With beautiful weather for the past few days, I've been out pruning
raspberries or blackberries each afternoon. On Fri. and Sat. afternoons 3 of our workers were here, helping to prune
thornless blackberries. This is a huge job each winter and early spring, and since Jan. and Feb. were colder than average this year, we still have many blackberry plants to prune. Once we finally finish pruning
our 1500 or so blackberry plants and about 400 raspberry plants, then we have to prune about 300 apple trees and about 80 pear trees.
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| From left to right, our workers Zachary Wulf, Hunter Rupert and Cameron Brown helped prune
thornless blackberry plants. They fill the carts with prunings, then dump them on our burn pile. Our two cats were of course a big help. |
We still have many apples and pecans for sale. Just phone 620-597-2450 a day in advance, and leave a message on
the answering machine saying your name and the day and
approximate time you're coming to get them, so I can look for you. When I'm pruning
raspberries or blackberries at the back of the planting, I can't always see or hear vehicles come in if people just drop by.
Our #1 apples, with no
damage, sell just as fast as I sort them. Small amounts of harvested apples cost $1.30 per pound
+ tax. A
20-lb. box of #1 apples costs $25.00 + tax ($1.25 per pound + tax),
which saves $1.00 off the per-pound price. I sort apples
into two plastic bags per box, so you can get a mixed box of one bag
each of 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples, and still get the 20-lb.
discount.
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| These 3 boxes of #1 apples each contain 20 lbs. From left to right are a mixed box of one bag
each of 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples, all 'Enterprise' apples, and all 'GoldRush' apples. |
We have many 2nds apples, with small cracks, cork
spots, hail damage, or other surface damage. These are great for
baking, slicing for salads, or for making applesauce or apple butter. Usually 95% to 99% of each fruit is still usable, but they're 70% or less the cost, at $0.93 per pound +
tax for less than 20 pounds and $0.88 per pound +
tax for 20 pounds. We've reduced the price on 40 lb. or more of 2nds apples. When you buy two
or more boxes, each 20-lb. box of 2nds apples costs just $16.67 + tax ($0.83 per pound + tax), so
that's $33.34 + tax for 40 lbs. of 2nds
apples.
We're now selling our last and largest pecan variety, 'Pawnee'. We'll have cracked pecans
for sale until we sell out, probably till late March or early April. We sell pecans in 4-pound bags. These pecan bags contain at least 75% pecan kernels, so you get the
equivalent of at least 6 pounds of in-shell pecans in each
bag. These pecans are very fast and
easy for customers to pick out, and when you pick out the
pecans, you get over 3 pounds of nutmeats per bag. The price on pecans is $16.67 per 4-pound bag + tax. Pecans keep well in your freezer for up to 3 years.
