With alittle over a week to go, things are starting to ripen up.  I tried a State Fair this morning and its still tart, but the seeds are beginning to turn.  When the seeds turn brown to dark black, thats means its time.  That and the taste.  The Zestar need alittle more time, so lets hope they will be ready by next weekend.  Early on we are going to try and be open on Sunday and see how the supply holds out.  We may have to close early depending on how busy we are.  If you are thinking about it, dont wait too long. 
  We also finished extracting our first batch of honey today and it looks and taste great!  There is nothing better than fresh local honey.  Last year, we ran out about the end of September, so again, if you like fresh honey then dont wait.  I will be keeping the website up to date on a weekly basis or more often if need be, so if you are thinking about coming to the orchard this fall, just check in here.  See you soon!

The orchard will be opening for the fall season on Saturday August 30 at 10am.  Because of the size of the crop this year our hours will be Saturdays only from 10-3 or until we sell out.  This has been a different year for us.  We had a hard winter followed by a late and cold spring, topped off by a hard frost on June 13.  The trees were already behind by 2-3 weeks when we got the late frost.  Because of all this we have apples on about 20% of our trees.  In all the years that we have grown apples, we have never had this happen before.  After talking to a few other growers, I found out we were not alone.  Most of the trees survived and will hopefully do better next year.  The entire orchard is 2-3 weeks behind and that is why we are opening later than usual.  All you can do is take it in stride and keep moving!  It will get better and of that I have no doubt!!
  On the brighter side, the bees survived the winter and did very well this summer.  We will be pulling honey off the hives starting next week and hope to have it ready by the end of August.  Right now the bees are working Golden Rod.  Like most wild flowers, it has good years and bad.  This year seems to be a good one.  The honey has a very good flavor, but then I think that all honey has a good flavor.  The season is just about here and Ill be sure to keep things up to date with the website.

With about 5-6 weeks to go until the early varieties will be ready, I thought I would give you all a quick update.  The early apples, which are State Fair and Zestar, are about the size of a half dollar right now.  The weather so far this summer has been good.  We have had ample amounts of rain at the right time.  We are in the heat of summer now, but as long as we continue to get those late night rains, we should be fine.    After the early varieites are done, the next inline would be McIntosh, followed by Honey Crisp.  They also seem to be doing well.  The bees are also off to a great start.  The stronger colonies are putting up honey by the box and everything seems to be blooming at the right time.  They also like the heat and will continue to collect nectar right up to dark when it stays warm out.  Lets just hope it continues!!

So lets start off with the good news.  The fruit set is underway and for the trees that have fruit, they look good.  Barring any bad weather or hail , they should do fine.  Now for the other side of the coin.  In almost 20 years of growing apples on a large scale, this is without a doubt, the worst I have ever seen it.  Of the 14 varieties that we have, only 5 or 6 have actually set fruit.  We have literally hundreds of trees that do not have any apples on them.  I have kept very detailed records over the years and it basically boils down to weather.  We had a very harsh winter and a prolonged and cooler than normal spring that ended with a frost on June 13.  Way later than it should have been.  All of these things put together, just did not help.  Most of the trees survived and will probably do better next year....I hope.  We did loose some trees because of the winter, but thats gotten to be a normal thing.  We grow alot of trees that are zone 4 trees and when we have hard winters, they sometimes just cant handle it.  So many things happened and all at the same time, so we will just deal with it.
  On a brighter side, the trees that did ok, seem to be fine and should have a good crop.  We will have a shorter season and the orchard will not be open as long as usual, but we can deal with that as well.  The bees look to be having a good year at this point too, so thats a good thing.  Lets keep our fingers crossed that we dont have any nasty storms in the next few months.

