Corey Lake Orchards is officially closed for the season.  Based on our recent weather, we closed just in time!  It would have been difficult to work and shop in an open-air market with snow, cold temps, and wind chills!  We were grateful for the few days of “normal” fall weather when we worked like crazy to get everything put away for the year…..we were 95% done!

The unusually cold weather forced our perennials into dormancy earlier–which is good because we can start trimming everything now.  There were a couple of days we had to keep folks inside—took advantage of the indoor work to get some Concord grapes de-stemmed so we can make something wonderful out of them.  (We’ll let you know when it is ready to try!)

Really, really, last chance to order pies!  We are still taking take and bake pie orders for pickup on Saturday, November 23rd from 9-12, or by appointment before that date.  Either email (coreylakeorchards@gmail.com or call us at (269-244-5690).  The flavors available to order are: 2-crust Apple, Dutch apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Cherry Berry, Pecan, Pumpkin, and Strawberry Rhubarb.  All orders need to be placed by Thursday, November 21st.  Don’t be one of those who call us on Thanksgiving day in a panic because you forgot!!

Three River’s Riviera Theatre Holiday Wine Tasting:  Join us for hard cider tasting along with nibbling on cookies from our bakery!  This is always a fun night!

• Friday, November 15: 6pm to 9pm Tickets: $20 Advance, $25 Day of Event
• The Riviera’s 11th annual Holiday Wine Tasting ― featuring a number of wines to sample and purchase, as well as great gift ideas from local merchants ― is the perfect opportunity to get your holiday shopping done in one place. Ticket purchase comes with a free souvenir wine glass while supplies last.

Brenda and I visited another farm on the east side of Michigan — also owned and operated by two sisters — Westview Orchards and Winery:  https://www.westvieworchards.com/ .   It is a great farm and worth the time to visit if you are in their area.   It was gratifying to connect with them to share stories, ideas and laugh about the happenings on farms like ours.  (Their donuts were amazing too!)

As we take a moment to reflect on the season, you, our valued customers come immediately to mind.  You make it possible for us to rise early each day and work hard to provide you with a great experience here on our farm.  Your smiling faces, supportive comments, excellent questions, and patience with Mother Nature’s timetable brighten our day!  The management and staff at CLO sincerely thank you for that and for shopping local with us!

 

 

As the temperatures drop (and snow really?) the time to close our market and bakery is here.   Our last official day for the bakery and the market to be open for the year will be Sunday, November 3^rd.  After that, we may be open limited days/hours to sell the remaining apples and produce.   For sure we will be open from 9 until 12 on Saturday, November 23rd, for pre-ordered pie pick up, the chance to stock up on our alcohol products, and whatever else may still be available.

We do not have many apples left; there are limited quantities of the following available:

• Jonathan: Pretty and popular, used for fresh eating and cooking, a favorite for apple butter and taffy apples.
• Golden Delicious: A gingery-smooth, sweet taste under a thin skin. It’s the most popular yellow apple, good eaten fresh, baked or cut in salads.  Makes a nice apple sauce and many people use for canning pie filling.
• Red Delicious:  America’s most popular apple, known for the “five little bumps” on the bottom. Best for fresh eating and snacks. Full-flavored sweet taste, yellowish flesh, and crisp texture.
• Cameo: Firm, crisp and sweet, tart. Great for snacking or baking. Keeps well in your refrigerator.
• Ida Red: Suits your every use! Eat fresh or for cooking. Taste is both tangy and tart. Flesh is white, crisp and juicy. Favored for sauces, pies and desserts. Texture holds up well when baked.
• Fuji: Has a fantastic sweet flavor and tart flavor, with a low acid content.  An incredibly good keeper, it says crisp for weeks without even being in the refrigerator. 
• Rome: A big, round apple right out of storybooks! Rome’s have a mild, sweet flavor. Most popular for baking because it holds flavor and shape well.

Apple pricing for the year:  $26 a bushel**, $14 a half-bushel, $8.00 a peck (1/4 of a bushel), $6 a half-peck, $3.50 a 1/4 peck and $1.00 a pound.

Apple Cider update:  We pressed our last cider for the year this week and hope to have it last through Sunday.  If you are looking for over 5 gallons, feel free to call and order it and we’ll hold it for you.   Cider is easily frozen by taking out a cup or so from the gallon jug to give the ice room to expand.

Squash:  We have many varieties of winter squash, and want to help you get stocked by offering a larger quantity sale.  You may purchase a bushel of squash (can mix and match any that we have) for $30.  If that is too many, fill up one of our handle bags with squash of your choice (about 1/2 bushel and around 10 squash depending on the size) for $15!

