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December 26, 2023
The 2023 harvest was very good, especially when compared to the harvest of 2022. In total, the orchard produced in excess of 14,500 lbs of apples and 34 out of 45 apple varieties had viable production. In 2024, we believe that the apple harvest will significantly increase again as many trees that were too young to bear fruit this year will enter their first year of production. Once again, we experienced a severe drought that had an impact to the growth rate of the trees. While the irrigation system allowed the trees to survive, they just didn't thrive and put on the growth that we have seen in past years.
The past year was extremely busy, we planted about 450 new trees, added six new apple varieties to the orchard, installed an expansion to the irrigation system, installed a refrigeration system in our apple cooler building and completed planning and site preparation for a new 3200 sf building that will house an apple processing (juicing) facility. The six new apple varieties that were added to the orchard are primarily bittersweet's and include; Brown Snout, Ellis Bitter, Frequin Rouge, Michelin, Somerset Redstreak and Winter Banana. All of these varieties were planted in a limited numbers to see how they handle our climate. The irrigation expansion will allow us to plant over 1600 new trees in a 8 acre field. We have some limited tree planting in this field already, but significant planting of new trees is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2025. The refrigeration system that was installed in the apple cooler building, will allow for storage of harvested apples and juice from the pressing operation at 36-37 F providing for a much longer shelf life. Planning and bidding was completed on a new 3200 sf building which will house the apple processing facility, provide for intermediate storage of whole apples and pressed juice, inventory storage and employee facilities. Construction of the 3200 sf storage building is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2024. Opening of the apple processing facility is planned to be completed by September 2025.
December 26, 2023
The 2023 harvest was very good, especially when compared to the harvest of 2022. In total, the orchard produced in excess of 14,500 lbs of apples and 34 out of 45 apple varieties had viable production. In 2024, we believe that the apple harvest will significantly increase again as many trees that were too young to bear fruit this year will enter their first year of production. Once again, we experienced a severe drought that had an impact to the growth rate of the trees. While the irrigation system allowed the trees to survive, they just didn't thrive and put on the growth that we have seen in past years.
The past year was extremely busy, we planted about 450 new trees, added six new apple varieties to the orchard, installed an expansion to the irrigation system, installed a refrigeration system in our apple cooler building and completed planning and site preparation for a new 3200 sf building that will house an apple processing (juicing) facility. The six new apple varieties that were added to the orchard are primarily bittersweet's and include; Brown Snout, Ellis Bitter, Frequin Rouge, Michelin, Somerset Redstreak and Winter Banana. All of these varieties were planted in a limited numbers to see how they handle our climate. The irrigation expansion will allow us to plant over 1600 new trees in a 8 acre field. We have some limited tree planting in this field already, but significant planting of new trees is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2025. The refrigeration system that was installed in the apple cooler building, will allow for storage of harvested apples and juice from the pressing operation at 36-37 F providing for a much longer shelf life. Planning and bidding was completed on a new 3200 sf building which will house the apple processing facility, provide for intermediate storage of whole apples and pressed juice, inventory storage and employee facilities. Construction of the 3200 sf storage building is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2024. Opening of the apple processing facility is planned to be completed by September 2025.
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December 1, 2022
We were looking forward to our first real apple harvest this year, unfortunately mother nature threw us a curve ball. Our bloom, though delayed by two weeks was strong giving us a sense of optimism. However the spring air temperature's were so cold, rarely getting out of the 50's, there was no insect activity at the orchard during the bloom. A neighbor in there 70's who has lived at this location his entire life said it was the coldest spring that he has ever experienced. The resulting fruit set was poor as was the harvest. The silver lining to having no fruit, was that the trees put all their energy into growing branches and fruiting buds. Growth of the trees in 2022 was exceptional, with many varieties easily adding 24-30 inches of new shoots.
