Woke up to a beautiful white day. This is turning out to be one of the cooler springs in quite a while. So far this is all good for fruit growers. We are getting our trimming done while the trees are staying quite dormant. There is still the risk of frost or cold damage to […]
Lots of snow lately and cold weather. The Northern Michigan fruit growers have been more nervous about the weather than ever before so it has been comforting to have normal cold weather and a cold 10 day forecast. We finally moved the bottling equipment into the new building on Church Rd. and spent all week […]
The lack of snow so far has allowed us to keep the farm hands going. The manure is almost all spread and it doesn’t stink anymore (maybe I am immune). We are fixing equipment and storing it, nesting and storing the apple boxes. The Guatamalan crew has trimmed all of the mature tart trees, all […]
We always look forward to the Expo which is held in Grand Rapids at the DeVos Center Dec 4, 5, and 6.. The place is packed with fruit industry people. I get pretty excited to see the latest in equipment and I still enjoy the education program. Then we hook up with some farm friends […]
Several news items that I should have posted earlier but I didn’t. The biggest news is that Jim and Rose are grandparents again as Mark and Brande had a baby boy, Benjamin Mark Schiller. Ben Joins Maizey his 2 year old sister. Next we are back in the cider business after a 17 year layoff. […]
It has been a great few weeks for us. Honeycrisp quality is excellent and demand is crazy. Galas picked more than our estimate so that is good news too. We are almost done picking. Today the pickers are wrapping up the last picking on Honeycrisp, and tomorrow they will probably finish Jonagold and Golden Delicious. […]
The greatly reduced apple crop combined with very hot August and Sept weather has accelerated the apple ripening. We have been planting varieties for u-pick and encouraging customers to come spend time on the farm for several years but now we are not able to offer u-pick this year. In a normal year we would […]
Yes we have apples!! We have started picking the Ginger Golds and they are really good. The super hot weather (plus irrigation) has made them very sweet and juicy. Even though the apple crop is only about 30% of our potential, it is still a lot of apples. We have many new acres of HoneyCrisp, […]
We hand picked a few lugs of sweets today. Three weeks earlier than we would usually start picking. We have about 5 acres of sweets (out of 45) at the US 31 -Creswell Rd farm that have a small but economically viable crop. Jim has been watching them progress and we are getting started. We […]
I wish, this year we are feeling that it is more a bowl full of pits! Our disappointment with the crop failure is now a reality and we are learning to deal with it. Farmers are an optimistic group and we bouncing back after our emotional spring. Here is how we see the year shaping […]
After the warm 80 degree days of mid March, an emergency call was made to bring the bees up from their Florida winter residence early. They arrived at 7:30PM on March 28th, a cold 33 degree evening. John and the crew unloaded the bees without one sting! Very happy about that, however it has taken […]
The weather this year has been pretty far from the norm. I have delayed in commenting because it is so hard to predict how this will turn out. Monday night the temp dropped to 23f. There was a breeze and it stayed well below freezing for hours. As of today on Wednesday I would say […]
Why February for National Cherry Month? That is a common question that I hear from my customers? Now, I’m not an expert but I have been around for 30 years selling cherries out of my fruit stand and although I don’t remember when February became “Cherry Month” I do remember hearing why. So here is […]
Hello everyone! Even though it is winter we are still here on the farm and working hard. 🙂 The winter is progressing and so is our new building. We are very excited to see the inside of the building coming together. This week we are hoping to get the paneling put up in the offices. […]
Winter has finally arrived here in Northern Michigan so that means that we can start shipping our frozen cherries! Click on the link below and watch the video for information, and give us a call at 1-877-937-5464 if you have any questions. Info on I.Q.F shipping
Several years back we were put in touch with a large turkey farm near Grand Rapids that sells the giant double semi trailer loads of manure. Around here we call it “Turkey Pooh”! The turkey pooh is a great deal for us. Since conventional granular fertilizers have been going up with fuel prices, turkey pooh […]
