per pound + tax.  A 20-lb. box of pears or apples costs $23.15 + tax, which saves $1.00 off the per-pound price.  I harvest pears and apples into two plastic bags per box, so you can get a mixed box of one bag of pears and one bag of apples, and still get the 20-lb. discount.
   We also have some harvested 2nds pears and 2nds apples, great for baking or for making pear preserves or apple butter.  Usually about 90% of the fruit is still usable, but they're 69% the cost at $0.83 per pound + tax.
More fall red raspberries ripen each day, and there are many to pick on weekdays.
   We also have some fall red raspberries now, sold pick-your-own only.  More fall red raspberries ripen each day until the first fall freeze in late Oct. or early Nov., so you can often pick a few pints of raspberries if you ask about them.  Raspberries often get picked out on Saturdays, but there are many to pick on weekdays, especially if you phone 620-597-2450 a day ahead and let me know when you're coming to pick them.  Otherwise I may pick them for my own use, since raspberries need to be picked at least every 2 days.  Pick-your-own raspberries cost $2.08 per pint + tax.
Our fall hours run from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30.
   Our fall hours, as shown in the sidebar at left, start tomorrow, on Sept. 1, and run through Nov. 30.  Please note that we open at 9 a.m. now, later than our fall hours in prior years.  This will give me time to get much-needed orchard work done before customers start arriving, and some early mornings I deliver fruit to schools.  We're now closing at 5:30 p.m., which will make it easier for me to attend Sun. evening and mid-week evening church services.  We're still open 55.5 hours per week in fall.
   We're open our regular fall hours over Labor Day weekend.
   I'm usually out harvesting pears, so I put a sign on the sales building post to ring the bell for service.  Ring it loudly, once or twice, and I'll hear it and drive the utility vehicle in to the sales building.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Many 'Blake's Pride' Pears & 'Shinko' Asian Pears Ripe Now

   I've harvested a lot of 'Blake's Pride' European pears over the past few days, so have many for sale now.  This pear variety gets huge, and has a fine-grained texture and a smooth, buttery taste.  They're great for fresh eating, baking, and canning.  More will ripen until about mid-Sept.
'Blake's Pride' European pears get huge, and have a fine-grained texture and a smooth, buttery taste.
   We still have many 'Luscious' European pears in our cooler also, ready to sell.  We also now have Bill's homemade pear butter for sale again, freshly made last weekend from 'Luscious' European pears, which are especially good for making pear butter.  'Harrowsweet' European pears should be ripe from mid-late Sept. to mid-Oct.
   I started harvesting 'Shinko' Asian pears a few days ago, and have several boxes for sale now.  Asian pears are shaped like apples, stay crisp like apples, and are very juicy and sweet.  They're mostly for fresh eating.  Asian pear harvest will continue through late Sept.
'Shinko' Asian pears are shaped like apples, stay crisp like apples, and are very juicy and sweet.
   We also have a very small amount of a few early apple varieties, and some selections from my apple breeding program, which I harvest and have for sale.  Our pick-your-own apple season will start about Sept. 22 and run until about Nov. 12, as shown on the ripe dates in the sidebar at left.  That's also our main apple season, when we'll have many harvested apples for sale.
   Some red raspberries are still ripening each day, but not as many as last week.  The fall red raspberry crop is much less than the June crop, and comes in waves until the first fall freeze in late Oct. or early Nov.  If you come for pears, you may pick a few pints of raspberries if you ask about them.
   We're still open our summer hours through Aug. 31: open 7:30 a.m. to 12 noon Mon.-Sat., closed from 12 noon to 7:00 p.m., and open 7 p.m. until dark each evening.  Our fall hours (see sidebar at left) will start on Sept. 1.
   I'm usually out harvesting pears, so I put a sign on the sales building post to ring the bell for service.  Ring it loudly, once or twice, and I'll hear it and drive the utility vehicle in to the sales building.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Many 'Luscious' European Pears Ripe Now

   'Luscious' European pears, our earliest pear variety, started ripening a couple weeks early this year. Yesterday morning and this morning our workers Ben Miller, Luke Laws, Tre Maxton and I picked over 600 pounds of  'Luscious' pears, and we're only about halfway through picking the 'Luscious' pear crop.
Yesterday morning and this morning our workers Ben Miller (placing pears in bags), Luke Laws (on ladder, picking pears), Tre Maxton (not in photo) and I picked over 600 pounds of  'Luscious' pears.
   'Luscious' pears live up to their name, and I give taste samples.  They're great for fresh eating, making pies, pear sauce, etc.  We now have over 600 pounds of  'Luscious' European pears in the cooler, ready to sell, all picked yesterday and today.  Pears keep well for 4 to 6 weeks in our cooler or your fridge.  Pear prices are detailed in the previous blog post.
'Luscious' pears live up to their name, and I give taste samples.
   I've also started harvesting a few of our next European pear variety, 'Blake's Pride', but most of these won't be ripe until late August to mid-Sept.  Asian pear harvest will start in late August and continue through late Sept.  'Harrowsweet' European pears should be ripe from mid-late Sept. to mid-Oct.
   We also have a very small amount of a few early apple varieties, and some selections from my apple breeding program, which I harvest and have for sale.  Our pick-your-own apple season will start about Sept. 22 and run until about Nov. 12, as shown on the ripe dates in the sidebar at left.  That's also our main apple season, when we have many harvested apples for sale.
   More red raspberries ripen each day until the first fall freeze in late Oct. or early Nov., so you can often pick a few pints of raspberries if you ask about them.
   We're still open our summer hours through Aug. 31: open 7:30 a.m. to 12 noon Mon.-Sat., closed from 12 noon to 7:00 p.m., and open 7 p.m. until dark each evening.  Our fall hours (see sidebar at left) will start on Sept. 1.

