Prime Apple Season is Here

   Our pick-your-own apple season is still going strong.  'Enterprise' apples are still ripening and will be available for picking during the entire month of October.  'GoldRush' apples, our latest-ripening apple variety, have just started ripening, and will be available for pick-your-own customers from about Oct. 15 to Nov. 12, or until we get our first hard freeze.

More 'Enterprise' apples are ripening, and we'll keep picking them for the next 2 to 3 weeks.

   We got down to 30 F here on Sat. morning Oct. 12, but that doesn't hurt apples on the trees at all.  Apples' high sugar content acts like anti-freeze, so apples on the trees aren't damaged until temperatures drop to 24 F or lower.
   Pick-your-own apples cost $1.00 per pound + tax for #1 apples (practically perfect) and $0.79 per pound + tax for #2 apples with cracks, bird pecks, or other surface damage.  Those who pick over 40 pounds total (#1's + #2's) get a discount, so #1 apples cost $0.93 per pound + tax and #2 apples cost  $0.74 per pound + tax.  Pick-your-own means that you harvest apples from the trees, and you buy whatever you harvest.  Those who pick some #1 and #2 apples to buy may also pick some #3 apples, with small rotten spots, for free if they want them.

   We also have some harvested 'Enterprise', 'Sundance', 'Querina', 'Prairie Rose' (Co-op 27), and other apple varieties for sale.  I harvest all selections from my apple breeding program, since these trees are grown from seeds resulting from controlled pollination, so there's only one tree of each selection.  I give taste samples.

I harvested about 100 pounds of 'Sunset' apples today, and 32 pounds sold today. This selection from my apple breeding program is very sweet, with a taste similar to 'Honeycrisp'.

   We still have about 500 pounds of 'Harrowsweet' pears and about 800 pounds of 'Shinko' Asian pears for sale until we sell out.  Our workers finished harvesting the rest of the 'Harrowsweet' pears  on Sat. Oct. 12, and we'd already completed harvest of 'Shinko' Asian pears.  We should have 'Harrowsweet' pears for sale until late Oct., and 'Shinko' Asian pears until early Nov.

We still have about 500 pounds of 'Harrowsweet' pears (left box) & about 800 pounds of 'Shinko' Asian pears (right box) for sale for the next 2 to 3 weeks.

   Small amounts of harvested apples, pears or Asian pears all 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 apples, pears or Asian pears for $25.00 + tax.  We harvest apples and pears into 2 bags per box, so you can get a 10-lb. bag of pears and a 10-lb. bag of Asian pears or apples, and still get the 20-lb. discount.  Our 2nds apples and pears, with rain cracks, limb rubs or other surface damage, sell for $0.93 per pound + tax.
    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.  Thanks
   We also appreciate it if pick-your-own apple customers bring us some clean, non-ripped, used plastic grocery sacks in different colors.  We have customers pick #1 apples into white bags, #2 apples into yellow or tan bags, and #3 apples (if they pick any) into gray, blue or brown bags.  We have plenty of white bags now, but are running very low on all other colors, so we really need those.
   We do not allow customers to pick into cloth grocery bags, since I weigh the apples in the plastic bags (which don't add to the weight).  Also, plastic bags are ideal for storing the apples or pears in your fridge, as they prevent moisture loss from the fruit but allow ethylene gas (produced by ripening apples and pears) to escape, which prevents apples or pears from getting mealy.  (Don't ever put apples or pears in paper bags, which trap ethylene, unless you want mealy fruit.)
   'Enterprise' apples will keep 7 to 8 months in your fridge in top condition, if properly stored in the plastic bags that we provide or that you picked them into.  'GoldRush' apples keep well for 10 to 11 months if properly stored in the fridge.  Keep them in the plastic bags, and if you have room in your crisper (set on highest humidity), you can untie the bags.  If you keep them on the refrigerator shelf, keep the bags tied close, as frost-free fridges would dry out apples if the plastic bags are untied, causing the apples to wrinkle and shrivel.
   Our fall hours, shown in the sidebar at left, run from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30.  During this time, we're open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mon. to Sat., and 1 to 5:30 p.m. on Sundays.
   I'm usually out harvesting apples each morning, until customers start arriving here.  I put a sign on the sales building above our bell, that says "I'm working in the orchard. Ring bell for service."  Ring it loudly, just once or twice, and I'll hear it and drive our utility vehicle up to the sales building.