Hello and Happy Summer!
Gerah Dutkiewicz
Hello and Happy Summer!!!
The weather this year continues to be rather wild and erratic, certainly making farming more challenging. Nevertheless, we continue to battle the elements of wind, water and heat!
Peaches: Last weekend Aaron called upon me to help him 'thin' the peaches. Last year Aaron carefully chose a number of different peach varieties to plant and try to grow organically. So far so good! After only one year there are already a number of trees with cute little baby peaches (never fear, I'll post pictures)! My favorite are the cute little baby donut peaches, love 'em! I think it's pretty obvious that I love the fuzzy baby peaches, so imagine my horror when Aaron told me we would need to examine each and every peach tree and knock off a large number of extremely adorable fuzz balls. It took some explanation about how the trees were too young to support the growth of too many peaches, and that the trees needed their energy to grow up 'big and strong' (these trees are starting to feel like our children!). It happened to be a nice day and we took the time and care to thin each tree. I can't wait to eat them! Especially the donut peaches, which are supposed to be sweet and delicious. Aaron says they will be ready in only 4 weeks!! I'll post more pictures as they get bigger!
Strawberries: Our small patch from last year has been trucking along. In addition, Aaron has gotten all 5000 new berry plants in the ground and they seem to be doing well! I will report back later, but we might have a nice crop for u-pick around the end of July/early August.
Sweet Cherries: Could it be true??? Could it be time to harvest the sweet cherries??? Aaron has asked that I try a few cherries from the tree when I get home today. With the weather conditions how they are, it might be time to start picking the juicy little fruits! I'm excited [:D] The crop looks rather light this year so we might only be offering a small amount to the local co-ops. I'll keep you updated!
Apples: The baby apples are doing well, getting bigger by the week! It's at this point every year that I just CAN'T WAIT for those apples to be ready! However, with all the other things we have going on with the farm this season I expect the next few months to fly by... thank goodness! I'm dreaming of applesauce, apple crisp, apple pies, apple cider and apple butter.
Veggies: It's finally happened! Aaron has started to harvest some garlic! I don't have pictures yet but I will soon since I'm so excited about having fresh, organic garlic! The beets, cabbage, kale and other assorted veggies are coming along well. I'll get a picture up soon, they look so cool in the neat rows Aaron has them planted in! I'll post when we have produce ready for sale.
A Bing and Maraschino cherry off our trees. Yum!
I hope everyone has been able to get out and enjoy the sunshine lately, and I look forward to seeing both familiar and new faces on the farm soon [:D] Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Kari