Monday, August 14, 2017

Some Early Pears, Apples & Fall Red Raspberries Ripe

   Harvest seasons for peaches and thornless blackberries have now ended.  Our workers are now pruning the peach trees, and we hope to finish this job before our workers go back to college and high school next week.  I'm pruning the thornless blackberry and red raspberry plants, which are very big jobs, and our workers will help with that on Saturdays during fall and winter.
Fall-bearing 'Reveille' red raspberries are ripening now until the first fall freeze in late Oct. or early Nov.
   Some 'Reveille' red raspberries are ripening now.  This is our main June-bearing red raspberry variety, and it sets a smaller fall crop each year.  Since the June crop started on May 22 this year, the fall crop started a couple weeks early, in early Aug.  More red raspberries ripen each day until the first fall freeze in late Oct. or early Nov., so you can often pick a few pints of raspberries if you ask about them.  Pick-your-own raspberries cost $2.08 per pint + tax.
These 'Crimson Crisp' trees have fruit ready to harvest in a few days. I just planted these trees 5 years ago, so they only have a few fruit this year.  The 'GoldRush' tree in the background will not start ripening until late Oct.
   Some of our early apple varieties and European pears have started ripening, a couple weeks early this year.  I harvest all the early apple varieties, because fruit must be harvested promptly or they will drop when ripe.  I also harvest all the apple trees from my breeding program, as there's just one tree of each cross, and I take notes on fruit characteristics of each cross.
   I also harvest all the pears.  Pears are tricky to pick, and I harvest most pears from a ladder, which we don't allow customers to use.  I've just started harvesting a few of our earliest European pear varieties, 'Blake's Pride' and 'Luscious'.  Asian pear harvest will start about Sept. 1.
These 'Blake's Pride' European pears are ripening, and I've started harvesting a few of these plus a few 'Luscious' European pears.
    Small amounts of harvested pears and apples cost $1.20 per pound + tax.  A 20-lb. box of pears or apples (when we have that many) costs $23.15 + tax, which saves $1.00 off the per-pound price.  I harvest pears and apples into two plastic bags per box, so you can get a mixed box of one bag of pears and one bag of apples, and still get the 20-lb. discount.
   We also have some harvested 2nds pears and 2nds apples, great for baking or for making pear preserves or apple butter.  Usually about 90% of the fruit is still usable, but they're 69% the cost at $0.83 per pound + tax.
   Our pick-your-own apple season will start about Sept. 22 and run until about Nov. 12, as shown on the ripe dates in the sidebar at left.  That's also our main apple season, when we have many harvested apples for sale.
   We're still open our summer hours through Aug. 31. We open at 7:30 a.m. Mon.-Sat., we're closed from 12 noon to 7:00 p.m., and we're open from 7 p.m. until dark each evening.  Our fall hours (see sidebar at left) will start on Sept. 1.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Still Many 'Triple Crown' Blackberries to Pick

   'Triple Crown', our latest-ripening thornless blackberry variety, still has a large amount of ripe fruit now.  It will continue ripening for the next week or so, and the plants will be heavy with fruit through this Sat. Aug. 5 and into next week.  'Triple Crown' blackberries are large, have the smallest seeds and are the juiciest, so they're especially good for making jams and jellies.
We still have many 'Triple Crown' thornless blackberries to pick, now and for the next week or so.
  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.
Cindy Branton took this photo of her 3 girls, each holding a quart of 'Triple Crown' thornless blackberries that they picked Tuesday morning.
   Our peach season is finishing up now, since this year it started almost 3 weeks earlier than the average start date for peaches.  We're still harvesting 'Carolina Gold' yellow peaches, and will have some of these for sale through this Sat. Aug. 5.  We've now finished harvesting 'China Pearl' white peaches, and these have sold.  Peach prices are detailed in the previous post (scroll down).
   A few 'Reveille' red raspberries are also ripening now.  This is our main June-bearing red raspberry variety, and it sets a smaller fall crop each year.  Since the June crop started on May 22 this year, the fall crop is starting a couple weeks early, in early Aug.  More red raspberries ripen each day, so those who come to pick blackberries can often also pick a few pints of raspberries if you ask about them.  Pick-your-own raspberries cost $2.08 per pint + tax.
The fall crop of 'Reveille' red raspberries are also ripening now.
   We're still open our summer hours (see sidebar at left) through Aug. 31. 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.