Purple Raspberries Plentiful

   Many purple raspberries are ripe now, and will continue until about July 10.  A few red raspberries are still ripening over the next few days, but they're much less plentiful now than the purple raspberries, so take longer to pick.

Purple raspberries are hybrids between red raspberries and black raspberries, so exhibit hybrid vigor, with large yields of large fruit.  That makes them much faster to pick, and they taste delicious.

   Thornless blackberries have just started ripening, and there are some to pick for customers who are also picking purple raspberries, or who want just a few quarts of blackberries to make pies or cobblers for July 4th.  Every year we have many people come to pick thornless blackberries in the week leading up to July 4th, so we ask those who want more than 6 quarts of blackberries and no raspberries to wait until July 4th or later.  We're open our usual summer hours (see sidebar at left) on July 4th.  Thornless blackberries will ripen heavily from July 4 to 31.
   All types of raspberries cost $2.32 per pint + sales tax, pick-your-own, and are sold pick-your-own only.  Thornless blackberries cost $2.78 per quart + sales tax, pick-your-own, and are sold pick-your-own only.
   Please arrive at a time that allows you enough time to finish picking and check out by our closing time.  Thanks.  For payment, we accept cash or checks; NO debit cards or credit cards.  Please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover what you'll buy.
   We will have no peach crop this year, and no pear crop, due to the April 16 freeze.  All those disappointed about no peaches this summer should try our 'GoldRush' apples.  They're very sweet and crisp, and many new customers lately have been amazed at how good they are.  I still eat a 'GoldRush' apple every day with my lunch.

   'GoldRush' apples are still very crisp and have gotten sweeter in cold storage, so they taste great.

     We still have many 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples and cracked pecans, harvested last Nov. and kept in top condition in our coolers, for sale now and for the next month or so.  Once the 'GoldRush' apples sell out in mid- to late July, we won't have any more until late Oct. when the new 'GoldRush' crop starts to ripen, and they're best after at least 1 month of cold storage, so get them in the next few weeks if you want them.  After the cracked pecans sell out, we'll have no more until mid-Nov. when the new pecan crop starts.
   Small amounts of harvested #1 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.
   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.  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 still selling our largest pecan variety, 'Pawnee'.  We sell our papershell pecans in 4-pound bags, which cost $16.67 per bag + tax.  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.

Red, Purple & Black Raspberries Ripe Now

   We still have many red raspberries to pick, now until about June 30.  We also have some black raspberries to pick over the next 2 weeks or so.  Black raspberries are mainly used for making jam or pies.  Canes of our 'Reveille' red raspberry plants are almost spineless, while black raspberry canes have many large spines, so are not recommended for children to pick.  Black raspberries have the most intense flavor, and are my favorite for making jam and apple-raspberry juice.

I love red raspberries on chocolate-based ice cream, such as Braum's chocolate-hazelnut, for afternoon snack.

   Purple raspberries are starting to ripen now, and the season will continue until about July 10.  Purple raspberries are hybrids between red and black raspberries and exhibit hybrid vigor, so produce large crops of large berries that are bigger than the berries of red or black raspberries.  Purple raspberries have the sweetest berries, with their own unique taste.  We let customers taste a couple fruit of all the raspberries that they'll pick.

Purple raspberries are just starting to ripen and will keep ripening until about July 10.

   Thornless blackberries will start ripening about June 20, and should get into heavy production by about June 28.  The Fruit Harvest Seasons sidebar at left shows the expected ripe dates for all types of raspberries and thornless blackberries.

Black raspberries will be ripe for picking over the next 2 weeks.  A customer picked the entire row this morning and got almost 13 pints.

   All types of raspberries cost $2.32 per pint + sales tax, pick-your-own, and are sold pick-your-own only.  Thornless blackberries, once they start ripening, will cost $2.78 per quart + sales tax, pick-your-own, and are sold pick-your-own only.
   From June 1 to Aug. 31 we're open our summer hours, shown in the sidebar at left.  We're open 7:30 a.m. to 12 noon & 7-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat., and closed noon to 7 p.m. due to high summer heat.  We're also closed Sunday mornings for church, so on Sundays we're open 7-9 p.m. only.  If you tell others about us, please let them know our summer hours.
   Please arrive at a time that allows you enough time to finish picking and check out by our closing time.  Thanks.  For payment, we accept cash or checks; NO debit cards or credit cards.  Please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover what you'll buy.
   As noted under Fruit Harvest Seasons (in the sidebar at left), both the 2018 peach crop and the 2018 pear crop suffered a complete crop loss due to the April 16 freeze during bloom.  So we will have no peaches or pears to sell in 2018; hopefully we'll have crops of both in 2019.  Harvested asparagus sold out yesterday, right on schedule.
   We still have many 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples and cracked pecans, harvested last Nov. and kept in top condition in our coolers, for sale now and for the next month or two.  Prices are detailed in the May 25 blog post (click on "Older Posts").