Hi everyone,
A couple bits of news to share today. First, I just got the Thanksgiving time slots added to the bakery items in our online shop, so Thanksgiving ordering is ready for you. There are time slots set up for Tuesday and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week (we’re closed Thursday and Friday that week), and the bakery is for pick up only (we haven’t figured out how to ship it well). If you have any questions or problems, please don’t hesitate to message me through the Contact Us page. My next online project is to get the apple gift box shipping set up, hopefully in the next few days.
Second, now that we’re into November, the days get shorter and business slows down. As a result, we always shorten our hours for the off-season. From now until strawberries start (most likely in early June), we’re open Tues – Sat 10am – 5pm and Sundays 11am – 5pm. During the off-season, we’re also closed a couple days around the holidays…as mentioned above, this includes Thanksgiving and the day after, and also a day or two around Christmas, New Years and Easter. So if you’re coming to visit us around one of those holidays, just keep that in mind. Our hours and any closings coming up will be on our Visit/Contact Us page.
Finally, just because u-pick is over, doesn’t mean apple season is over! We still have over 35(!!) apple varieties in our market. This includes a few of my favorite late varieties like GoldRush (my #1, hands down), Pink Lady and EverCrisp. We also still have some Honeycrisp left, as well as over 30 more. I don’t think you can get a better selection of apples anywhere in Ohio.
Well, that’s it for this time. I’ll update again when I get the gift box shipping set up. Thanks for your interest!
-Chris
I found your info in the USA Today special edition of the USD of Ag.
Would love to know any upcoming events, what fruits you offer and when so I can plan a trip soon.
Hi Shirley,
Thanks for your interest! Our main “events” are our Strawberry Festival weekends (this year on the 15/16 and 22/23 of June) and our Fall Festival weekends (four weekends, starting the 21st of September). We also offer daily u-pick for strawberries (June), red and black raspberries (mid-June – mid-July), blueberries (July), apples (mid-Sept – mid-Oct), and pumpkins (only on weekends, starting the first Fall Festival weekend and running through the end of October). The picking dates can change due to how things ripen each year, and we’re too far out from picking anything right now for me to know exact dates yet. In addition to the u-pick crops, we also grow (approximate starting dates in parentheses) asparagus (mid April), cherries (late June), peaches (early July), plums (August), pears (September), sweet corn and all sorts of other summer vegetables, melons (July), seedless grapes (September), gooseberries, currants, garlic….the list goes on and on. The best thing to do is look at our What’s Ripe page, where I list what we currently have available and what we will have coming up soon.
In 2016, we also opened a hard cidery/winery, which we named Bent Ladder, right here at the Orchard. We make ciders and wines out of our own estate grown fruit. We have a lot of events over there (for instance, live music every weekend), so if you’re interested in something like that, you can find a lot more info over on the Bent Ladder site. If you click over to the Events page, you’ll see what’s coming up. If you have any more questions, please let us know. Thanks!