This weekend in the bakery we will still be taking orders for Holiday take and bake pies.   We will have one November order pickup day which is Saturday, November 23 from 9-12.  So all you procrastinators, this is your last chance to order what you need for the holidays (and just to have in the freezer for yourself!)

Donuts:  Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be your last days to indulge in our donuts this year!  Make sure you visit the bakery, it may be the only warm place around the farm to be!

Alcohol offerings:

• Brandies:  Pear, Grape, Apple, Cherry, Peach, and Grappa
• Rye Whiskey
• Hard Cider flavors: Another summer favorite is back, Strawberry!  We also have Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, Bark Bite, Cortabella, Preach, Blueberry, United Squash Federation, Ginger and Brunch.
•  Our final brandy tour and tasting will be this  Saturday from 1 until 3 pm, in the Brandy Barn/Distillery.  We offer brandy, wine and some hard cider samples. It’s always an interesting and fun experience.  After we close for the season, we’re happy to offer appointments for picking up any of our alcohol products.

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local, we hope to see you our last weekend!

 

***Storing Apples:

Apples are best kept in your refrigerator, preferably the crisper drawer or in an unsealed plastic bag. Refrigerate apples separately from vegetables because apples naturally release small amounts of ethylene gas that can be damaging to lettuce and other produce. If you have a root cellar, you can keep larger amounts there if it is cool, dry and dark.

For every 10 degrees above 30°F, the apples’ lifespan decreases dramatically. You do not want the apples’ temperature to fall below 30°F, however, because that will make them freeze and turn to mush when they’re thawed. Their cell walls will all collapse. Therefore, apples are best stored somewhere around 30-35°F, in a humid environment.

If storing apples in the fridge, place them inside a crisper drawer and lay a slightly dampened paper towel on top of the apples. Apples are one of the few fruits that really do benefit from being stored in the fridge as quickly as possible. Keep them in the crisper drawer with aforementioned damp paper towel, or else keep them in perforated plastic bags in a cold shed or cellar.

There is trust to that old adage: “One bad apple rots the whole bunch.” Apples give off a lot of ethylene gas, and so just one bruised and rotting apple will give off enough to swiftly ripen (and rot) the others. If you have any bruises or soft spots on an apple, set it aside for eating. Don’t store with the other apples.

Ultimately, if you’re planning on storing a lot of apples for the winter, look for firm, long-lasting apples. These are usually thick-skinned, tart apples. We recommend storing Rome or Fuji, properly stored they will last until spring.

By the time you are reading this we will have finished the apple harvest and begun our annual task of pruning the trees.  So for sure it is time for everyone to think about stocking up for the winter on apples, squash, onions, frozen take and bake pies, and our alcohol products.  Our last official day for the bakery and the market to be open for the year will be Sunday, November 3^rd.  After that, we may be open limited days/hours to sell the remaining apples and produce.  We will publish this schedule the last week of October when we see how many apples are remaining.

Apple Season is winding down, here’s what we have left: (Updated 10-28-19)

• Honeycrisp: Gone for the year
• Jonathan: Pretty and popular, used for fresh eating and cooking, a favorite for apple butter and taffy apples.
• Northern Spy: The professional baker’s dream, cooks up well in applesauce, pie and other dishes. Stores well, easy to remember by saying “Spies for pies.”   Come soon, only a few left.
• Golden Delicious: A gingery-smooth, sweet taste under a thin skin. It’s the most popular yellow apple, good eaten fresh, baked or cut in salads.  Makes a nice apple sauce and many people use for canning pie filling.
• Red Delicious:  America’s most popular apple, known for the “five little bumps” on the bottom. Best for fresh eating and snacks. Full-flavored sweet taste, yellowish flesh, and crisp texture.
• Cameo: Firm, crisp and sweet, tart. Great for snacking or baking. Keeps well in your refrigerator. Come soon, only a few left.
• Ida Red: Suits your every use! Eat fresh or for cooking. Taste is both tangy and tart. Flesh is white, crisp and juicy. Favored for sauces, pies and desserts. Texture holds up well when baked.
• Mutsu: Gone for the year
• Fuji: Has a fantastic sweet flavor and tart flavor, with a low acid content.  An incredibly good keeper, it says crisp for weeks without even being in the refrigerator. (We do not have many of these this year so you will want to come soon.) 
• Rome: A big, round apple right out of storybooks! Rome’s have a mild, sweet flavor. Most popular for baking because it holds flavor and shape well.
• Pink Lady:  We will not have any Pink Lady apples for sale after all, sorry.  Updated 10-25-19

Apple pricing for the year:   With the exception of a few special varieties (like Honeycrisp) all the apples are: $26 a bushel**, $14 a half-bushel, $8.00 a peck (1/4 of a bushel), $6 a half-peck, $3.50 a 1/4 peck and $1.00 a pound.

