What picture perfect days we have had this week. Our apples and grapes are loving these cool nights which help them size and color…and get sweeter. The weather put us in a fall decorating mood, so enjoy the many colorful displays that Teri has started putting together (Thanks Teri!). And don’t let a scarecrow frighten you like one did to me when I came to work in the dark this morning and thought there was a real person sitting on the bench!

We plan to have our antique trucks and tractors out by this weekend for your annual photo opportunities. So check them out and please share your photos with us. We love to see folks enjoying our farm!

Grape update:  Here’s the latest story on the grapes, which is the most frequently asked question and call for sure right now! One drive by our farm with open windows and you too will know that the grapes are getting closer by the amazing fragrance you can now smell.

Sugar samples of both Niagara and Concord grapes were taken Tuesday and did not measure as high as we would like. Grapes are running about a week behind last year, with the white Niagara being riper than the purple Concord.

We are going to open u-pick grapes on Saturday 9-15 for the season. There are plenty of grapes, and the longer customers wait, the sweeter/riper they will get. We encourage everyone to wait if they can. We feel the peak grape ripeness will be the week of 9-24 and after. But, we know people all have busy lives so opening up early gives those who can only come out this weekend a chance to get some. Again, we have lots of grapes this year—of both colors–(50 acres) and will have them up until the first frost.

• Picking hours: Our picking hours are 8 am to 6 pm, we ask that you be finished and checked out by 6, except for Tuesday and Thursdays, where we will stay open until 8 pm (must be checked into the market by 6pm).
• Please check in at the main market on Corey Lake Road before you start. You will be directed to the vineyard in which we are picking that day and be assigned rows to pick on by our vineyard and orchard supervisor.
• If you are coming to pick grapes, please bring clippers, scissors, 5 gallon buckets and small wagons if you have them. Some of our rows are very long! If you don’t have 5 gallon buckets to pick in, we will loan you ours, but please bring something to take your grapes back home in. (Boxes, plastic tubs, etc.)
  • Pricing will be the same as last year: u-pick pricing for both color grapes is the following (please note we sell them by the pound and consider a five-gallon pail or a 1/2 bushel basket to be 20 pounds):
    • 40 cents a pound for 20 pounds or less, 1 five-gallon bucket or a ½ bushel= $8
    • 21 to 100 pounds: 35 cents pound, 1 five-gallon bucket or ½ bushel = $7
    • Over 100 pounds; 25 cents pound, 1 five-gallon bucket or ½ bushel=$5

Picked grapes: We are taking orders for bushels of picked grapes both white Niagara and purple Concord, they are $26 a bushel, $14 half bushel, please call the market at 269-244-5690 to order them.

Fall ornamentals and winter squash:  We have pumpkins of all shapes and colors now, gourds, and mums for your fall decorating.  Check out the new varieties of squash we are growing this year (like baked and mashed potato squash).  Remember, you can use your squash as a decoration first, then eat later!

Sweet Cider: We are going to try to make it this weekend! Feel free to call before you come out to get it to make sure we were able to press it.

2018 Apple update:  We have a smaller crop of apples this year due to spring weather issues. At the bottom of this blog post,*** we have a chart which estimates when they will be ready and which ones we don’t have many of that you can pre-order. We also have copies of this information at our market for you to pick up.

Apples:  This week we picked a few more apple varieties.  Everything we have on the market now is listed below.

• Mollie’s Delicious is a large, sweet eating apple. It is a late summer apple which we will only have a short time
• Gala is a great eating and cooking apple. It has a crisp snappy bite over a mellow sweetness
• Jon-A-Mac: This is a good cooking or eating apple. It has all of the best qualities of a Jonathan and a McIntosh. A favorite for apple sauce
• Honeycrisp: This seems to be many people’s favorite. It is crisp with an excellent sweet flavor and a “bite” to it. Great for eating fresh or using in salads.  Sold by the pound only.($2)
• Macintosh: This is a soft, white fleshed apple, very popular for baking and applesauce.  We have a very light crop of these, they are all picked for the year will only last a few days.  Come or call right away if you want some of these.  
• JonaGold: Superbly crisp and juicy with shades of tart and sweet in each apple, very large and aromatic.  Cross between a Jonathan and Golden Delicious
• Cortland: A hint of tartness makes this a great baking variety, A descendent of the McIntosh, this variety is a bit sweeter than its ancestor. Juices really well.
• Early Fuji: Fantastic sweet and tart flavor, with a low acid content, an incredibly good keeper. Stays for weeks without being refrigerated.  These are only available in half pecks and quarter pecks until the later Fuji is ready in a few weeks.
• 

