Peach Harvest has Begun, Many Blackberries Ripe

   We started harvesting our two earliest peach varieties, 'Surecrop' and 'Early Redhaven', on Mon. morning June 24, 2019.  I give taste samples of both, to those interested in buying peaches.  'Surecrop' is semi-freestone, meaning the flesh clings to the pit a bit until it is fully soft; when fully soft it comes clean from the pit.  'Surecrop' is very juicy with a great flavor, and is great for fresh eating and freezing, but not for canning or baking pies or cobblers.  'Early Redhaven' is freestone, so the flesh comes clean from the pit.  'Early Redhaven' is less juicy with a subdued flavor, and is good for fresh eating, freezing, canning and baking pies or cobblers.

We're now harvesting and selling our two earliest peach varieties, 'Surecrop' (left) and 'Early Redhaven' (right). Our workers harvest more peaches each morning, Mon. to Sat., so we have harvested peaches for sale in mid-late mornings, and during our evening open hours.

   Our workers will harvest more peaches each morning, Mon. to Sat., over the next 2 months.  We grow 18 different peach varieties that provide a succession of ripening over 2 months.  Each variety ripens over a 10-day to 2-week period.
   Small amounts of harvested peaches cost $1.30 per pound + tax.  We pick directly into 20-lb. boxes, which I then weigh to exactly 20.0 lbs., so you save $1.00 if you buy a 20-lb. box of peaches for $25.00 + tax.  We also usually have some nice 2nds peaches with rain cracks, limb rubs or other surface damage, which sell for just $0.88 per pound + tax.
   We have harvested peaches for sale in mid-late mornings.  If we don't sell out of harvested peaches in the morning, we have them for sale again during our evening open hours.

Nora Kerr had fun picking 'Natchez' thornless blackberries with her dad Daniel Kerr (at left, hidden behind the blackberry plants) on Mon. evening June 24.  Many more thornless blackberries will ripen over the next 6 weeks.

   'Natchez' thornless blackberries are still very plentiful, and more 'Natchez' will ripen over the next  3 weeks or so.  We also grow 3 other thornless blackberry varieties that ripen later, so we'll have lots of blackberries to pick all during July and the first week in Aug.
   All our thornless blackberries cost $2.78 per quart + sales tax, pick-your-own, and are sold pick-your-own only.   We provide containers, and just ask that you return the containers to us for reuse on your next trip to Brenda's Berries.  Please also bring back any peach boxes or other containers you previously got from us.  Chetopa Foods saves cardboard trays for us, which we greatly appreciate.
   We also appreciate it if customers bring us cardboard trays to place their quarts of blackberries on, to bring them home.  Some customers bring plastic or metal trays to place their blackberry quarts on to bring them home, which also helps.  Do NOT bring bowls to dump the berries into, as that damages them, and we want the berries to stay in the quarts you picked them into until you get them home.
   There are still some purple raspberries ready to pick now until about July 4.  Red raspberries and black raspberries have finished their ripening seasons.  We sold the last of the plumcots this morning, so we're now sold out of plumcots for 2019.
   From June 1 to Aug. 31, as shown in the sidebar at left, we're open our summer hours: open 7:30 a.m. to 12 noon & 7 p.m. to 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 p.m. to 9 p.m. only.  If you tell others about us, please let them know these summer hours.  Thanks.
   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.
   Have your vehicle cleaned out so there's room to put trays of berries and peach boxes or bags.  These fruits travel best in open trays, where they receive air conditioning from the vehicle, not in a car trunk or in an ice chest, so don't take up room in the vehicle with an ice chest.  We keep our cooler at 50 F, ideal for peaches, as they can get chilling injury at temperatures below 50 F or if put directly on ice.  Once you get them home, both blackberries and peaches keep well for 10 days in a refrigerator.