Many 'Enterprise' apples, our main pick-your-own apple
variety, are ripe now, and more will ripen over the next 2 weeks. Many customers have been picking 'Enterprise' apples, but the trees are still loaded with fruit. We also have many harvested 'Enterprise' apples for sale now, as my workers and I have harvested a lot. 'Enterprise' apples keep well in our cooler or your refrigerator for 6 to 7 months, so we'll have them for sale for the next 6 months or so, until late April or early May.
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| We still have many 'Enterprise' apples for pick-your-own customers, plus many harvested 'Enterprise' apples for sale now. |
We also have a few 'Sundance' apples, available pick-your-own or
harvested. 'GoldRush' apples have just started ripening, and I've harvested a few boxes of 'GoldRush' for sale. Customers can pick their own 'GoldRush' apples from
Oct. 20 to Nov. 12. 'GoldRush' apples keep well in our cooler or your refrigerator for 8 to 10 months, so we'll have them for sale for the next 8 months or so, until late June.
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| I've harvested a few mixed boxes of 'Enterprise' (red apples at left) and 'GoldRush' (yellow apples at right) for sale. This box sold shortly after I took this photo, but I picked a couple more boxes this afternoon. |
'GoldRush' is a real storage apple, and does not reach its peak flavor until at least one month in cold storage. If eaten right after they were harvested, 'GoldRush' apples may still be tart and starchy. While stored in our cooler or your refrigerator, starches convert into sugars, so 'GoldRush' apples get sweeter, and are my favorite apple to eat from Dec. to July. Other apple varieties do not get sweeter during cold storage.
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| 'GoldRush' apples have just started ripening. Customers can pick their own 'GoldRush' apples from
Oct. 20 to Nov. 12. |
We use plastic grocery sacks in different colors for
pick-your-own apples, and appreciate it if customers can bring some
clean, non-ripped, used bags. I have plenty of white bags, but am
very low on brown, yellow, gray and blue bags, so need those. Reusing
is better for the environment
than recycling. Please also bring back any peach boxes or berry
containers you got from previous visits to Brenda's Berries &
Orchards, so we can reuse them. Thanks.
We finished harvesting 'Harrowsweet' European pears 2 weeks ago,
and we now have six 20-pound boxes for sale, until we sell out. This pear variety
lives up to its name: it's very sweet. We also still have a few boxes of
'Luscious' European pears for sale for the
next few days.
Prices for apples and pears are detailed in the Sept. 27 blog post (scroll down).
We're now open our fall hours, from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30: open
9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat., and Sundays 1:00 p.m. to 5:30
p.m. I'm usually out harvesting apples, 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 come to the sales building.
We're expecting a very good crop of pecans this year. Many people have been asking when we'll have
cracked pecans for sale. Pecan harvest starts about the same time every year, in early Nov., after we have a hard freeze that
advances opening of the shucks. Once pecan harvest starts, the pecans have to be dried, then
cleaned and cracked for sale. We hope to have
cracked pecans for sale starting about Nov. 14, as stated in the Fruit Harvest Seasons sidebar at left, and we should have them
for sale until late June, when we sell out.
