This Week on the Farm

Fruits and Veggies Galore!
Thursday, July 29th, 2004

Black cherry picking is wrapping up today or tomorrow. The apricots are just starting. I'm hoping U-PICK will start Sunday, August 1st. The tart cherries are the best quality we have seen in years. They will be on the trees until August 4th. Sorry, it looks like we will have no pitter this year. I am buying pitted tart cherries from the cannery so I will have fresh tubs of tarts available for the next couple of days and frozen tarts into the year.

Bay City sweet corn is here! It is delicious! Our own sweet corn should be ready in a week. Our garden zucchini, beans, and cucumbers are coming in! It is a fun time to visit the market--stop in!

Cherry Update
Thursday, July 22nd, 2004

The cherries look great. Yes, there are a few more split cherries from the rain, but overall I think we fared quite well. I'm guessing black sweet cherreis will be available for U-PICK until July 28 or so. Light sweet cherries will last through Sunday, July 25. Tart cherries will be going until about August 2. Our cherry pitter is not hooked up and won't be until our new building is complete. Things are moving along with the building but it isn't ready yet. Apricots will be starting around July 31 or so.

Happy Picking!
Sunday, July 18th, 2004

It is cherry season! We are picking the cavalier black cherries right now and I think they are the best quality I have seen in a long time. Picking is going great even though we had quite a few days of selective picking. My plan at this point is to pick the big trees (cavalier) until the middle of the week and then move to the cherries beside my house for the week-end and end the season with the cherries on the hill. We will have sweets in the stand much longer --- until mid Aug. The lite sweet cherries will be around until this week-end (I think). We started picking tart cherries yesterday. No pitter yet but I'm still hoping that it happens this year. Apricots right around the corner--end of July. Happy picking!

Cherry Time!!!!
Saturday, July 10th, 2004

It is cherry time!!! We picked a few lugs (the 20 lb. box we pick into) yesterday down at our lease farms on Elk Lake Road. We are opening u-pick at the 31 market today where we think the cherries are just a bit riper. We will start picking here at the M-88 market on Monday. The price right now is 1.25/lb. The cherries are big and sweet just not real black. I think we will have a great picking season it should last the month of July.

Where's the warmth of summer?
Tuesday, July 6th, 2004

It is 60 degrees and we are cold standing in the fruit stand. I see the girls have found the space heater and have it going to warm up their hands. Boy, we can't wait for our new fruit stand that will have "in floor" heating!! The fruit stand progress is almost as depressing as this cold weather. I'm no longer sure when it will be ready but I know it will be nice when it is.

We are waiting for the cannery to set their price so we can set our fresh fruit price. Our battle to keep the birds out of the sweet cherries has been somewhat successful. We have four recordings outside that play the tape of a bird in distress. We have put reflector tape (a shiny 3-inch wide tape) in the tops of the trees to scare the robins. The last thing we have done is spray a concentrated grape juice that the birds don't like. However, I still see birds hopping around, so I don't know how well it is working. The Cavaliers are the first black sweet cherry to ripen and they are at a good size. We just need some hot weather to sweeten them up. If I had to choose a date to come pick cherries, I would be here sometime after the 15th of July. If it stays dry, the cherries will only improve as they ripen on the trees. Keep your fingers crossed for a dry and hot July.

contact us
privacy policy
credits