The temperature here dropped to -8 F this morning. Thankfully, that should not be low enough to reduce our 2018 peach or thornless blackberry crops. If the temperature drops to -10 F, as it did in early Feb. 2014, most fruit buds are killed. That could wipe out the entire peach crop and reduce the thornless blackberry crop by 75%, as happened in 2014. I am praying that we'll get through the rest of the winter and early spring and have a good crop of both peaches and thornless blackberries, as we did in 2015 and 2017, thanks be to God.
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Our peach orchard is beautiful in the snow. Thankfully, peach fruit buds should survive this cold. |
We still have many harvested 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples
for sale now and for the next 5 months or more, until late June or early July.
'Enterprise' apples are sweet-tart, crisp and juicy, great for
fresh eating and for making pies, applesauce, apple butter, etc.
They keep well in a refrigerator for 6 to 7 months. 'GoldRush'
apples keep well in a refrigerator for 8 to 10 months, and have gotten
sweeter now in cold storage, as starches
convert into sugars.
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Our apple trees are very cold-hardy, so no damage should occur to fruit buds. |
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I eat a 'GoldRush'
apple every day with my lunch. For breakfast and afternoon snack, I often eat foods I make with 'Enterprise' apples and pecans, such as apple pecan pancakes, cooked apples and pecans on waffles, and apple pecan crisp. Many recipes featuring apples and pecans are posted as Notes on our
Facebook page, Brendas Berries.
Many people have been buying pecans, so we'll have cracked pecans
for sale until we sell out, probably till mid-Feb. Apple and pecan prices
are detailed in the previous blog post (scroll down).
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Pecan trees are also very winter-hardy, so aren't hurt by the cold. |
Please remember, since there is no phone line to the sales building,
we do not have a card reader.
So we can NOT accept credit cards or debit
cards for payment. We accept cash and
checks from any state, so please bring
your checkbook
or enough cash to cover the amount of food you
want to buy. Thanks.
From Dec. 1 to May 31, we're open by appointment. That means,
during Dec. to May, to phone 620-597-2450 a day ahead and leave a
message on the answering machine with your name, the crops you want,
and the day and time you're coming. The phone rings in the house, so I'll answer it on super-cold days when I'm inside working on the computer. On warmer days, I'll get your message when I come in from working in the
the
sales
building or orchard.
Then I'll meet
you in the
sales building
when you
arrive here.
You can make an appointment for between 9:00 and 11:45
a.m. or between 1:00 and 5:15 p.m. Mon. to Sat., and between 1:30 and
5:15 p.m. Sundays. We're closed every Sunday morning, year-round,
for church.