Apple Cider update:  If you are looking to freeze cider to have all year, please call to order ahead if you can.  Cider is easily frozen by taking out a cup or so from the gallon jug to give the ice room to expand.   I love to bring it out on Thanksgiving morning as a special treat!

Squash:  We have many varieties of winter squash, and want to help you get stocked by offering a larger quantity sale.  You may purchase a bushel of squash (can mix and match any that we have) for $30.  If that is too many, fill up one of our handle bags with squash of your choice (about 1/2 bushel and around 10 squash depending on the size) for $15!

Make sure you take one of our baked potato squash to try.  Several of our staff have cooked these and brought them in for us to sample and we’re still licking out lips!  See pictures below of what Barb and Teri cooked up.  Their recipes will be available at the market.

And, if you want to have someone else do the cooking, then you can try our baked potato squash at Bell’s Eccentric Café in Kalamazoo.  Check out their Facebook posting here and the description of this and other wonderful things on their menu!

  https://www.facebook.com/BellsEccentricCafe/photos/a.219997951347147/2932591020087813/?type=3&theater

Pumpkins!  We have a limited supply of pumpkins left for the year.  Come pick yours out soon!  Priced from $8 to $2, based on size.

Check out the large storybook of Spookley the Square pumpkin in the back yard, you may have to pick up the boards as the fall winds are having their way!

U-Pick pumpkins: This is the last weekend for our u-pick pumpkin patch.  The cost is $10 per family which includes picking a pumpkin.  Additional pumpkins are available for picking at $8 (large), $5 (medium), $2 (small pie) each.  It’s never too early to show children that pumpkins grow on vines in a field, not a parking lot!  The field will be open daily from 8 until 6.  If we have a significant amount of rain, we may have to close it until it dries out.

We also have carved out several great spots in the field for pumpkin or Thanksgiving photos with your children.  Please note that photographers with appointments have priority to using these areas.

Purple Concord You Pick grape update:   We are still picking Concord grapes.  Just remember we are closed on Tuesday!  Concord grapes usually last up until the first hard frost.  Please realize that we are now picking in the middles of the rows (where there are plenty of grapes) but you should bring a small wagon to help get them out of the rows.

Alcohol offerings:

• Brandies:  Pear, Grape, Apple, Cherry, Peach, and Grappa
• Rye Whiskey
• Hard Cider flavors: Another summer favorite is back, Strawberry!  We also have Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, Bark Bite, Cortabella, Preach, Blueberry, United Squash Federation, Ginger and Brunch.
• Brandy tours and tasting is available every Saturday from 1 until 3 pm, in the Brandy Barn/Distillery    We offer brandy, wine and some hard cider samples. It’s always an interesting and fun experience.

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local, we hope to see you at the farm soon!

Reminder:  Corey Lake Orchards is closed every Tuesday.  We will continue to share this notice since it is a major change.  As a small family business, we have begun to realize that to best serve our customers with an exceptional product and experience, we need a down day once per week to regroup, reorganize, and re-energize.

***Storing Apples:

Apples are best kept in your refrigerator, preferably the crisper drawer or in an unsealed plastic bag. Refrigerate apples separately from vegetables because apples naturally release small amounts of ethylene gas that can be damaging to lettuce and other produce. If you have a root cellar, you can keep larger amounts there if it is cool, dry and dark.

For every 10 degrees above 30°F, the apples’ lifespan decreases dramatically. You do not want the apples’ temperature to fall below 30°F, however, because that will make them freeze and turn to mush when they’re thawed. Their cell walls will all collapse. Therefore, apples are best stored somewhere around 30-35°F, in a humid environment.

If storing apples in the fridge, place them inside a crisper drawer and lay a slightly dampened paper towel on top of the apples. Apples are one of the few fruits that really do benefit from being stored in the fridge as quickly as possible. Keep them in the crisper drawer with aforementioned damp paper towel, or else keep them in perforated plastic bags in a cold shed or cellar.

There is trust to that old adage: “One bad apple rots the whole bunch.” Apples give off a lot of ethylene gas, and so just one bruised and rotting apple will give off enough to swiftly ripen (and rot) the others. If you have any bruises or soft spots on an apple, set it aside for eating. Don’t store with the other apples.

Ultimately, if you’re planning on storing a lot of apples for the winter, look for firm, long-lasting apples. These are usually thick-skinned, tart apples. We recommend storing Rome or Fuji, properly stored they will last until spring.