•  U-Pick apples will be available on Saturday and Sunday , during the hours we are open which is 8 until 6. We need everyone checked out by 6, so you must be in the apple orchard by 5:30 to be able to pick. Please check in at the market by 5:15 to get directions and containers to pick
• There will be 4 varieties ready for you to pick this weekend:  Gala, JonaMac, Mollie’s Delicious and Cortland. 
• Apple pricing for the year: Our apple pricing is the same as last year. The price is the same for picked apples or u-pick apples. With the exception of a few special varieties (like Honeycrisp) all the apples will be: $24 a bushel**, $13 a half-bushel, $7.50 a peck (1/4 of a bushel), $5 a half-peck, $3 a 1/4 peck and $1.00 a pound. **When we have bushels available.
• 

Other Fruit offering

• Fredonia Grapes (this is an early grape like a Concord grape, with seeds)
• Watermelon:  The last week for these
• Stanley prune plums--available in quarts only, we had a very poor crop this year 🙁
• Tomatoes from the field are still coming in.
  •  “Firsts” Tomatoes are $20 a bushel or $12 a half bushel
  • “Seconds” Tomatoes (have blemishes or are misshapen) are $14 a bushel… These are great for making sauce, juice or salsa
  • We hope to have tomatoes on hand now for those that have ordered them and those who would like to get some. If you are trying to get lots of bushels, it does help to call us to let us know, 269-244-5690
  • How long will they last? We say up until the first frost, but they are in peak production right now so you should try to get them in the next several weeks if you want large quantities

So on the market right now, we’ve got: fresh sweet corn, (this is the last week) eggplant, Brussels sprouts, winter squash, shallots, and field peppers in so many shapes and sizes–from hot to sweet! 

Onions, including Red Torpedo Tropea, Red Marble Cippolini, and Borrettana Cippolini are in. These are incredible for cooking or roasting. Our large sweet onions are now cleaned and bagged (10 pounds) for you to take. They have been “cured” to keep. This is a great year for onions.

U-pick Herbs: Find bags, scissors for cutting around the neck of the bird overlooking the herb garden. Almost everything is available right now except cilantro and dill.

Organics! Lettuce (place an order if you want it for sure, it gets bought up fast!), bunching onions, leeks, sweet peppers, hot peppers, basil, cucumbers, swiss chard, and lots of tomatoes including heirlooms, slicers, and cherry tomatoes from the certified organic hoophouse. We’ve started putting out cured garlic which will be good to use fresh or to store for the upcoming months. We are taking our organic tomatoes out soon so get them while you can!

Bakery: Be sure to come see us in the bakery! If there is a favorite pie, please feel free to call and have us save it back for you! 269-244-5690.

Bakery offerings for the weekend will be:

• Cookies:  M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate  Chip, Coconut Pecan, and Lemon
• Pies:  Apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Peach, and Pear (this is the last weekend for pear pie)
• Breads: Vegetable, Whole Wheat, Whole Grain, Cinnamon, Vegetable, LaBrea Breads, Focaccia, Hamburger and Hotdog Buns and Sunflower Seed Bread!
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts
• Assorted Muffins and Blueberry Coffee Cake
• Cake Donuts: Buttermilk, apple cider and pumpkin (made on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
• Gluten Free Sensations items in bakery freezer including pies, cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls!!
• Slushies (now in 2 sizes based on customer’s requests for larger size!)
• In the bakery freezer, Plainwell Vanilla Ice Cream, for pie a la mode!

