Much Asparagus for Sale, Thinning Peaches

    We have lots of asparagus for sale, now and for the next 3 weeks.  I'm now harvesting it 3 times a day most days, when high temperatures are in the 80's F.  We should still have asparagus for sale until about June 8, but it really sells fast once red raspberries start ripening and customers are here picking raspberries, so if you want some in May please call and say when you'll come get it.

Asparagus spears grow so fast when high temperatures are in the 80's that I have to pick it 3 times a day, so we have lots for sale now.

   We grow 'Jersey Knight' asparagus, an all-male variety that produces high yields of thicker spears since there are no female plants that spend energy producing berries.  I the spears by snapping them where they harvest easily, so almost the entire break   Asparagus is sold harvested, still for $2.78 per pound + tax.harvested spear is tender and usable.
   Phone 620-597-2450 a day ahead and leave a message on our answering machine to order asparagus, saying about how many pounds you want to get, and the day & time you'll come get it.  Our phone rings in our house, so I'll get your message when I come in from working in the orchard.  I'll return your call in the evening to confirm, as this is our busiest time of year for orchard work now.
   Our workers and I are in the midst of thinning peaches, a huge job that takes over 800 work hours during the whole month of May.  When we have a year of heavy fruit set on peaches, as we do this year, we have to remove 9 out of 10 of the young fruit so the remaining fruit will grow large enough to sell, not touch as they grow to minimize fruit rots, and reduce limb breakage from excess crops.

Here I used pneumatic limb shakers, powered by the air compressor on the tractor, to shake off some excess young peaches from the trees. Notice how overloaded with fruit the limb at far left is, before it was shaken to jar some excess fruit off.

   First my husband Bill and I used pneumatic limb shakers to shake off some excess fruit.  Then our workers and I twist off many other young fruit by hand, so the fruit that we leave are 6-8 inches apart.  This allows each remaining fruit to grow much larger and sweeter.
   Pick-your-own red raspberries should start the last few days in May, and will ripen heavily starting in early June.  All raspberries are sold pick-your-own only, for $2.32 per pint + sales tax.
   We're still open by appointment until May 31, so if you want to pick red raspberries in the first few days of their ripening season, phone 620-597-2450 a day ahead and leave a message on our answering machine saying the day and time you want to come pick them.

'Apache' blackberries are in beautiful bloom now. Our earliest-ripening thornless blackberries will start ripening about June 18, and 'Apache' will ripen during the whole month of July.

   Our summer hours, shown in the sidebar at left, run from June 1 to Aug. 31.  During that period, there will be plenty of berries to pick, and you don't need an appointment.  Just come during our open hours, and allow enough time to finish picking by our closing time.
   The sidebar at left tells seasons for all our crops, open hours for each season, payment methods, etc.  We're looking forward to great crops of all our fruits this year.