Orchard Talk

It has been a busy fall at Kings! We made it through another Applefest in Charlevoix, despite the wind and rain. All of the apples are now officially off the trees which means the fruitstands and coolers are packed full of apples! We have 10 different varieties right now: Cortland, Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Gala, Mutsu, Northern Spy, Ida Red, McIntosh, Empire, and of course the famous Honeycrisp.

Along with apples, squash is coming in by the truckloads! We have Butternut, Buttercup, Acorn, Hubbard, and Carnival right now. They are available by the piece and 1/2 bushel. There are lots of ways to cook squash, so start experimenting and give us your input!

Halloween is coming up quickly, so be sure to get out to the orchard to pick out a pumpkin! We have pumpkins of all shapes and sizes outside the markets so there are lots of choices!

If you don’t feel like whipping up your own apple pie, grab a fresh baked pie at one of the markets. We also have hand dipped caramel apples to put you in the fall mood.

It is definitely starting to look and feel like fall around the markets so stop out and join in all the fall fun!

The time all apple lovers have been waiting for is here! Honeycrisp apples are ready and available in the fruitstands! We also have Gingergold, McIntosh, and Gala apples available. Cortlands will be arriving soon, along with Jonagolds. Come out to the orchard or order online to get a taste of Michigan apples at their best!

We have raised the price of tart cherry juice concentrate for the first time in many years. We are going to $16.99/quart. This is a steep increase.
We had a large cherry crop in 2009 and much of the surplus was made into concentrate. The 2010 crop was very small but we still had enough concentrate to get us to June and the new crop.  However, the 2011 crop picked out 20% less than expected. The large processors were not getting enough cherries for their commitments to their large contracted accounts so they sent fewer cherries to be made into concentrate.

Cherry juice concentrate has been growing at a fast pace and now the market was being shorted. We were unable to get a commitment for the amount of concentrate we need for the coming year from the processor who had done 100% of our juice for the last 2 years. We responded by sending all of the tart cherries that we grow to be concentrated. We also put out the word that we needed cherries for concentrate to the other growers. We were able to get 10 growers in our area to send us fruit for concentrate. However, in order to influence growers to send us their fruit we had to match or surpass the grower price that they were being offered from the big processors, and because the crop was short the prices were up 50% to 100% over the prices offered for the last several years.  No one has ever paid prices this high for juice cherries but we think we were able to get enough fruit to last until next July when we start all over again. I hope you will bear with us and that we have a big cherry crop next year.

John

We really have a nice crop of pears this year. The Bartletts are in right now and they are large size and real nice. We will start the Bosc pears this week they are also big and beautiful. The Stanley Prune Plums just are taking their time getting ready. We like to let them hang until they have turned sweet but they won’t be ready until late this week, at the earliest.

The M88 apple block has been laid out with u-pick in mind, and we have promoted our u-pick for several years. However, as the apples on the M-88 farm began to develop this year I realized that they were all russeted. Russet is a brown rough finish on an apple skin that is usually the result of cold wet weather during bloom. The severity of russeting can be influenced by sprays as well, usually during bloom time. Russeted apples do not size well, and may crack.

My response to the russet problem was to remove all of the fruit from the affected trees. Most of the trees in our M-88 block are under 4 years old and by removing the fruit we would encourage very strong growth and increase our capabilities for a good crop in years to come.

This has been a very bitter pill but the net results are that there will be no u-pick this year at King Orchards, and that the apple trees grew vigorously this year and should be in great shape for u-pick next year.

The good news is that the M-88 apple block is about 25% of our apple acreage, and the apples at Jim’s and Russell Ridge farms were not affected, so we will still have all of your favorite apples in the markets for this year, just no u-pick.
We will have raspberries for u-pick and the orchard is open for anyone to take a walking tour (unguided unless I am available).