Hard Ciders, Wine and Brandies: We’ve moved Hard Cider Happy Hour, it’s in the onion barn now! This is the building on top of the hill overlooking the playground and herb garden. Come find us 4-6pm Friday, 3-6pm Saturday and sample cider or get a growler filled. If you bring growlers from home and we’ll put our sticker over them, or buy one from us! New this week: Cortabella Hard Cider! This is a pure Cortland cider, conditioned in-bottle, that got us our highest competition marks ever. If you like a dry cider (no residual sweetness) try it out! We also have Preach (Pear/Peach), Brunch (Maple/Vanilla), Strawberry, Hopped, Afternoon (Strawberry/Chamomile), Prince Tribute, Sour Cherry/Sage, Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, United Squash Federation, and Standard Semi-Sweet in bottles.

If you’re looking for our cider outside of our farm, you can visit Rooster’s Wing Shack in Three Rivers, The Riviera Theatre in Three Rivers, Dussel’s in Cassopolis, Craft Beer Cellar in Grand Rapids, and as always, The Local in Centreville, Michigan. We also have cider at Hoffman Street Grocery in Three Rivers!

Brandy tasting and tours are this Saturday from 1-3. We also have our full line of Hubbard’s Brandy as well as Double Cherry Wine available behind the shelf at the market.

Update on Terri K:  Thanks to all of you who continue to stop, call and inquire about Terri’s medical status.  She is doing better each day and making good progress in healing. She is out of intensive care and in the rehabilitation center of the hospital, where she will stay for a while. We all miss her and will continue to provide updates.

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local. 

***

Variety	Crop Size Estimate	Will U-Pick be Available when they are ready?	Approximate Week Ready–Please check back as weather will can change timing earlier or later	Should order in advance
Braeburn	good	no	2-Oct	yes
Cameo	good	yes	9-Oct	no
Cortland	good	yes	Ready now	no
Fuji	good	yes	9-Oct	no
Gala	good	yes	Ready now	no
Golden Delicious	good	yes	24-Sep	no
Golden Supreme	few	no	24-Sep	yes
Honey Crisp	good	no	Ready now	no
Ida Red	few	yes	24-Sep	yes
Jona Mac	few	yes	Ready now	no
JonaGold	few	all picked	Ready now	yes
Jonathon	good	yes	24-Sep	no
Macintosh	few	all picked	Ready now	yes
Molly’s Del	good	yes	Ready now	no
Mutsu	few	yes	24-Sep	yes
Northern Spy	good	yes	24-Sep	no
Pink Lady	few	no	16-Oct	yes
Red Delicious	good	yes	24-Sep	no
Rome	good	yes	16-Oct	no

September is when the shelves that had been overflowing with summer vegetables change to bags of apples!  Apples are coming on slowly this year. We are grateful for the few cool days and nights we are going to have which apples really need to grow, color and flavor.

Many of you know this has been a really difficult week here at the farm. On Labor Day Monday, our dear employee and friend to so many, Terri Kauffman, was seriously injured in a SUV/ATV accident that occurred on AL Jones road by our vineyards. Terri is our main person at the weekly Texas Township Farmer’s market and also co-manages our u-pick apples and grapes in the fall. She remains in intensive care in Kalamazoo.  (She has asked for no visitors at this time.) We are grateful to everyone who stopped and helped that day and for all of you who have stopped and asked about her. She has a long recovery ahead of her and we ask that all of you keep her in your thoughts and prayers. We will continue to update you on her progress.

***

Variety		Crop Size Estimate	Will U-Pick be Available when they are ready?	Approximate Week Ready–Please check back as weather will can change timing earlier or later	Should order in advance
Braeburn		good	no	2-Oct	yes
Cameo		good	yes	9-Oct	no
Cortland		good	yes	9-Sep	no
Fuji		good	yes	9-Oct	no
Gala		gppd	yes	Ready now	no
Golden Delicious		good	yes	24-Sep	no
Golden Supreme		few	no	24-Sep	yes
Honey Crisp		good	no	10-Sep	no
Ida Red		few	yes	24-Sep	yes
Jona Mac		few	yes	Ready now	no
JonaGold		few	no	24-Sep	yes
Jonathon		good	yes	24-Sep	no
Macintosh		few	no	9-Sep	yes
Molly’s Del		good	yes	Ready now	no
Mutsu		few	yes	24-Sep	yes
Northern Spy		good	yes	24-Sep	no
Pink Lady		few	no	16-Oct	yes
Red Delicious		good	yes	24-Sep	no
Rome		good	yes	16-Oct	no

We will be open all weekend from 8 – 6 every day including Monday, AND we will be opening u-pick for apples for your weekend enjoyment. Labor Day is that marker where we transition to our fall produce.  So you will see more space taken up by apples and hard squash as the summer vegetables wane. We are grateful that the weather cooperated so that we can have our delicious sweet corn all weekend.