“The frost is on the pumpkin,” is a famous line that rang true this week.  We have had one mild frost (not a killing frost), so everything is still okay.  However, it is nature’s way of marking a definite change to the season.  And as we are close to finishing the apple harvest, it is time for everyone to think about stocking up for the winter on apples, squash, onions, frozen take and bake pies, and our alcohol products.

Our last official day for the bakery and the market to be open for the year will be Sunday, November 3^rd.  After that, we will be open limited days/hours to sell the remaining apples and produce.  We will publish this schedule the last week of October when we see how many apples there are remaining.

It’s Apple Season!  Here’s what we have in the market for sale now:  

• 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).
• Jonathan: Pretty and popular, used for fresh eating and cooking, a favorite for apple butter and taffy apples.
• Northern Spy: The professional baker’s dream, cooks up well in applesauce, pie and other dishes. Stores well, easy to remember by saying “Spies for pies.”   Come soon, only a few left.
• Golden Delicious: A gingery-smooth, sweet taste under a thin skin. It’s the most popular yellow apple, good eaten fresh, baked or cut in salads.  Makes a nice apple sauce and many people use for canning pie filling.  We have a bumper crop of these this year!  However, many of them have some russet marks on the skin caused by some of the extremes in the spring weather.   It does not go skin deep, but just doesn’t look very pretty:(  We are bagging these up as “seconds,” and doing a special price on them for $8 a half bushel (normal pricing is $14 a half bushel.  This is a great deal for someone who is going to process a lot of apples or wants to feed animals.
• Cameo: Firm, crisp and sweet, tart. Great for snacking or baking. Keeps well in your refrigerator.
• Ida Red: Suits your every use! Eat fresh or for cooking. Taste is both tangy and tart. Flesh is white, crisp and juicy. Favored for sauces, pies and desserts. Texture holds up well when baked.
• Mutsu: Has a moderately sweet flavor with firm, juicy and creamy white flesh. Its skin color is a yellowish green with an orange blush. It is excellent for fresh eating, sauces, juice, and baking. This apple stores and keeps well.
• Fuji: Has a fantastic sweet flavor and tart flavor, with a low acid content.  An incredibly good keeper, it says crisp for weeks without even being in the refrigerator. (We do not have many of these this year so you will want to come soon.) 
• Braeburns: Sweet with a hint of tart, and a firmness that stores well. These traits plus the fact that they bake well have made them a very versatile apple.   Come soon, only a few left.

There are only two remaining apples to harvest for the year:  Red Rome and PInk Lady.  We expect to harvest these the week of 10-28-19.

Apple pricing for the 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 are: $26 a bushel**, $14 a half-bushel, $8.00 a peck (1/4 of a bushel), $6 a half-peck, $3.50 a 1/4 peck and $1.00 a pound. **When we have bushels available.

We currently have some apple specials on Red Delicious and JonaMac.   Buy 2 half bushel bags and get one free.   Can mix and match, so you are getting 1 and 1/2 bushels (3 bags) for $26.  Can’t use that many apples?  Drop off at a local food bank, take to a sporting event to share, make lots of applesauce and freeze!

• Red Delicious: America’s most popular apple “back in the day.” Best for fresh eating and snacks. Full-flavored sweet taste.
• 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.

Regular U-Pick apples are now done for the year.  We had soooo many picked last weekend in the beautiful weather, thank you all for coming!

Apple Gleaning:   Gleaning is where you can pick what is left off the ground or the tree at a reduced price.  Apple Gleaning will open on Monday, October 21st in some of the orchards.  Please check in at the market first to see which orchards are open for gleaning.  The price is $7 a bushel, which is the only quantity you can pick.  Please realize that due to a smaller apple crop this year there are very few apples to glean and we will close the orchard after they are gone which will probably be very quick.   What is left is mostly on the ground or in the tops of the trees.  Please bring your own containers to put them in.  We can loan you bushel baskets to measure them in.  If you don’t have containers we have 1/2 bushel liner bags which can be purchased for 50 cents each.  (Reminder we are closed on Tuesday.)

Apple Cider update:  This week’s cider is even better than last week’s since it was made with more apple varieties.  Try a free sample at the market.  Our cider is not pasteurized, so it must be refrigerated.

Squash:  We have many varieties of winter squash, try our baked or mashed potato squash!  Time to stock up on your winter squash.  You may purchase a bushel of squash (can mix and match any that we have) for $30.

Pumpkins!  Orange pumpkins, white pumpkins, pumpkins with bumps, striped pumpkins, large pumpkins, small pumpkins…..we have pumpkins!  Come pick yours out!  Priced from $10 to $2, based on size.

