And just like that, another year has come and gone in the orchard! Seems like we just started picking a few days ago.  If I had to rate this year, I would give it about a 7.  The weather has been odd and a challenge to say the least the last 2 years.  But we have still managed to put up a decent crop of both apples and honey.  There is always a positive, you just have to look for it!  The trees are already setting their buds for next year so if we have a more normal spring, then the trees should do fine.  I want to thank all of you who came out to the orchard this fall and also apologize to those of you who came out only to find out we had sold out already.  In a normal year, the orchard would have made it another week or 2 but this year it was not to be.  So thank you to all of you again and we will see you next fall!!

With a hard frost on the way we made the decision that this Saturday will be our last day of the season.  We will be open from 10-5 on Saturday or until we sell out.  We will. have Haralson and Snow Sweet. We will also have seconds for those of you who want to make pies or apple sauce.  We will also have one last batch of cider.  So if you want some, don't wait too long.  We will have honey too.
  With colder temps on the horizon, we decided to pick the last 20 or so trees because I don't want them to freeze.  The weather has played an interesting role this year and you just have to go with the flow.  Usually we make it a couple more weeks but not this year.  I feel very fortunate to have had the crop we did, even with all the weird weather.  But the weekend looks to be nice so stop out and have a hot cup of cider and enjoy our nice fall weather!  See you this Saturday!!

Yesterday was a very busy day in the orchard and because of that we are making some changes today.  The orchard will be open from noon-3 today, Sunday.  We may close even earlier if we are busy again like yesterday...just a heads up.  We picked a lot of apples yesterday and because of that we will have less available today.  We will have Haralred and Haralson and a few McIntosh today.  We will also have seconds available for those of you who want some.  It also looks like some rain will be headed our way...again, which is another reason for the change of hours.  Thank you to all who came out yesterday and picked!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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The time has arrived for what some of you have been waiting for. The Honey Crisp are ready.  Just so you know, the supply is limited this year but we will also have some seconds of these as well.  This weekend we will also be picking Haralred/Haralson, Frostbite and a few McIntosh that survived the frost.  We also have a good supply of seconds for those of you that want to make apple sauce or apple pies or apple crisp.  They aren't as pretty but they taste just as good.  If you want to pick your own, the Haralred/Haralson will be available for that.  We also will have both Apple Cider and Honey.  There are just a couple weekends left so this might be a good one to come out and enjoy a nice fall day outside and away from all the hustle and bustle.  We were very lucky to have a decent crop this year and are also glad to get to share it with you.  We will be open both Saturday and Sunday this weekend unless we sell out early, so we will see you this weekend!!

Fall has arrived and for me that's the best time of the year!  The orchard will be closed this weekend and will re-open next weekend.  As I have said a few times already, the late frost we had this spring took out about 40% of our crop and that is why we will be closed.  More specifically, the frost took out most of our mid-season apples.  Sweet sixteen, McIntosh, Snow Sweet and about 2/3 of our Honey Crisp were the ones that had the most damage.  When you grow just about anything, you learn to go with the flow and that's what we are doing.  I will make do with whatever is dealt to us!
  On a brighter note, next weekend we will have Honey Crisp, Frost Bite and the start of the Haralson/ Haralred.  All are good in there own right.  In almost 20 years of growing apples I have learned to enjoy what we have not how much we have and this year is exactly what I mean!  In case your curious, the pictures are of Haralson, Frost Bite and Honey Crisp.   Next weekend the apples will be ready and we will also have some hot cider to go with it!

We are almost at the mid-way point of our season.  As I mentioned in previous posts, the orchard had severe frost damage in late May and because of that, our crop is not what we would like it to be.  That being said, we will be open on Saturdays only the next 2 weekends.  This weekend is not a total loss.  We will have Zestar, Goodland and Prairie Magic this Saturday.  The Prairie Magic will have a limited crop because of the frost but I think there is a trees worth so there will be a few bags.  We should also have some seconds and we will  have both cider and honey!  Also, in about 2 weeks, the Honey Crisp should be ready  If the Honey Crisp should be ready early, I will let you know.  Just keep checking back here. The positive in all this is that we do have apples!!!  Maybe not as many as we would like but enough.  I can make do with whatever we are given. See you on  Saturday.

We had a very nice opening weekend last weekend and it looks like that is going to continue.  This weekend we will have State Fair, Zestar and Chestnut Crab.  We will also have some seconds and cider and honey.   We ran out of cider pretty quickly last weekend, so if you want some, don't wait too long.  We only make so much each weekend.  The next few weekends after this one will be a little different because of the late frost we had earlier.  Our supply isn't what it usually is for this time of year.  We may only be open on Saturday next weekend.  Check back here and I'll update things before the weekend.  The Honey Crisp, which also took a hit from the frost, should be ready in about 2-3 weeks.  Again, I'll let you know.  Fall is on the way and we'll be ready!  See you then!

We are all set!  The orchard will open tomorrow at 10am.  We will have Zestar, State Fair, Hazen and 2 different crab apples.  Both Chestnut Crab and Centennial Crab.  We will also have cider and honey.  This year will be different like most years.  The first few weekends should be normal.  The middle few weekends won't have as much available and the last few weekends will be pretty decent.  As I have said before, the weather has played a huge role in all this and as usual we have to adjust.  You can always look here for an update and I'll try to do that every week while we are open.  Thanks for being patient and we will see you this weekend!

The orchard will open for the 2020 season on Saturday, August 29th at 10am.  We will be picking State Fair and Hazen.  The Zestar may also be ready by then.  I think they need a little more time but we'll see.  Once again, weather has played a big role in which apples we will haver this year.  Because of another late frost, some varieties will not be available this year.  They include McIntosh, Sweet Sixteen, Snow Sweet and a good chunk of our Honey Crisp crop.  The beginning and the end of the season look to be the best this year and we will keep you posted as to which varieties we are picking each week.  If you like to pick your own, we will have a couple different types in which you can pick this year.  Both Zestar and Haralson have a good enough crop to allow that this year.  The bees have also had a good season so if you like fresh raw honey, we have that as well.   Keep checking back here and we'll keep you posted!

With about a month to go, things are starting to shape up.  It seems like every year we have challenges of some sort.  This year we had a late frost, a hail storm in June that did quite a bit more damage than we had thought and right now we have crows that for some reason decided that this year, they like apples!  We always have bird damage but this year, it seems to be worse.  On a brighter note, the bees are having a good season and one of the enclosed pictures shows a fully capped frame of honey.  That is what it looks like before I extract it, which will be in a couple of weeks.  What we could really use right now would be a little rain.  Its been a weird season as far as the weather is concerned.  Now that I think about it, the last few years have been different.  You just keep adapting and adjusting.