During the spring and summer of 2022, we did plant an additional 600 trees, (one year old's) installed a new section of irrigation system and built an apple cooler building. There are now about 1850 trees in the orchard. In 2023, our plan is to plant about 850 trees, install the final section of irrigation system and install a refrigeration system in the apple cooler building. Our tree varieties will expand to a total of 44 in 2023, with at least some of every variety planted within the orchard. The new additions to the orchard are primarily Bittersweet varieties. 2022 was an extremely busy year for us and 2023 is looking to be equally challenging.
December 1, 2022
We were looking forward to our first real apple harvest this year, unfortunately mother nature threw us a curve ball. Our bloom, though delayed by two weeks was strong giving us a sense of optimism. However the spring air temperature's were so cold, rarely getting out of the 50's, there was no insect activity at the orchard during the bloom. A neighbor in there 70's who has lived at this location his entire life said it was the coldest spring that he has ever experienced. The resulting fruit set was poor as was the harvest. The silver lining to having no fruit, was that the trees put all their energy into growing branches and fruiting buds. Growth of the trees in 2022 was exceptional, with many varieties easily adding 24-30 inches of new shoots.
During the spring and summer of 2022, we did plant an additional 600 trees, (one year old's) installed a new section of irrigation system and built an apple cooler building. There are now about 1850 trees in the orchard. In 2023, our plan is to plant about 850 trees, install the final section of irrigation system and install a refrigeration system in the apple cooler building. Our tree varieties will expand to a total of 44 in 2023, with at least some of every variety planted within the orchard. The new additions to the orchard are primarily Bittersweet varieties. 2022 was an extremely busy year for us and 2023 is looking to be equally challenging.
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November 15, 2021
The year is finally over, we went through the worst drought our area has experienced in many years. The drought pushed us to the limits trying to plant trees and keep up with the constant need for water. This year we did plant about 1000 apple trees and thanks to a very timely installed drip irrigation system, nearly all of our trees not only survived, but thrived in the plentiful hot summer sun. Growth rates were very good, 12-24 inches on newly planted trees and 18-30 inches on our established trees. This year we allowed our oldest trees to produce apples on a limited basis. We ended up giving most of these apples to a local person that is a novice producer of hard apple cider. She turned the small crop into a fantastic run of hard apple cider. The mix she used was a base of sweet apples supplemented with Virginia Crab and Dabinet. She returned the favor with about 10 wine bottles containing the golden elixir. We have tasted many commercially made hard apple ciders that were very good, but surprisingly, we were very impressed with the flavor profile and complexity that this this cider provided. We are looking forward to tasting ciders made from the numerous apple combinations that should be available in the next few years from our orchard.
The year is finally over, we went through the worst drought our area has experienced in many years. The drought pushed us to the limits trying to plant trees and keep up with the constant need for water. This year we did plant about 1000 apple trees and thanks to a very timely installed drip irrigation system, nearly all of our trees not only survived, but thrived in the plentiful hot summer sun. Growth rates were very good, 12-24 inches on newly planted trees and 18-30 inches on our established trees. This year we allowed our oldest trees to produce apples on a limited basis. We ended up giving most of these apples to a local person that is a novice producer of hard apple cider. She turned the small crop into a fantastic run of hard apple cider. The mix she used was a base of sweet apples supplemented with Virginia Crab and Dabinet. She returned the favor with about 10 wine bottles containing the golden elixir. We have tasted many commercially made hard apple ciders that were very good, but surprisingly, we were very impressed with the flavor profile and complexity that this this cider provided. We are looking forward to tasting ciders made from the numerous apple combinations that should be available in the next few years from our orchard.
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February 18, 2021
The spring 2021 planting season is just around the corner and we have an even busier year scheduled. This spring our plan is to plant about 1,000 apple trees with 18 new varieties. Following the spring planting season we will have 35 of our 36 total varieties starting to grow. All of the trees that will be planted in 2021 will be 1 year old trees.
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The spring 2021 planting season is just around the corner and we have an even busier year scheduled. This spring our plan is to plant about 1,000 apple trees with 18 new varieties. Following the spring planting season we will have 35 of our 36 total varieties starting to grow. All of the trees that will be planted in 2021 will be 1 year old trees.
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