John

The first of the McIntosh apples just started coming in today! We also still have Gingergolds available, however not for too much longer so get ‘em while they’re still around! We have been seeing the first of the Bartlett Pears coming in as well this week. They are perfect right now… we should have them in for about 10-14 days.

Peaches and nectarines are coming to an end very quickly. We are running a sale until they are gone so this is the time to get them! They should be done this weekend. We will have softs available throughout the week in the fruitstands for all of you last minute canners. Give us a call so we can save you some.

We are looking forward to a busy weekend ahead. The main question we have been getting- “What will you have for u-pick?” Raspberry picking will be strong this weekend. There are still some peaches on the trees, but we cannot guarantee that they will go through the entire weekend. Call us ahead of time and we can give you the status of the peaches. Hope to see you at the orchard this weekend!

This fall weather means its apple season! Today, I had my first apple of the season and it was everything I have been waiting for- juicy, crisp, and sweet! We are looking forward to a big Labor Day weekend! We are planning on having Sanza apples in the markets before the weekend and Ginger Golds by the weekend.

Keep in mind, we will still have peaches and nectarines in the markets all weekend. The Red Haven peaches are coming off the pit nicely and the nectarines are still as juicy and sweet as ever!

We still have a huge veggie selection in the markets including some great canning tomatoes! Be sure to make a stop at one of our markets so you and your Labor Day guests can enjoy some fresh Michigan produce over the weekend!

Betsy and I just completed a lap of the orchard and I felt I better report.  Red Havens are taking their time getting ripe. We will start on Monday or Tuesday.  We are hearing from a lot of people who want to u-pick this weekend and they can get some nice peaches but let me caution you. Red Havens are only freestone when they are ripe.  Stone fruit softens after it is picked but it does not add sugar. Every year we have customers who return peaches that “won’t come off the pit”. Every year is different and some years the peaches are clingy, but if we wait and let them ripen and sweeten they usually will come off the pit nicely.

The nectarines are not freestone and cling to the pit and we are starting them right now. I eat a lot of nectarines! Betsy wanted to pick them but I wanted to let them hang 2 more days to add sugar. Betsy pointed out that we have a hard time interesting a fruit stand customer with a dented nectarine. So I am advising blog readers that dented nectarines are just about the sweetest fruit we have and you will definitely want a napkin ready if you bite into one.

We have had a big apricot season.  There are still some for upick but it is rapidly winding down. Frank, Megan, and Jimmy took a load to the Benton Harbor market where the sales start at 5.45 am and are fast and furious for an hour or so.  Big Jim and Jack took a load to the Detroit Eastern Market too. That sale starts at Midnight and lasts until 6.00 am.

The early season raspberries are about done and the late season ones will be rolling in over the next several weeks. The late ones are larger and it is easy to fill the containers. We should have good picking this weekend unless there is a big run on the raspberries.

Stanley prune plums and Bartlett pears will be ready in September. We have a very nice apple crop and Ginger Golds are 1-2 weeks away.

Oops I almost forgot that our own sweet corn is in the market and I am pretty happy with it. Remember it was very dry during July but we have pretty good tip fill and great flavor.

That’s all for now

John

The fruit stands are running out of table space because of all the fresh produce we have in right now! The markets have been taken over with the smell of peaches. Right now, we have the Garnet Beauty and Early Glow peaches, which are semi-cling. We will have the Red Haven, free stone peaches in next week.

We just got in nectarines as well! You can find at least one employee snacking on a nectarine in the fruit stand at all times… they are wonderful- juicy, sweet deliciousness!

King Orchards’ sweet corn is also available in the market. Bay City canning tomatoes are just starting to roll in so those should be available for the next couple weeks at least. Lots more fresh veggies are also available including potatoes, onions, zucchini, summer squash, peppers, and green beans.





We are hoping to get in Ginger Gold apples for Labor Day weekend. We will be shipping these this year, so if you want to get a taste of Michigan apples early in the season contact us for more information!