I had been lobbying Jim for a few months to buy a new Orchard tractor. I don’t spend many hours in the tractor seat anymore. but I do still plant the sweet corn, pumpkins, and squash. Jim was slow to warm up to the idea but this fall the 1976 John Deere 2030 which I […]
Check out the article AARP published about “10 Home Remedies That Work”. Tart cherry juice concentrate’s benefits are highlighted in #3! Click to view the AARP Magazine article
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Things have been very busy at the farm lately. We are moving into our peak week for apricots! The trees and our coolers are loaded. We have them available for U-pick and also in the market. The apricots are hanging low on the trees so picking is fun for the whole family. Sunday (July 7th) […]
We are coming to the last few days of sweet cherry picking. Tomorrow is the last day for picking at the M 88 market. We have a later variety (the Hudsons) that will be able to be picked at our US 31 market through the weekend. The tart cherries are looking great right now! We […]
What a pick your own cherry season it has been already! We have never seen U-pickers so happy with their fruit! The good news for this season is that these are truly the biggest black sweet cherries ever! The bad news is that for years we are going to be hearing “why aren’t they as […]
The time is here! King Orchards’ sweet cherry season has officially started! This is the best crop we have had in years! We have cherries in the market for sale by the quart, flat (8 quarts), and 20 lb lug. Today we started sending U-pickers out and they are coming back with some great looking […]
The sweet cherries have finally begun to turn color and we can get excited about the upcoming sweet cherry season. The crows are getting in the act and we have been out shooing them away. I am anxious to get upick sweets underway. We trimmed the sweet cherry trees very hard this year. We cut […]
Many of you know Daisy, the King family’s Bernese Mountain dog that can be found wandering around the farm and market. As of June 8th, Daisy is the proud mother of two male puppies! Daisy is loving them and so is everyone on the farm! We can’t wait for them to open their eyes so […]
The markets are starting to prepare for the busy season ahead! Our cherry crop should be very good this year! We are looking at the sweet cherry crop starting around the 12th of July and the tarts around the 18th. U-Pickers will have lots of cherries to choose from so make sure you bring the […]
We’re still in the thick of asparagus season. Stop by the M-88 or US-31 markets from 9 until 6, and pick up a pound or ten of these fresh, delicious Michigan treats. The King Orchards bakery is fired up for the season and turning out fresh homemade pies, cookies, muffins and donuts. Strawberry season should […]
Asparagus is here and it is AWESOME!!!! Stop in to see us at M-88 or US-31 Monday-Saturday 9am-6pm and on Sunday from 12-4pm. Hope to see you!
Watch the video:
There’s a new press release at UofMHealth.org describing findings of Dr. Bolling’s Cardioprotection Research Laboratory. Their studies report on the benefits of including cherries in the diet: reduction of inflammation and cardiovascular risk, reduction of atherosclerosis and other heart disease risk, and improved antioxidants. See the release at http://www.uofmhealth.org/News/Tart+cherries.
Dear Betsy, I don’t normally send email to companies about their products, but your frozen Montmorency cherries are out of this world! I placed my first order last Wednesday and they arrived in perfect condition on Friday. They are so good that my husband and I are eating them frozen by the handful. I haven’t […]
Our markets are full of quality apples. It is the time of the year to visit and stock up for winter. Here are a couple of enticements! Jonagolds 1/2 bushels are on sale for $9.00. Sauce apples $6.00 1/2 bushel. Squash $6 to $8 1/2 bushel. Hubbard squash is our specialty. The markets are open […]
Charlevoix Apple Fest is this coming week-end, Oct 8 9 and 10. We will line the main street with apples and apple goodies. The town is packed and fun is had by all! Beautiful fall days with the tree colors just peaking. We are in for a wonderful week-end!
The Honeycrisp are beautiful! Apple season is coming so fast. We have in the market McIntosh, Gala, Cortland, Mutsu, Jonagold, Northern Spy, Bosc Pears and Stanley Prune Plums. Squash, cornstalks, gourds and pumpkins. Fall is here!
Yes, our apple u-pick is going quick. With the combination of an early season and not as many apples as usual the season for apple picking will probably only last until any longer than the 29th or 30th of September. So lets hope for nice weather for our last week-end of u-pick apples. Now we […]
U-pick is available for Zestar, Gingergold, and Premiere Honeycrisp.