U-Pick pumpkins: Looking for a fun activity for the kids?  We just opened our u-pick pumpkin patch.  The cost is $10 per family which includes picking a pumpkin.  Additional pumpkins are available for picking at $8 (large), $5 (medium), $2 (small pie) each.  It’s never too early to show children that pumpkins grow on vines in a field, not a parking lot!  The field will be open daily from 8 until 6, (except for Tuesdays when we are closed.)  If we have a significant amount of rain, we may have to close it until it dries out.

We also have carved out several great spots in the field for pumpkin or Thanksgiving photos with your children.  Please note that photographers with appointments have priority to using these areas.

White Niagara You Pick Grape Update:  The white Niagara grapes for the most part are now gone.

Purple Concord You Pick grape update:   We are still picking Concord grapes.  Just remember we are closed on Tuesday!  Concord grapes usually last up until the first frost.  Please realize that we are now picking in the middles of the rows (where there are plenty of grapes) but you should bring a small wagon to help get them out of the rows.

This weekend in the bakery We are taking orders for Holiday take and bake pies. Pies need to be ordered 3 days in advance, we will be taking orders until our last regular day, Sunday, Nov. 3rd.  We will have one November order pickup day which is Saturday, November 23 from 9-12, or you can pickup any day before the market and bakery close.  If you would like anything reserved give us a call at 269-244-5690 and we will be happy to save it for you!

This weekend’s offerings will be:

• Cookies:  Cut-out cookies, Frosted Lemon, M&M “Monster”, Chaos, Mudslide, and Salted Caramel
• Pies:   Apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Pecan, and Pumpkin.
• Apple Crisp
• Pumpkin cupcakes 
• Breads: Wheat and Rye Herb, Potato Scallion, and Herb Baguette.  Whole Wheat, Honey Oatmeal, Cinnamon, Italian, Tuscan,  Hamburger and Hotdog Buns
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts, muffins, scones
• Dessert bars: peanut butter mousse, chocolate caramel, lemon burst, chocolate truffle, chocolate and white mousse
• Fall flavors cake donuts: Buttermilk, Apple Cider, and Pumpkin (Available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
• Slushies- 3 flavors; Unpasteurized Apple Cider, White Grape Peach, and Grape blend. 

Look for our “take and bake” pies for you to stock up on in your freezer (for you to indulge in). “Take and bake” pie choices are all large-9″ pies and available flavors in the freezer now.

Photographers – If you are interested in Fall photo opportunities on our farm, please contact Brenda@coreylakeorchards.com.  She will work with you to schedule appointments, provide information on our photo policies and discuss backdrop possibilities in the pumpkin field and other picturesque spots we have on the farm.

Alcohol offerings:

• Brandies:  Pear, Grape, Apple, Cherry, Peach, and Grappa
• Rye Whiskey
• Wines: Double Cherry and New:  Peach and Honey (already a favorite by those who have tried it)
• Hard Cider flavors: A late summer hard cider is back, Blueberry, and it is delicious! We also have Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, Bark Bite, Cortabella, Preach, United Squash Federation, Ginger and Brunch.
• Brandy tours and tasting is available every Saturday from 1 until 3 pm, in the Brandy Barn/Distillery    We offer brandy, wine and some hard cider samples. It’s always an interesting and fun experience.

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local, we hope to see you at the farm soon!

Reminder:  Corey Lake Orchards is closed every Tuesday.  We will continue to share this notice since it is a major change.  As a small family business, we have begun to realize that to best serve our customers with an exceptional product and experience, we need a down day once per week to regroup, reorganize, and re-energize.

**Additional grape information:

• Picking hours: Our picking hours are 8 am to 6 pm every day except Tuesday (when we are closed) , we ask that you be finished and checked out by 6,  Sorry, for everyone’s safety, we have suspended evening picking hours this year due to the Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) mosquito-borne disease threat in Southwest Michigan.
• 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 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 : 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):
  • 45 cents a pound for under 100 pounds, 1 five-gallon bucket or a ½ bushel = $9
  • Over 100 pounds; 27.5 cents a pound, 1 five-gallon bucket or ½ bushel = $5.50

***Storing Apples:

Apples are best kept in your refrigerator, preferably the crisper drawer or in an unsealed plastic bag. Refrigerate apples separately from vegetables because apples naturally release small amounts of ethylene gas that can be damaging to lettuce and other produce. If you have a root cellar, you can keep larger amounts there if it is cool, dry and dark.

