Friday Tour of the Fruit Farm

What a great day for an orchard tour. With John driving and Patty, Juliette and I chomping on apples, we toured the farms.

First on our inspiration list was the size and quality of the apples. Boy, are they beautiful. Mutsu, Empire and of course Honeycrisp took the prize. Harvest of the Honeycrisp should start the last week of September.

Next, we couldn’t get over the squash and pumpkin patch. WOW!! 14 acres and again the size of the squash is huge. John has done a great job of keeping the field clean and nice for long keeping squash. Oh my goodness, you can not believe the size of some of the blue hubbard squash we have. Let me know of any contests for large squash.

Next on our tour was a stop at the pear orchard. The Bartlett and Bosc are, you guessed it, “big”. This is the year for pear lovers to can because the size is so good.

I’m going to be shipping Bosc pears this year in my gift apple boxes so be sure to watch for info on our shopping cart.

Last but not least are the plums. We grow Stanley Prune Plums. We have nick named my brother-in- law Jim, “the plum dumpling” because he is so good at waiting to harvest until the darn things are sweet. Most farmers pick a little too green but he waits and grows the best plums. Once they are in the market I probably eat 10 a day.

Rose is getting ready to dip caramel apples. She always get a callus on her finger from hand dipping these little wonders. I’m thinking of inventing a holder so she doesn’t need to twist them between her fingers. Any ideas pass them on.

Well, I’m ready for a great fall! Betsy