The temperatures have dropped and I’m hankering for an apple! Football, cool weather, and labor day makes it feel like fall. This summer was so warm and wonderful but I’m ready for apples, squash and plums. Ginger Gold and Sanza apples are in and we are getting ready to ship. I have new packaging and […]
Please bear with me and today’s overly-alliterated blog post. When Lexi (Bakin’ Girl) was a baby, one of the first books we read to her was The Berenstain Bears “B” Book. We read that book a lot. So much so that now, whenever I encounter more than one “B” word strung together, I start reciting […]
Yes, the ginger gold apples are in the market. They are firm and delicious. We have great quality and everyone from Josh in the truck to Eric in the shop and Jesus in the office, everyone is enjoying a crunchy apple. Canning tomatoes are in. Pickles are still nice. Sweet corn is still sweet. I […]
We still have our 1/2 bushel of red haven peaches sale going on for a few more days! Everyone is loving the nectarines. Raspberries are back and easy to pick. Ginger gold apples maybe this week-end. Great time to visit.
John’s sweetcorn is in and it is AWESOME! Our pickles are coming in by the 1/2 bushel. Come in or call to reserve yours. Garnet Beauty peaches are being picked. These stick to the pit but are sweet and juicy. Nectarines can be mixed with the peaches as they are the same price. Red Havens […]
PICKLES ARE IN!
Apricots are beautiful! Peak u-pick for the next couple of days. Apricots will be in the market for a good two weeks. Peaches —-Garnet Beauty, the semi cling peach is the first peach to get ripe. I will be opening u-pick Wed 7/28. They are big and sweet. Red Haven peaches we think will be […]
This week we are picking Balaton tart cherries. If you want to make cherry bounce this year these are the cherries you want to use. We are picking with the stems on and they should keep for traveling. Cherry bounce is easy to make and fun to drink come the holidays. Also these are the […]
Things have been so busy in the market! Our sweet cherry u-pick crop has been small, but it’s lasted through the 4th of July weekend, which is very good. We are expecting it to end by Sunday, June 11th however, so be sure to get out here while you can! Picking is a bit of […]
Things have been getting very busy around the fruit stand. We are still u-picking sweet cherries. We will be u-picking until atleast Tuesday, possibly longer. We will keep you updated on a for sure date in the next couple days. We got the sweet cherry pitter out today! It is one of the coolest things […]
U-pick is now in full swing here at the orchard. We opened up apricot picking this morning and they are delicious! We just started on a few trees today, but we will be picking for the next month or so. This is one of my favorite fruits here so don’t miss the early season this […]
I have been riding through the sweet cherries this afternoon trying to get together a plan to manage u-pick. The crop is very short. The early May frost damaged almost all of the blossoms in the larger sweet cherry block that slopes to the West. There are a few black sweets (Cavaliers) that survived but […]
Hey there! It’s Megan, Betsy and John’s niece. I’m going to be taking over the blog a little, along with Courtney and a few of the other “fruit stand girls”, so stay tuned to know what’s fresh at King Orchards. Today is our first day for U-Pick raspberries! I’m definitely excited, they’re one of […]
Happy Father’s day! Strawberries over ice cream for everyone! In the market: the strawberries are beautiful and big, great time to put some in the freezer. Asparagus all gone for the season. Sweet cherries from our farmer friends in GR are getting the cherry season started. KO sweets ready maybe this week, keep watching. I […]
Today strawberries in the market and last day for asparagus. Lots of call about u-pick. We will keep people posted on the blog each day. Today it looks like we will start some u-pick sweets next week. Keep watching !
David called and reminded me to UPDATE! thanks Dave from GR. He was most interested in apricots. I’m looking for them to ripen towards the end of July. Most of the calls are questions about sweet cherries. We have some in from the Grand Rapids area now. Ours will ripen towards the end of June. […]
Message for Betsy – Hi, it’s Meredith, Nan’s Los Angeles daughter. Just wanted you to know I stopped in yesterday on the way to the airport and grabbed a big bag of asparagus and some preserves to take home. The asparagus survived the flight quite well! This morning I enjoyed a huge helping of it […]
Tart cherry bloom has come early this year! If you are thinking about a drive to northern Michigan to witness the spectacular tart cherry blossoms, don’t hesitate to make it this weekend. Here’s a quick pic of the Montmorency cherry block from outside the office door this morning. Won’t be long before peak bloom!