This has been a week of heavy labor for us. The high humidity and rains have made it difficult to harvest the pears, peaches, tomatoes and more.  The heat brought everything on at once so our wonderful field crew endured as they always do to get everything picked. A measure of their labor was that we used over 1000 half bushel baskets this week and had to borrow them from every farm that could loan us some! A reminder, when you are purchasing large quantities please bring containers if you have them, boxes, tubs, laundry baskets, reusable grocery bags, etc.: this helps us with our basket supply!

Fruit offerings for the weekend:

Apples are coming! They are a bit behind schedule. So for the weekend, we will be selling them in small eating quantities of a 1/4 peck and 1/2 peck.  Bushels will come later as more ripen.

• Mollie’s Delicious is a large, sweet eating apple. It is a late summer apple which we will only have a short time
• Gala is a great eating and cooking apple. It has a crisp snappy bite over a mellow sweetness
• Jon-A-Mac: This is a good cooking or eating apple. It has all of the best qualities of a Jonathan and a McIntosh. A favorite for apple sauce
• Earli-Blaze: This is a good cooking or eating apple. This year we are offering these in “lunch box” (small) apples as it is such a nice eating apple
• Paula Red: a tart apple for eating or cooking, available by the 1/4 peck or 1/2 peck
• Ginger Gold: This has become a popular summer apple, we wish we had planted more trees, but we only have a few trees thus we only sell them in small quantities.

• We are opening up U-Pick Apples this weekend for you to be able to pick your own. The varieties available will be Gala, Jon-A-Mac, and Mollie’s Delicious. We know that many of you will be around for the weekend and would like to have the “apple picking experience” with your family
•  Apple picking will be available on Saturday, Sunday and Labor Day Monday, during the hours we are open which is 8 until 6. We need everyone checked out by 6, so you must be in the apple orchard by 5:30 to be able to pick. Please check in at the market by 5:15 to get directions and containers to pick
• After this weekend, u-pick apples will close again until more apples are ready, please check back for a date probably mid to the end of September
• Apple pricing for the year: Our apple pricing is the same as last year. The price is the same for picked apples or u-pick apples. With the exception of a few special varieties (like Honeycrisp) all the apples will be: $24 a bushel**, $13 a half-bushel, $7.50 a peck (1/4 of a bushel), $5 a half-peck, $3 a 1/4 peck and $1.00 a pound. **When we have bushels available.

Other Fruit offerings

• Peaches: We hope to have peaches through the Labor Day Weekend.    $48 bushel, $25 half bushel, $15 a peck, $8.75 a 1/2 peck and $4 a quart. If you want to pre-order to make sure you have them, call the market at 269-244-5690.
• Bartlett Pears: Available by the bushel or in smaller quantities. The Bartlett pear is a good eating and canning pear, very sweet and juicy. We will have them about one more week. If you have already called us to reserve bushels, you should have received a call that they were ready, if not, please call us or come and get them. If you would still like some, please call the market and let us know how many you would want and we can save them for you. 269-244-5690. Pricing is $35 a bushel, $18 a half bushel, and we also have them in eating size quantities. You may wonder why the pears are picked and sold green, this is a characteristic of pears. They must ripen off the tree, if not, then they will ripen from the inside out and be mushy. They will easily ripen for you if you will lay them out in a single layer when you get home in a dry, cool place, then wait for them to turn yellow, and enjoy!
• Watermelon
• Tomatoes from the field are still coming in.
  •  “Firsts” Tomatoes are $20 a bushel or $12 a half bushel
  • “Seconds” Tomatoes (have blemishes or are misshapen) are $14 a bushel… These are great for making sauce, juice or salsa
  • We hope to have tomatoes on hand now for those that have ordered them and those who would like to get some.    If you are trying to get lots of bushels, it does help to call us to let us know, 269-244-5690
  • How long will they last? We say up until the first frost, but they are in peak production right now so you should try to get them in the next several weeks if you want large quantities

So on the market right now, we’ve got: fresh sweet corn (finally we have lots on Labor Day WEekend!), eggplant, brussels sprouts, zucchini,  yellow summer squash,  winter squash, shallots, field peppers in so many shapes and sizes–from hot to sweet! 

