Many Pick-Your-Own & Harvested Apples Now

   Our pick-your-own apple season is going strong now, and runs until about Nov. 12.  This also our main apple season, when we have many harvested apples for sale.

The Martin family from Parsons, KS had fun picking their own 'Enterprise' apples this morning.

   Many 'Enterprise' apples, our main pick-your-own apple variety, are ripe now, and more will ripen over the next 3 weeks.  We also have a few 'Sundance' apples and Coop 27 apples available pick-your-own or harvested.  'GoldRush' apples will ripen from mid-Oct. to mid-Nov.

I harvest some mixed boxes of apples, such as Coop 27 apples (red apples on left) and 'Sundance' apples (yellow apples on right), which some customers love.  I give taste samples.

   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 3 days ago, and we now have 14 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 some 'Luscious' European pears in our cooler, ready to sell, for the next week or so.
   I finished harvesting 'Shinko' Asian pears 4 weeks ago, and we now have four 20-pound boxes for sale, until we sell out.  Asian pears are shaped like apples, stay crisp like apples, and are very juicy and sweet.  They're mostly for fresh eating, though some customers make Asian pears preserves.
   We also have a few fall red raspberries now, sold pick-your-own only.  More fall red raspberries ripen each day until the first fall freeze in mid-late Oct., so you can often pick a few pints of raspberries if you ask about them.
   Prices for apples, pears and raspberries are detailed in the previous 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.