For every 10 degrees above 30°F, the apples’ lifespan decreases dramatically. You do not want the apples’ temperature to fall below 30°F, however, because that will make them freeze and turn to mush when they’re thawed. Their cell walls will all collapse. Therefore, apples are best stored somewhere around 30-35°F, in a humid environment.

If storing apples in the fridge, place them inside a crisper drawer and lay a slightly dampened paper towel on top of the apples. Apples are one of the few fruits that really do benefit from being stored in the fridge as quickly as possible. Keep them in the crisper drawer with aforementioned damp paper towel, or else keep them in perforated plastic bags in a cold shed or cellar.

There is trust to that old adage: “One bad apple rots the whole bunch.” Apples give off a lot of ethylene gas, and so just one bruised and rotting apple will give off enough to swiftly ripen (and rot) the others. If you have any bruises or soft spots on an apple, set it aside for eating. Don’t store with the other apples.

Ultimately, if you’re planning on storing a lot of apples for the winter, look for firm, long-lasting apples. These are usually thick-skinned, tart apples. We recommend storing Rome or Fuji, properly stored they will last until spring.

 

Celebrate a fun weekend at the farm, and for many it will be a 3 day weekend with Columbus Day on Monday!  (Yes we are open Monday)  We have U-Pick apples, grapes, pumpkins and donuts!!  Plus a festival here on Sunday!

Three Rivers Area Fall Color Tour, Sunday, Oct. 13 from 11 am to 5 pm

Join us for the Fall Color Tour this Sunday!  The weather forecast looks perfect, sun and cool, sweatshirt weather!  We will have food, fun, fruit, arts and crafts, music, and other special events during that time.  Corey Lake Orchards is one of 12 stops on the scenic, fun-filled tour to celebrate the beauty of Fall in the Three Rivers area.  Find more about the event here:  https://events.trchamber.com/events/details/fall-color-tour-826

Our market, bakery, up-pick apples, and u-pick grapes are available during our normal business hours of 8 am to 6 pm.  In addition we will have:

• CLO Brandy House (noon to 3 pm)
• CLO Hard Cider Tastings (noon to 3 pm)
• Birds of Prey (1 to 3 pm, weather permitting)
• The Chillbilly’s Band (foot-stomping music from 1 to 4 pm)
• Camzie’s Pizza Food Truck
• Hope Foundation Fire Truck
• Face Painting by Constantine High School Art Club

Visit our many talented and creative vendors.  Now is the time to start your holiday shopping!

• Art by Anna
• Barb’s Bowls
• Bushman Music
• Cindy’s Whimsies
• Clear Lake Studio Works
• Delightful Designs
• Donna Young
• Faith in Flora
• High View Studio
• Jake’s Country Meats
• Laughing Horse Artisan
• Mary Hanlin
• Nature’s Edibles from Ginger Hills Farms
• Pugling Hoard
• Teresa Featherstone
• The Sustainable Hive
• Vicki Latua
• Webster Knife Works
• The Wood Whacker

We loved celebrating Apple Crunch Day today..…thanks to all who crunched into one of our apples today!!

It’s Apple Season!  Here’s what we have in the market for sale now:  

• 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).
• McIntosh: This is a soft, white fleshed apple, very popular for baking and applesauce.  Come soon, not many left.
• Jonathan: Pretty and popular, used for fresh eating and cooking, a favorite for apple butter and taffy apples.
• Red Delicious: America’s most popular apple “back in the day.” Best for fresh eating and snacks. Full-flavored sweet taste.
• 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 and juices really well.  Come soon, not many left.
• Northern Spy: The professional baker’s dream, cooks up well in applesauce, pie and other dishes. Stores well, easy to remember by saying “Spies for pies.”   We have very few of these this year, if you want some please call and order.  if you have already placed an order, we have called you to come pick them up.
• Golden Delicious: A gingery-smooth, sweet taste under a thin skin. It’s the most popular yellow apple, good eaten fresh, baked or cut in salads.  Makes a nice apple sauce and many people use for canning pie filling.  We have a bumper crop of these this year!  However, many of them have some russet marks on the skin caused by some of the extremes in the spring weather.   It does not go skin deep, but just doesn’t look very pretty:(  We are bagging these up as “seconds,” and doing a special price on them for $8 a half bushel (normal pricing is $14 a half bushel.  This is a great deal for someone who is going to process a lot of apples or wants to feed animals.