Onions, including Red Torpedo Tropea, Red Marble Cippolini, and Borrettana Cippolini are in. These are incredible for cooking or roasting.  Our large sweet onions are now cleaned and bagged (10 pounds) for you to take. They have been “cured” to keep.

U-pick herbs: Find bags, scissors for cutting around the neck of the bird overlooking the herb garden. Almost everything is available right now except cilantro.

Organics! Lettuce (place an order if you want it for sure, it gets bought up fast!), bunching onions, leeks, bell peppers, hot peppers, basil, cucumbers, swiss chard, and lots of tomatoes including heirlooms, slicers, and cherry tomatoes from the certified organic hoophouse. We’ve started putting out cured garlic which will be good to use fresh or to store for the upcoming months. Becca made a stamp for the bags so that they won’t be a mystery in your pantry.

We mark organic things with green, which means organic tomato pints have green x’s on them, cukes and other things are in green container, or for basil and kale and lettuce we make green signs. So you’ll find these around the market, or just ask a clerk. We’ve got a lot of organic produce coming in!

Grape Update: You can smell the grapes now and they are turning color and softening. Our best guess now is the  white grapes could be ready the week of 9-17 and the purple grapes the week of 9-24. But it depends on the weather. Before we open, we will want them to be at their full ripeness and sugar content. Please check back with us around September 14th for an update.

We will have lots of grapes this year—of both colors–so you will have plenty of time to pick them once we open.

Bakery: Be sure to come see us in the bakery! If there is a favorite pie, please feel free to call and have us save it back for you! 269-244-5690. This will be the last weekend for peach glaze pie.

Bakery offerings for the weekend will be:

• Cookies:  M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate  Chip, Coconut Pecan, and Lemon
• Pies: Blueberry, Cherry, Peach, and Peach Glaze (available Fri, Sat, Sun)
• Breads: Vegetable,  Whole Wheat, Whole Grain, Cinnamon, Vegetable, LaBrea Breads, Focaccia, Hamburger and Hotdog Buns and Sunflower Seed Bread!
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts
• Assorted Muffins and Blueberry Coffee Cake
• Cake Donuts: Buttermilk, apple cider and pumpkin (made on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
• Gluten Free Sensations items in bakery freezer including pies, cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls!!
• Slushies (now in 2 sizes based on customer’s requests for larger size!)
• In the bakery freezer, Plainwell Vanilla Ice Cream, for pie a la mode!

Hard Ciders, Wine and Brandies: We’ve moved Hard Cider Happy Hour, it’s in the onion barn now! This is the building on top of the hill overlooking the playground and herb garden. Come find us 4-6pm Friday, 3-6pm Saturday and sample cider or get a growler filled. If you bring growlers from home and we’ll put our sticker over them, or buy one from us! Back this week: Blueberry Cider! This will be in 22 oz. bottles only until we get labels in for the 12 oz. bottles, be patient! We have Preach (Pear/Peach), Brunch (Maple/Vanilla), Strawberry, Hopped, Afternoon (Strawberry/Chamomile), Prince Tribute, Sour Cherry/Sage, Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, United Squash Federation, and Standard Semi-Sweet in bottles.

If you’re looking for our cider outside of our farm, you can visit Rooster’s Wing Shack in Three Rivers, The Riviera Theatre in Three Rivers, Dussel’s in Cassopolis, Craft Beer Cellar in Grand Rapids, and as always, The Local in Centreville, Michigan. We also have cider at Hoffman Street Grocery in Three Rivers!

Brandy tasting and tours are this Saturday from 1-3. We also have our full line of Hubbard’s Brandy as well as Double Cherry Wine available behind the shelf at the market.

Three River’s Harmony Fest is this weekend. This is a great event, great music and you can enjoy our hard ciders there! It is on Labor Day Sunday, for more info go to:  https://www.facebook.com/HarmonyFest/events

Here’s hoping you have a safe and great weekend and we hope to see you at the farm.  

