Pick Thornless Blackberries in Early Morning to Beat Heat

   Many 'Apache' and some 'Natchez' thornless blackberries are still ripening, now until about July 30.  Both these varieties have very large fruit and were developed by the University of Arkansas thornless blackberry breeding program.  We've been irrigating the blackberry plants each day, so fruit size is still large.

'Apache' thornless blackberries are still ripening, now until about July 30.

   All thornless blackberries are sold pick-your-own only, for $4.63 per quart + sales tax.  There are NO chiggers or thorns, and you can pick a quart in 5 minutes.  Arriving here by 7:30 or 8 a.m. makes for a more enjoyable picking experience than does arriving later in the morning.  It's quite pleasant from 7:30 a.m. to 9 or 9:30 a.m., even when afternoons (when we're closed) soar to over 100 F.

  We provide plastic quarts for you to pick berries into, and have you fill them level-full.  We have waxed picking flats to place quarts on while picking, and transfer the quarts to cardboard trays for you to bring them home.

   Please bring cardboard, plastic or metal trays if you have some, to place your blackberry quarts on to bring them home.  We have cardboard trays for those who don't bring any, as Chetopa Foods saves them for us, which we also appreciate.

   Do NOT bring bowls or bags 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.  Our plastic quarts are the best way to store blackberries in the fridge for 7 to 10 days.  Just put plastic wrap over the tops of the quarts, to prevent frost-free fridges from drying the berries out.

  Sales dates for all our crops are listed in the sidebar at left under Crop Sales Seasons. That also tells which crops are sold pick-your-own and which crops are sold harvested.  I adjust the dates as crop conditions change.

   Our peach crop has been decimated by the continued high heat and drought, so peaches will be VERY limited this summer.  We hope to still have a few pounds of peaches for sale from about July 28 to Aug. 24, but fruit will be small, and many fruit are 2nds with cracks or bird pecks.

   We encourage those wanting peaches to contact Murphy Orchards near Marionville, MO or the peach orchard in Porter, OK.  Those are much bigger orchards than ours, and Murphy Orchards only grows peaches and apples, while the Porter, OK orchard specializes in peaches.

Our cracked pecans are over 75% pecan kernels and under 25% shell fragments.

   We do still have some harvested, cracked pecans for sale, now until about Aug. 18.  These are big, beautiful pecans with thin shells and great taste.  Some originated from my husband Bill's pecan breeding program on our farm, so only exist here.  We sell cracked pecans in 4-pound bags, which are over 75% pecan kernels and under 25% shell fragments.  Each bag has the equivalent of 6 pounds of in-shell pecans, and when you pick out the pecan kernels, you get 3 pounds or more of nutmeats.  Each bag costs $18.52 + sales tax.

   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.

   We do not allow vehicles to idle in our parking areas.  Turn off the vehicle when you arrive, and do not turn it on again until you've checked out and loaded up and are ready to go.

   For payment, we accept cash and checks (from any state), but NO credit cards or debit cards.  We have no phone line to the sales building, and no card reader.  Please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover the amount you want to buy.  Thanks.