These apples we hope to have on the market this weekend:

• Cameo: Firm, crisp and sweet, tart. Great for snacking or baking. Keeps well in your refrigerator.
• Ida Red: Suits your every use! Eat fresh or for cooking. Taste is both tangy and tart. Flesh is white, crisp and juicy. Favored for sauces, pies and desserts. Texture holds up well when baked.
• Mutsu: Has a moderately sweet flavor with firm, juicy and creamy white flesh. Its skin color is a yellowish green with an orange blush. It is excellent for fresh eating, sauces, juice, and baking. This apple stores and keeps well.
• Fuji: Has a fantastic sweet flavor and tart flavor, with a low acid content.  An incredibly good keeper, it says crisp for weeks without even being in the refrigerator.
• Braeburns: Sweet with a hint of tart, and a firmness that stores well. These traits plus the fact that they bake well have made them a very versatile apple.

If you have ordered Mutsu or Ida Reds, we are in the process of bagging your orders and will call you when ready.

We currently have some apple specials on Gala and JonaMac.   Buy 2 half bushel bags and get one free.   Can mix and match, so you are getting 1 and 1/2 bushels (3 bags) for $26.  Can’t use that many apples?  Drop off at a local food bank, take to a sporting event to share, make lots of applesauce and freeze!

• Gala is a great eating and cooking apple with 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.

Apple picking will be available on Saturday,  Sunday and Columbus Day Monday (October 12, 13, and 14).   This could be our be our last days to pick apples for the year.  Check our website later to see if we will have any other weekends for apple picking yet this month.  We will be open during our business hours of 8 until 6.  Please check in at the market first to get directions as you will be driving to the orchard.  We need everyone checked out by 6, so you must be in the apple orchard by 5:30, and checked in at the market by 5:15.

The U-Pick Apples varieties available will be:   Yellow and Red Delicious, Cameo and Fuji.  You might find other varieties left that didn’t get picked last weekend.  Trees are loaded, lots of fun!

Apple pricing for the 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 are: $26 a bushel**, $14 a half-bushel, $8.00 a peck (1/4 of a bushel), $6 a half-peck, $3.50 a 1/4 peck and $1.00 a pound. **When we have bushels available.

Apple Gleaning:  Traditionally we have opened apple gleaning after we have finished the apple harvest.  This year since we had fewer apples, there may not be much left for gleaning.  Gleaning is where you can pick what is left off the ground or the tree at a reduced price.  Check back around October18 to see if we will have gleaning available.

Apple Cider update:  This week’s cider is superb; we have lots of Honeycrisp in it!   Try a free sample at the market.  Our cider is not pasteurized, so must be refrigerated.

Wondering when your favorite apple will be ready?  Each week we will publish an apple estimate at the end of this post.***  Most of the dates have moved back, as rainy weather does not ripen apples!

Squash:  We have many varieties of winter squash, try our baked or mashed potato squash!

Pumpkins!  Orange pumpkins, white pumpkins, pumpkins with bumps, striped pumpkins, large pumpkins, small pumpkins…..we have pumpkins!  Come pick yours out!  Priced from $10 to $2, based on size.

U-Pick pumpkins: Looking for a fun activity for the kids?  We just opened our u-pick pumpkin patch.  The cost is $10 per family which includes picking a large pumpkin.  Additional pumpkins are available for picking at $8 (large), $5 (medium), $2 (small pie) each.  It’s never too early to show children that pumpkins grow on vines in a field, not a parking lot!  The field will be open daily from 8 until 6, (except for Tuesdays when we are closed.)  If we have a significant amount of rain, we may have to close it until it dries out.

We also have carved out several great spots in the field for pumpkin or Thanksgiving photos with your children.  Please note that photographers with appointments have priority to using these areas.

White Niagara You Pick Grape Update:  The white Niagara grapes opened for U-pick on Saturday 9-21 for the season.   We have less than half of a crop of these this year due to the winter freeze.  At this time, there are only a few rows left that have not been picked but folks are still finding them!

Purple Concord You Pick grape update:   We are still picking Concord grapes.  Just remember we are closed on Tuesday!  Concord grapes usually last up until the first frost.  It just depends how many customers come and how many get picked.  Additional information about grape picking can be found below.**

Picked grapes: We are no longer taking orders for picked grapes.

U-PIck visitors to our farm, please be aware that we are located in St. Joseph County, MI where cases of Triple E have occurred.  While we have not seen many mosquitos around lately, we want everyone to be diligent and protected.  Eastern Equine Encephalitis or commonly known as Triple E or sleeping sickness caused the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to urge locals to protect themselves from the bite of infected mosquitoes.  Initially infecting horses with a reported 90 percent fatality rate, people are still warned for they can also be bitten by infected mosquitoes. Though it is a rare cause of potentially fatal brain infections in people, “it has a 33 [percent] fatality rate for humans who become ill,” Lynn Sutfin of the MDHHS said.  Here’s what you can do to take precaution:

• Apply insect repellents that are EPA-registered or contain DEET to exposed skin. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for use.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants when outdoors. It is also important to wear light colored clothes so as not to attract mosquitoes.