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local. 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet! The abundance of produce continues as time moves us closer to fall. Peaches, melons, sweet corn, donuts, pies, hard ciders! Everyone has a very individual sweetness spot, and we think we are up to the challenge of matching it! Schools are starting, fall is approaching which is one of our favorite seasons here at the farm with apples, pumpkins, grapes and such. To jump start fall, the bakery is moving into their fall flavored donuts this weekend: pumpkin, apple cider and our traditional buttermilk!  Mmmmm……

In next week’s update, we’ll provide information about fall apples and grapes, so stay tuned!

Peaches: We are have lots of peaches, and due to the dry/hot conditions this year, they are incredibly sweet.  Peach pricing is:  $48 bushel, $25 half bushel, $15 a peck, $8.75 a 1/2 peck and $4 a quart. We will have plenty of bushels available for the next week.

Sweet corn: We have lots of sweet corn now–this is the time to get bushels for freezing/canning or just enjoying. A 5-dozen bushel is $22.

Tomatoes: Whew…..it seems like everyone has decided to can tomatoes at the same time and so all of the bushels we had available are now gone. We have more coming on, but the cool nights have slowed them up a bit. So, we are back to taking orders for them again.  We hope to get everyone’s orders done within the next few weeks. “Firsts” are $20 bushel, 1/2 bushel is $12. We have tomato “seconds” for $14 a bushel.  Call us at 269-244-5690 to order.

Here’s what else is on the market now:

Some summer vegetables are ending earlier than normal. Cucumbers, green beans, summer squash are available on a day-by-day basis.

So on the market right now, we’ve got: fresh sweet corn,  cauliflower, green beans, broccoli, eggplant, brussels sprouts, zucchini, cucumbers, yellow summer squash, fresh dug onions, shallots, new potatoes, field peppers in so many shapes and sizes–from hot to sweet! 

U-pick herbs: Find bags, scissors for cutting around the neck of the bird overlooking the herb garden. Almost everything is available right now except cilantro.

Organics! Lettuce (place an order if you want it for sure, it gets bought up fast!), bunching onions, leeks, bell peppers, hot peppers, basil, lots of cucumbers, kale, cabbage, swiss chard, and lots of tomatoes including heirlooms, slicers, and cherry tomatoes from the certified organic hoophouse. We’ve started putting out cured garlic which will be good to use fresh or to store for the upcoming months. Becca made a stamp for the bags so that they won’t be a mystery in your pantry.

We mark organic things with green, which means organic tomato pints have green x’s on them, cukes and other things are in green container, or for basil and kale and lettuce we make green signs. So you’ll find these around the market, or just ask a clerk. We’ve got a lot of organic produce coming in!

Hard Ciders, Wine and Brandies: We’ve moved Hard Cider Happy Hour, it’s in the onion barn now! This is the building on top of the hill overlooking the playground and herb garden. Come find us 4-6pm Friday, 3-6pm Saturday and sample cider or get a growler filled. If you bring growlers from home and we’ll put our sticker over them, or buy one from us! Back this week: Blueberry Cider! This will be in 22 oz. bottles only until we get labels in for the 12 oz. bottles, be patient! We have Preach (Pear/Peach), Brunch (Maple/Vanilla), Strawberry, Hopped, Afternoon (Strawberry/Chamomile), Prince Tribute, Sour Cherry/Sage, Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, United Squash Federation, and Standard Semi-Sweet in bottles.

If you’re looking for our cider outside of our farm, you can visit Rooster’s Wing Shack in Three Rivers, The Riviera Theatre in Three Rivers, Dussel’s in Cassopolis, Craft Beer Cellar in Grand Rapids, and as always, The Local in Centreville, Michigan. We also have cider at Hoffman Street Grocery in Three Rivers!

Brandy tasting and tours are this Saturday from 1-3. We also have our full line of Hubbard’s Brandy as well as Double Cherry Wine available behind the shelf at the market.

Bakery: Be sure to come see us in the bakery! If there is a favorite pie, please feel free to call and have us save it back for you! 269-244-5690.  With peaches in full swing we are now making peach glaze pies on weekends.  With blueberries gone for the season, we will no longer be able to make blueberry-zucchini bread.  Here’s our big thanks to Amy, Gene, Patti and Michaela for making soooo many loaves of it this year.  This is the most labor intensive product we make, but we love how it brings joy to so many people!  We will still have blueberry pie (using frozen blueberries now.)