After what seemed like forever, the bloom has arrived!  Without exaggerating, the bloom this year is almost 3 weeks behind what would be considered normal for this area.  The cold just wouldnt go away for more than a day or 2 and that really slowed things down.  Winter was once again also hard on the trees.  The lack of snow until almost Christmas is hard on trees, especially the younger ones.  I guess thats the way it is when you grow just about anything on a bigger scale.  On the brighter side, the bees are having a field day at the moment!  If you look at the picture above this post, its what I would call bee heaven.  Apples and dandelions.  I see alot of honey coming from this, thats a good thing.  Lets hope that the weather continues to help us out with rain and mild temps.  I'll keep you posted.......

The orchard is now closed for the season and we want to thank all of you who came out and enjoyed the season with us!  Over all, we had a good year.  Mother nature always seems to throw us a curve.  And this year was no different.  In the end, it makes us all stronger.  the bees also had a good year and now comes the chore of getting them through the winter in one piece.  As long as they have enough food and the mites are under control, they should be fine.  I have had fairly decent luck getting them trough the winter, but I have lost bees.  I was told in the very beginning that you will loose bees and if you cant deal with that, then you shouldnt raise them.  Its really no different than raising just about anything.
  For now, anyway, its time to put the bees and the trees to bed for the winter and enjoy the remaining fall season.  Thank you all again and we will see you next fall!

There are just  a couple weekends left to the apple season.  If you have been waiting for the right time, that would be now.  This weekend, we will be picking Snow Sweet and we will start picking Connell Red.  Snow Sweet has a nice buttery flavor to it and it also is an apple that doesnt turn brown right away as most apples do.  It is a crunchy and sweet apple that you need to try.  We will also have the last of the Sweet Sixteen and Haralson seconds.  I cant think of anything better than being in the orchard on a crisp fall day with a hot cup of cider in hand.  Its Minnesota at its finest.  The season overall has been a good one to this point.  We have had some wet weekends, but overall, it hasnt been too bad.  the last few varieties that we have seem to sweeten up with alittle frost and mother nature has cooperated with that.
  Come on out this weekend while there is still time.  We will have both cider and honey as well as apples.  We always make our cider on Fridays, so if you want some, dont wait too long to come out.  We have sold out the last 3 weekends.  I'll also have a nice bonfire going for you to enjoy your cider by.  See you then!

Fall is here and we only have a few weeks left.  This weekend we will be picking McIntosh and we will start picking Snow Sweet.  There are a few Sweet Sixteen and Honey Crisp left but I dont think they will last too long.  After that we will have Haralson.  We have had so  much rain this summer that the Haralson have what is called sooty blotch.  It doesnt hurt the apple in any way, it just makes it look dirty.  It is easliy washed off.  But since I am not going to hand wash 200 bushels of Haralson, we will be offering a discount on them.  They are what I would call seconds.  There just not as pretty as they should be.  So if you are looking to add to your freezer for the winter, be sure and ask about them.  When you grow anything on any kind of scale larger than your average garden, you will run into these things from time to time.  I have had sooty blotch before (its kind of hard not to get it in some way) just never to this degree.  It is caused by excessive rainfall and high humidity.  We have had both all summer.
  Anyway, the remainder of the fall looks good.  The very last apples this year will be Haralson and Connell Red.  On top of that, we will also have both cider and honey.  the cider has been flying out the door so we will try to make alittle extra tomorrow night.  Its going to be chilly this weekend so stop out for a bag of apples and a hot cup of cider.  Lexi will be hiding somewhere in the orchard too!

Who doesnt love a freshly picked apple?  That is my granddaughter eating her first apple right off the tree!  This weekend we will be picking the last of the Sweet Sixteen and Honey Crisp.  We will also start picking McIntosh.  A very delicious apple.  Its crunchy, tart and alittle sweet.  Good for anything from pies to apple sauce or eating right from the tree!  I think next weekend we will start picking Haralred.  They are almost identical to a Haralson except the Haralred is alittle more red in color and they ripen just a bit before the Haralson.  Along with that, will be Snow Sweet.  They should be ready in a week or so.  I'll let you know when after I try one and see.  Thats a benefit of having an orchard.  I get to try alot of apples and at different times to see whne they are just right.  We will also have both cider and honey this weekend too.  Fall is finally here and the cooler weather will help the apples for sure.  See you then!