Many Thornless Blackberries Ripe for Picking, Some Yellow & White Peaches Ripe

   Many, many 'Ouachita' thornless blackberries are ripe now.  They are so numerous that many customers pick 6 quarts in just 3 to 4 feet of row.  Several families have picked large amounts of 'Ouachita' (pronounced WASHita) blackberries in the past few days, but we have such a bumper crop this year that we need more customers to come pick them.

Three members of the Sanders family picked 30 quarts (5 flats) of 'Ouachita' thornless blackberries in about 1 hour last evening. They're freezing them for use in pies and snacks year-round.

   'Ouachita' berries are medium-large, the perfect size for making pies or fruit salads.  'Ouachita' is my favorite blackberry variety for freezing individually for use in fruit salads next winter and spring.  So this morning I picked some, and now have them on a cookie sheet in the freezer, so each berry freezes separately and they don't stick together.  After about 24 hours in the freezer, I'll pour the frozen blackberries into labeled zip-lock freezer bags, and they'll keep well for 2 to 3 years in the freezer.

'Ouachita' thornless blackberries are so heavily loaded that you can often pick 6 quarts in 3 to 4 feet of row. Come soon if you want to pick them.

   Many 'Natchez' thornless blackberries are still ripening now also, and 'Apache' berries have started to ripen.  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.  There are NO chiggers or thorns, and you can pick a quart in 5 minutes.  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 when customers bring cardboard, plastic or metal trays to place their blackberry quarts on to bring them home.  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.
   Weekday mornings are great times to come for those able to do so.  We open at 7:30 a.m. Mon.-Sat. for berry pickers, and arriving at 7:30 a.m. or soon afterward enables you to finish picking before it gets too hot.  If you come on Sat. morning (our busiest time) to pick blackberries, try to arrive by 8 or 8:30 a.m.
   Our trained workers harvest peaches each morning Mon.-Sat. Right now we're in a bit of a lull on peaches, as we've finished harvesting and sold all of our earliest-ripening peach varieties, while the next peach varieties aren't producing much yet.  We should get into heavier peach production next week, and we'll keep harvesting additional peach varieties for the next 6 to 7 weeks, so we'll have peaches for sale until late Aug.
   Our workers are now harvesting 'Blazingstar' yellow peaches and 'Nectar' white peaches.  I give taste samples of varieties ripe at the time that you come.  All our peach varieties ripe from now on are freestone.

Our workers are now harvesting 'Nectar' white peaches (left) and 'Blazingstar' yellow peaches (right).  Fewer people buy white peaches, so we have some 'Nectar' peaches left from this morning to sell this evening, but all the 'Blazingstar' picked this morning sold this morning.

   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.
   Those who come to pick blackberries in the mornings can always get some harvested peaches after they finish picking blackberries.  Those who want only peaches should arrive after 9 a.m. to give our workers time to pick the peaches.  If you want more than a 20-pound box of peaches, call 620-597-2450 the day before you want to come, to see if we'll have that many or not.
   We're closed from 12 noon to 7:00 p.m.  We're open 7-9 p.m. each evening for blackberry pickers, but call 620-597-2450 in the afternoon to be sure we'll have peaches that evening, as some days we sell out of yellow peaches by late morning.
  Our parking areas can fit 3 vehicles between each pair of oak trees (which provide nice shade for your vehicle).  So please pull in straight, fairly close to a tree, or into the middle spot if 2 other vehicles are already parked next to the 2 trees.  That way we'll have enough parking spots for everyone who's coming to get fruit.  Thanks.
   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.