This weekend in the bakery  we will have pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin pies, and pecan pies! If you would like anything reserved give us a call at 269-244-5690 and we will be happy to save it for you!

This weekend’s offerings will be:

• Cookies:  Cut-out cookies, Frosted Lemon, M&M “Monster”, Chaos, Mudslide, and Salted Caramel
• Pies:   Apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Pecan, and Pumpkin.
• Apple Crisp
• Pumpkin cupcakes 
• Breads: Wheat and Rye Herb, Potato Scallion, and Herb Baguette.  Whole Wheat, Honey Oatmeal, Cinnamon, Italian, Tuscan,  Hamburger and Hotdog Buns
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts, muffins, scones
• Dessert bars: peanut butter mousse, chocolate caramel, lemon burst, chocolate truffle, chocolate and white mousse
• Fall flavors cake donuts: Buttermilk, Apple Cider, and Pumpkin (Available Friday, Saturday,  Sunday and Columbus Day Monday)
• Slushies- 3 flavors; Unpasteurized Apple Cider, White Grape Peach, and Grape blend. 

We are starting to take orders for Holiday take and bake pies. Pies need to be ordered 3 days in advance and we will be taking orders until the market and bakery close for the season. We will have one November pickup date — Saturday,  November 23 from 9-12, or you can pickup any day before the market and bakery close for the season.

Look for our “take and bake” pies for you to stock up on in your freezer (for you to indulge in). “Take and bake” pie choices are all large-9″ pies and available flavors in the freezer now.

Photographers – If you are interested in Fall photo opportunities on our farm, please contact Brenda@coreylakeorchards.com.  She will work with you to schedule appointments, provide information on our photo policies and discuss backdrop possibilities in the apple orchard, the pumpkin field and other picturesque spots we have on the farm.

Alcohol offerings:

• Brandies:  Pear, Grape, Apple, Cherry, Peach, and Grappa
• Rye Whiskey
• Wines: Double Cherry and New:  Peach and Honey (already a favorite by those who have tried it)
• Hard Cider flavors: A late summer hard cider is back, Blueberry, and it is delicious! We also have Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, Bark Bite, Cortabella, Preach, United Squash Federation, Ginger, Strawberry and Brunch.
• Brandy tours and tasting is available every Saturday from 1 until 3 pm, in the Brandy Barn/Distillery    We offer brandy, wine and some hard cider samples. It’s always an interesting and fun experience.

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local, we hope to see you at the farm soon!

Reminder:  Corey Lake Orchards is closed every Tuesday.  We will continue to share this notice since it is a major change.  As a small family business, we have begun to realize that to best serve our customers with an exceptional product and experience, we need a down day once per week to regroup, reorganize, and re-energize.

**Additional grape information:

• Picking hours: Our picking hours are 8 am to 6 pm every day except Tuesday (when we are closed) , we ask that you be finished and checked out by 6,  Sorry, for everyone’s safety, we have suspended evening picking hours this year due to the Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) mosquito-borne disease threat in Southwest Michigan.
• 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 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 : 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):
  • 45 cents a pound for under 100 pounds, 1 five-gallon bucket or a ½ bushel = $9
  • Over 100 pounds; 27.5 cents a pound, 1 five-gallon bucket or ½ bushel = $5.50

***Apple Estimate Chart for 2019:  Updated 10-10- 2019

Variety	Crop Size Estimate	U-Pick Available?   Red means they are ready now for Saturday, Sunday and Columbus Day Monday picking	Approximate Week Ready–Please check back as weather will can change date earlier or later	Should order in advance
Braeburn	good	no	Ready now	no
Cameo	good	yes	Ready now	no
Cortland	fair	All picked	In market now	no
Fuji	good	yes	Ready now	no
Gala	good	all picked	In market now	no
Golden Delicious	good	yes	in market now	no
Golden Supreme	None	————–	——————–	——————
Honey Crisp	fair	no	In market now	no
Ida Red	few*	All picked	Ready now	yes
Jona Mac	good	All picked	In market now	no
JonaGold	gone for the	year
Jonathon	fair	yes — few	Ready now	no
McIntosh	good	All picked	In market now	no
Molly’s Del	gone for the	year
Mutsu	few*	All picked	Ready now	yes
Northern Spy	few	no	in market now	yes
Pink Lady	good	no	25-Oct	no
Red Delicious	good	yes	In marker now	no
Rome	fair	yes	23-Oct	no