Bakery offerings for the weekend will be:

• Cookies:  M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate  Chip, Coconut Pecan, Zucchini Chocolate Chip, and Lemon
• Pies: Blueberry, Cherry, Peach, Strawberry Rhubarb, and Peach Glaze (available Fri, Sat, Sun)
• Breads: Vegetable,  Whole Wheat, Whole Grain, Cinnamon, Vegetable, LaBrea Breads, Focaccia, Hamburger and Hotdog Buns and Sunflower Seed Bread!
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts
• Assorted Muffins and Blueberry Coffee Cake
• Cake Donuts: Buttermilk, apple cider and pumpkin (made on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
• Gluten Free Sensations items in bakery freezer including pies, cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls!!
• Slushies (now in 2 sizes based on customer’s requests for larger size!)
• In the bakery freezer, Plainwell Vanilla Ice Cream, for pie a la mode! 

Everyone at the farm hopes to see you soon!

Every time I see the happy face of children on our big swing, I can almost hear my father reciting this poem from Robert Lewis Stevenson, who was one of his favorite poets.

How do you like to go up in a swing,
      Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
      Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
      Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
      Over the countryside—

Till I look down on the garden green,
      Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
      Up in the air and down!

And with it comes lots of peaches, tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, peppers, sweet corn—all heat loving crops–and in abundance!  So this is the time to be enjoying all of this freshness!

Peaches: We are finishing up Red Haven and moving into Flamin’ Fury–this is one of my favorite peaches, large, juicy and sweet! So large you have to share! We are in the process of calling everyone who has ordered bushels of peaches to get them over the next week or so. Peach pricing is:  $48 bushel, $25 half bushel, $15 a peck, $8.75 a 1/2 peck and $4 a quart. We will have extra bushels available this weekend for those who want to get them.

Both cantaloupe and melons are available. We have soooo many cantaloupe they are on a buy 1- get 1 special through the weekend. Due to how dry it has been most of the summer, they are incredibly sweet.

Sweet corn: We have lots of sweet corn now–this is the time to get bushels for freezing/canning or just enjoying. A 5-dozen bushel is $22.

Tomatoes: Whew…..we picked over 60 bushels in one day! We have called everyone on the tomato wait list (if you got missed please call us).  You can get your tomatoes now anytime, plus we have them on the market available by the bushel.  “Firsts” are $20 bushel, 1/2 bushel is $12. We have tomato “seconds” for $14 a bushel.

We have lots of green tomatoes right now since we took our greenhouse tomatoes down for the year. They are on sale for 50 cents a pound or $12 a bushel. Time for fried green tomatoes!

Blueberries–we will only have blueberries for about one more day. We have had them for six full weeks which has made it nice to have them fresh for so long! All good things must come to an end 🙁

The onion harvest is finishing…..between the raindrops. Onions do not like to be wet so this has been a tricky harvest for sure this week. We are really pleased with our onion quality after the last few years of having onion issues….we have specialty onions and then we have the standard sweet onions in white, red and yellow, We now have them hanging in over 4 barns we have so many to dry and cure! (The crew got a little creative and hung some on tractors!) The first ones harvested are now “cured”, so we have cut, cleaned and bagged them.  A 10 lb. bag is $9, or you can buy them hung on the string if you prefer to keep them that way. Keep these onions in a dry, cool place and they should keep for several months.

Here’s what else is on the market now:

Some summer vegetables are ending earlier than normal. Cucumbers, green beans, summer squash are available on a day-by-day basis.

So on the market right now, we’ve got: fresh sweet corn, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, broccoli, eggplant, brussels sprouts, zucchini, cucumbers, yellow summer squash, fresh dug onions, shallots, new potatoes, field peppers in so many shapes and sizes–from hot to sweet! 

U-pick herbs: Find bags, scissors for cutting around the neck of the bird overlooking the herb garden. Almost everything is available right now except cilantro.

