Saturday, July 25, 2020

Pick Thornless Blackberries for 10-12 More Days

   Thornless blackberries are still ripening for the next 10 to 12 days or so, so if you want to pick some (or pick some more), come in the next week or two.  'Ouachita' blackberries are still ripening for one more week. They are medium-large with small seeds, and very juicy and flavorful.  'Apache' blackberries are large to very large, and more will ripen for the next 10 to 12 days.
'Ouachita' thornless blackberries are still ripening for one more week. They are medium-large and very flavorful.
   Thornless blackberries cost $3.70 per quart + sales tax, pick-your-own, and are sold pick-your-own only.  There are NO chiggers, and you can pick a quart in 5 to 10 minutes.
   Weekday mornings are great times to come for those able to do so.  If you come on Fri. or Sat. morning (our busiest times) to pick blackberries, try to arrive by 8 or 8:30 a.m., as we're often picked out by 10 or 10:30 a.m. on Fri. and Sat. mornings.
   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.  Please arrive at a time that allows you enough time to finish picking and check out by our closing time.  Thanks.
   Our peach crop is greatly reduced this year.  The earliest peaches were very small due to lack of rain.  We're now harvesting our mid-season peach varieties, which are medium-sized, but we have only a few pounds for sale.  Last year we had excess rain for 13 months, which killed many peach roots, so when this drought started the peach roots couldn't take up enough water to produce good-sized peaches.
   Our workers harvest all the ripe peaches each morning, Mondays to Saturdays.  They have Sunday mornings off for church, and we're closed Sunday mornings for church.  Many days all the peaches picked that morning are sold by noon, but this morning only a few customers bought peaches, so we do have about 32 pounds of 'Challenger' peaches for sale this evening.
These 'Challenger' peaches are only medium-sized, but very flavorful. I give taste samples.
   All our peach varieties from now on are freestone, meaning they come clean from the stone or pit when cut.  All are very flavorful, and I give taste samples.  Each variety ripens over a 10-14 day period, so we grow many different varieties that provide a succession of ripening over 8 weeks or so.
   Harvested peaches cost $1.34 per pound + sales tax.  We don't have enough peaches yet this year to pick into 20-pound boxes, so our workers are picking into 10-pound boxes, and that's the most peaches each family can get at this time. We usually pick some 2nds peaches each morning, with small cracks or bird pecks, and these sell for $0.93 per pound + sales tax, but often sell out quickly.
   Please keep praying for rain to fall specifically on our farm.  There's now a 50% chance of rain early next week.  If we get some more rain, we hope to have some good-sized peaches for sale from mid- to late August.  We also hope to pick some peaches into 20-pound boxes in mid-late Aug.
   If you're coming only for peaches, and don't want to pick blackberries, please arrive after 9 a.m. to give our workers time to harvest the peaches.
   We still have #1 'GoldRush' apples for sale for the next week or two, until we sell out.  We'll have 2nds 'GoldRush' apples for sale until mid-late Aug.  For apple prices, click on the previous blog post dated July 13.
    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.