This prolonged warm weather is very scary for fruit growers. Fruit buds are moving along slowly. We don’t know how much they have advanced yet but with each warm day we lose a little hardiness. I guess that some seasonal cold nights in the teens would do some damage to stone fruit buds. I think […]
Hello, Today I am writing about a little crusade I have taken up. It seems that I get piles and piles of catalogs in the mail. Most of them go straight to the recycle box, but this should not be the responsibility of the Antrim county taxpayers to pay for the disposal of excess unwanted […]
I.Q.F. stands for individually quick frozen. The cherries are easy to use since they are frozen like marbles instead of a solid mass. I just sold a 10 pound bag of balatons cherries in my fruit stand. My customer said she eats a coffee cup full every evening. She lets them thaw a bit and […]
I’m getting great feedback from the customers that are ordering the frozen cherries. Most are opting for ground shipping and knowing that they will be slightly thawed. Most are laying the bags flat in freezer and refreezing before using. I’m only shipping until mid march while it is still cold so don’t wait. Power up […]
Ok for my powered by red post I must say that I am eating more than my share of tart cherries. I have tested all the recipes this month and I am drinking my cherry juice every day. Deer have been an increasing problem again the last few years. The real threat is to the […]
My wife Rose and I went out to Pennsylvania for the Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Growers Convention last week. We went to the convention to market Cherry Juice Concentrate along with our Dried Cherry Products. There were a lot of vendors there selling Farm Market Items, Farm Equipment, Financing Institutions and Everything for the […]
This post started out as a response to a feedback question from Mary White. Patty and I spent all morning on our response and we decided to post it on the blog when it got too long. Mary has raised a great question. Why don’t we have organic fruit and why is it not easier […]
Calling all foodies!!! February is National Cherry Month! The perfect time to try ordering some of our frozen tart cherries. We have been shipping pitted tart cherries for years however, I have done it differently every year. This year I think I have it down pat. Of course, I would like everyone to opt for […]
Yesterday I was balancing the checkbook against the bank statement. I found a withdrawal that I didn’t recognize for $49.95. It is a monthly charge put in place for a service from a telemarketer.
“Spys for pies!” says Nan, the pie baking champion of Central Lake. She should know, as she has been cooking apple pies for the swiss steak dinners at the Methodist Church every third Saturday of the month for years and years. Up here, people know their pies and endurance and competence are synonymous when it […]
Rose and Betsy’s top tips for apple buying and storing: Be adventurous! Don’t be afraid to experiment. You have nothing to lose but boredom. Try some new varieties. You may not like them all, but you are sure to make some new discoveries that will become life-long favorites. Keep it cool! Apples continue to ripen […]
What a nice way to start the morning, with a gorgeous Honeycrisp apple sitting on my desk. I feel like Steve Martin in The Jerk, but instead of shouting, “The new phone book is here! The new phone book is here!” I will proclaim, “The Honeycrisp are here! The Honeycrisp are here!” Now that […]
King Orchards is proud to have been named in USA Today’s 10 Great Places to Pick Your Own Apples! “Enjoy the recreation playground of northern Michigan when you pick apples here,” said Todd Hultquist, spokesman for the U.S. Apple Association. Indeed, the sparkling waters of Torch Lake and Grand Traverse Bay are just moments from […]
RED HAVEN PEACHES: Red Haven is the all-time favorite of peach lovers for both canning and eating fresh. They are freestone, which means that the fruit comes free from the stone when peeled. Other areas of the country may grow more peaches than we do, but Michigan peaches are renowned for their rich flavor and […]
Help! We’re being overrun by cucumbers!!! If we can’t get to the phones, it’s because we can’t make it through the mountains of pickling and slicing cukes we’ve harvested from our gardens. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to plant 5 acres 🙂 Here’s what we’re offering this week: Veggies: Now available at both […]
Dipping Day: From now through the weekend you will be able to come and scoop out as many tart cherries as you wish from our shaking tanks without having to pick them yourself! Only 85 cents/pound, same as U-Pick! Fresh Pitted Tart Cherries/U-Pick: We will be having these through the weekend until the shaking is […]
We have a wonderful crop of Balaton tart cherries this year. Balaton cherries are a darker morello-style variety of sour cherry traditionally grown in Hungary, near the Soviet border. The Balaton was introduced here in the U.S. by Dr. Amy Iezzoni of Michigan State University, who found it in Hungary when she was searching for […]
It’s raining again this morning. When we have sweet cherries to pick rain is a real problem. The high sugar content in the cherry draws water through the skin and the cherry splits.
