Hello everyone!
It’s almost MAY!!!!!
And just like that…harvest begins. Starting this weekend, we should have OUR asparagus in the store! Sweet, tender, flavorful and delicious. After coating with olive oil, salt and pepper, I pop the asparagus in the toaster oven (@400 degrees) for about 10-15 minutes (tossing halfway through). Mmmmmmmm. I like a little crunch and this is a quick and easy way to get it! How do you guys like to prepare your asparagus?
Things are starting to pick up here at the orchard. They always do with the start of harvest. And with more to do, we need more help. We are looking for berry pickers for the summer (starting in June with strawberries), so please, if you know anyone who is interested in an active, outside, summer job…check out the section below and pass along the information!
I think that is all for now. Have a great week.
Take Care,
Amanda, Chris & Abbie
Summer Job
Frost Damage
Well, we didn’t get through the cold completely unscathed, but it looks like we did a lot better than we had worried. We never got to the predicted 24 degrees. Instead we were at 26-28. We definitely got damage, but haven’t found anything that looks wiped out, and don’t really expect to. You can see in the photo the difference between a damaged apple blossom on the left, and a healthy one on the right. The center of the bloom on the left is blackened and burned looking.
Following Farmer Chris
Creative Play
Save the Pollen
Chris’ after dinner activity these days has been…harvesting apple pollen. He collects pollen from some of our later blooming varieties in anticipation of some crosses he wants to make next year. Everything about tree fruit breeding is a slow process. After collecting blossoms, he pull the anthers off and leave them to dry and release their pollen. In the freezer, the pollen should stay viable to use next year.