Organics! Lettuce (place an order if you want it for sure, it gets bought up fast!), bunching onions, bell peppers, hot peppers, basil, lots of cucumbers, kale, cabbage, swiss chard, and lots of tomatoes including heirlooms, slicers, and cherry tomatoes from the certified organic hoophouse. We’ve started putting out cured garlic which will be good to use fresh or to store for the upcoming months. Becca made a stamp for the bags so that they won’t be a mystery in your pantry.

We mark organic things with green, which means organic tomato pints have green x’s on them, cukes and other things are in green container, or for basil and kale and lettuce we make green signs. So you’ll find these around the market, or just ask a clerk. We’ve got a lot of organic produce coming in!

The Sunflower Field: We have really enjoyed watching everyone out in the sunflower field and thank you for the many pictures you have shared. With this past week’s heat, humidity and rain, they will last only through this weekend. There are some yet to bloom, and some that have dropped their heavy heads, but still beautiful.  Below are pictures taken this week that people gave us permission to share.

We will keep the maze open from 8 until 6 through August 18th, then we will assess what they look like. So this is your final chance to see 60,000 happy sunflowers!

Cost of admission to the sunflower field is:

• $5.00 for anyone 11 years old and up
• $2.00 for accompanied children 10 years or younger
• Please check in at the market for tickets and directions to get into the field

This admission fee for each ticket holder includes:

• The opportunity to cut 1 sunflower per person (cutting tool provided)
• Receive a bag and water to take it home in
• Walk through the meandering path that goes through the field (it is a little less than ¼ of a mile long)
• Educational information posted throughout the farm
• Photo opportunities are available at the field entrance as well as the along the walking pathway
• Picnic tables, hay bales and other areas to sit and relax in
• Parking adjacent to the field
• RTV Rides for people with mobility issues. On weekends we will have one staff member with an RTV at the field for folks who aren’t able to walk through the sunflowers. Depending on how many people need this service there may be a small wait as we try to accommodate and include everybody in the fun.

Additional flowers, when available, can be cut and purchased for $2 each. We also have decorative vases.

We have all of the information and everything you need when you come to the market.

Hard Ciders, Wine and Brandies: We’ve moved Hard Cider Happy Hour, it’s in the onion barn now! This is the building on top of the hill overlooking the playground and herb garden. Come find us 4-6pm Friday, 3-6pm Saturday and sample cider or get a growler filled. If you bring growlers from home and we’ll put our sticker over them, or buy one from us! We have Preach (Pear/Peach), Brunch (Maple/Vanilla), Strawberry, Hopped, Afternoon (Strawberry/Chamomile), Prince Tribute, Sour Cherry/Sage, Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, United Squash Federation, and Standard Semi-Sweet in bottles.

If you’re looking for our cider outside of our farm, you can visit Rooster’s Wing Shack in Three Rivers, The Riviera Theatre in Three Rivers, Dussel’s in Cassopolis, Craft Beer Cellar in Grand Rapids, and as always, The Local in Centreville, Michigan. We also have cider at Hoffman Street Grocery in Three Rivers!

Brandy tasting and tours are this Saturday from 1-3. We also have our full line of Hubbard’s Brandy as well as Double Cherry Wine available behind the shelf at the market.

Bakery: Be sure to come see us in the bakery! If there is a favorite pie, please feel free to call and have us save it back for you! 269-244-5690.  With peaches in full swing we are now making peach glaze pies on weekends.

Bakery offerings for the weekend will be:

• Cookies: Cut Out Sugar, M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate  Chip, Coconut Pecan, Zucchini Chocolate Chip, and Lemon
• Pies: Blueberry, Cherry, Peach, Strawberry Rhubarb, and Peach Glaze (available Fri, Sat, Sun)
• Breads: Vegetable, Blueberry-Zucchini, Whole Wheat, Whole Grain, Cinnamon, Vegetable, LaBrea Breads, Focaccia, Hamburger and Hotdog Buns and Sunflower Seed Bread!
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts
• Assorted Muffins and Blueberry Coffee Cake
• Cake Donuts: Buttermilk, Blueberry, and Cherry (made on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
• Gluten Free Sensations items in bakery freezer including pies, cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls!!
• Slushies (now in 2 sizes based on customer’s requests for larger size!)
• In the bakery freezer, Plainwell Vanilla Ice Cream, for pie a la mode! 

Everyone at the farm hopes to see you soon!