There is one question everyone is asking. How long will we be able to pick sweet cherries? This year is so odd that I can’t say. My hope is that we will be able to pick through to next week end. There is a lot of fruit out there and if it stays dry the […]
Betsy and John were out checking on the tart cherries this morning. They’re still a bit orange-y, so we’re looking at 4 to 5 days before prime picking time. Picking should be fantastic by this weekend (July 24th). We still have plenty of sweet cherries and red raspberries to pick. And we’ve opened one row […]
Well today we began picking in earnest and u-pickers are showing up. This is the turning point when we start taking in money on the crops which have been getting a lot of expensive care. Usually we have stretched all of our financial resources out to the max just as the sweet cherry harvest (and […]
To encourage lots and lots of Michigan cherry picking, we are rolling back our u-pick prices to 2006! We’re calling it our Cherry U-Pick Stimulus Plan (CUSP for those of you who love your acronyms). U-Pick Sweet Cherries: $1.50 per pound We-Pick Sweet cherries: $4.50 per quart We have a gorgeous crop of both sweet […]
We drove the golf cart in the Central Lake parade today! The market has been busy and the pies were piled high this morning. With no cherries ripe there has been more than one disappointed u-pickers. My standard answer is that we will pick some black sweets this week and try to get the u-pick […]
There are a lot of cherries on the trees, and all signs point to a good crop of both sweet and tart cherries. Our latest estimate is that sweet cherry picking will begin around July 10th, with tart cherries following a week to 10 days later. Betsy and Rose expect to have strawberries in the […]
June 8th and Still cool here in Northern Michigan! I’ve noticed that my favorite way to cook asparagus is in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes. The added benefit of this recipe is that it warms up the kitchen. I have been making lots of asparagus soup also. Here is my favorite recipe Asparagus […]
Ok, I was wrong but I bet the apricots pop out today. This morning is so busy with activities. Workers driving the golf cart to plant trees. Shouts of directions to Josh to flail mow. This is a mower that chops the brush from trimming that years ago we used to burn. Casey is placing […]
My prediction is that we will have apricot blossoms for the week-end. Apricots are first to blossom and then sweet cherries, tart cherries, peaches and apples. They all kind of run together but that is how I think of it. The bee hives are set out in the orchard. There was lots of activity around […]
Hi Everyone, It has finally slowed down here on the farm and I hate to say it but Jim and John are already talking Spring? Meanwhile our Jésus in the Office has been getting out and trying new moves on the Snowboard! Unsuccessfully I might add! He tried a ‘Big Move’ and came down in […]
Apricots are in! We have a large, beautiful crop this year, and have opened them up for u-picking at $1.75 per pound. It looks like we have a few days left of cherry picking. And plenty of raspberries. We also have delicious Michigan blueberries for sale in the market, as well as Bay City corn, […]
The black sweet cherries have been slow to ripen but we are finally there! Sweet cherries are in the markets by the quart. U-pick will open on Wed 7/9 at the m-88 farm. The picking will be much easier towards the week-end. Price for u-pick is 2.00/lb up to 25 lbs and 1.75 over. Raspberries […]
We are loading up the tables for the cherry festival right now. We will be at the open space in Traverse City Fri noon until 10 pm. The hours July 5- July 12 are 10 to 10. Our markets are op[en all holiday week-end with strawberries and pies. The sweet cherries are not cooperating and […]
Strawberries are finally here! The strawberries look absolutely wonderful and delicious. They taste just as great as they look. The prices of the strawberries are set at $4 a quart and $30 a flat (8 quarts). The season should last through July 7th or so.
It’s been raining so much lately! In the past 40 days, we’ve had rain on 24 of them. Hopefully it dries up soon, because the rain can cause the cherries to split. All of our gardens are staked out and planted, so the rain will be good for just a few more days. Guess what […]
Hey everyone! Megan here, writing for Betsy while she’s at church. (For those of you that don’t know me, I’m John and Betsy’s niece that lives here on the farm with them.) The season really feels like it’s starting now, because of the strawberries coming in this upcoming weekend. But what I’m looking forward to […]
Things are finally warming up here! We’ve had rain the past few days, and the sweet corn is beginning to sprout. We have asparagus in the market for one more week, and strawberries are estimated to be in a bit late, because of the previously cool weather. We should have them in the market by […]
I know that it is really spring because the asparagus is in. Beautiful and tender. We had it grilled, steamed, and sauteed with soy sauce. The big change everyone will notice this spring are the Poplar trees that ran along M-88. Most were very dead and we were hoping the state would take them down. […]