Monthly Archive: September 2018

It looks like another beautiful weekend and we will have both grape and apple picking available, plus just the opportunity to enjoy all of the fall sights of the farm. So many smells, textures, and colors of pumpkins, mums, gourds, squash, apples and colored corn. Check out our giant pumpkins, the Spookley story in the straw bale fort, and the antique trucks, tractors and the like. Please share your photos with us on Facebook, Instagram, or email to us. (We are so busy in the fall we never get to see our own displays!!)

Please check out the first and second place winning giant pumpkins from this year’s St. Joseph County Fair, grown by Keith and Marc Whitford, weighing in at 522 pounds and 467 pounds, respectively.  We thank both of them for allowing us to share them with you!

Our u-pick orchard and vineyard team of Rachel and Marci are the friendly faces and helpful folks who are there to make sure you have a great experience picking apples and grapes. If you need anything while you are picking, please ask them.

Grapes:

Both the white Niagara and purple Concord vineyards are open for you to come pick. These are both seeded grapes used for making juice, jelly and for those who know them—for fresh eating! We should have them up until the first frost, so plan a trip out to get some. See info below on key information you should know before you come.  ***

We have so many white grapes  that this is the year we are asking everyone to try the Niagara grapes.  Here’s why:

• They are sweeter than the Concord
• They are easier to pick (larger clusters, less foliage and double wire trellis make them that way)
• They don’t stain like the purple Concords do

Those who have tried them have not gone back to Concord. Many are also mixing the two colors, especially into juice. It makes a nice pink juice and the white grapes sweeten it up.

To encourage all of you serious Concord juice makers into trying these, we are offering this incentive. If you pick 5 or more 20-pound buckets of Concords (100 pounds or over) you can pick one 20-pound bucket of white Niagara’s for free!  Take them home and try them out.

Picked grapes: We are taking orders for bushels of picked grapes both white Niagara and purple Concord at $26 a bushel and $14 a 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.   Remember, you can use your squash as a decoration first, then eat later!

Sweet Cider: We are pressing sweet cider now.

2018 Apple update:  We have a smaller crop of apples this year due to spring weather issues. Also, as you are in the U-PIck apple orchard you will notice some of the other affects of the spring frost which left some scars on the apples. At the bottom of this blog post, we have a chart*** which estimates when the varieties will be ready, and which ones we don’t have many of so that you can pre-order them.  We also have copies of this information at our market.

Apples: Everything we have on the market now is listed below.

• Apple Special: In order to make room for later varieties coming in, we have the following 3 varieties (Gala, Jon-A-Mac and Cortland) on special.  Buy two half bushels (or one bushel) for $24, and get an additional half bushel for free. So this is a $12 savings. You can mix and  match these 3 varieties.
  • 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
  • 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.
• 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).
• 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 (These are almost gone for the year, call us if you want some saved for you)
• 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.” We are currently using it in our pies in the bakery.
• Red Delicious: America’s most popular apple “back in the day.” Best for fresh eating and snacks. Full-flavored sweet taste.
• 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.
• Ida Red: Eat fresh or for cooking, taste is both tangy and tart. Flesh is white, crisp and juicy. Texture holds up well when baked.  Only have a few.
• 

• U-pick apples are open now for many of the varieties. Apple are slow in ripening this year and getting their color and full flavor, partially due to the unusual weather we have had this year. Picking is available during our business hours of 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 first for directions.  You will be driving to the orchard, so send someone to the market to get directions before getting everyone (especially excited children) out of the car!
• Starting Saturday, 9-29, the following can be picked: Cortland, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Jonathan, Ida Reds, Cameo and Northern Spies, but we encourage you to wait if you can before you pick them or pick only small quantities as they really need to ripen more. If you pick, select them very carefully for those that are riper than others.
• 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 are: $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

• Concord and Niagara grapes
• Bosc Pears: this is a sweet, hard, eating pear which keeps well (not a good canning pear)
• Tomatoes are now gone for the year….but what a good run, having them almost thru the month of September. We will all miss having a fresh tomato for sure….

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 and 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, swiss chard, and tomatoes from the certified organic hoophouse. This week Becca picked baby ginger that she grew, find it in the organic section of the market.

Freshly picked ginger

Bakery:

My first stop this morning was the bakery to find out why there was no hot water (yes a huge problem for a bakery) and upon arrival, it was clear that the night elves had fall on fast-forward (our bakers bake at night so everything is fresh when you come in). There was pumpkin and pecan pie, caramel apples, and pumpkin muffins. After resolving the hot water problem, I was rewarded with a hot pumpkin muffin—which was amazing with my first cup of coffee. Tonight they are making pumpkin cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting which the staff got to taste test last weekend.  They were unanimously approved by all….these are a must try.  Thanks Patti, Michaela and Amy for all the wonderful things you bake while we sleep.

Our Apple dumplings will be available for one weekend only  October 5-7th. They are available in a 2 count package and we are currently taking pre-orders for them, please call us at 269-244-5690 to put your name on the list!

Bakery offerings for the weekend will be:

• Cookies:  Apple caramel, M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate  Chip, Coconut Pecan, and Lemon
• Pies:  Apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Peach, Pecan, and Pumpkin.
• Breads: Vegetable, Whole Wheat, Whole Grain, Cinnamon, Vegetable, LaBrea Breads, Focaccia, Hamburger and Hotdog Buns and Sunflower Seed Bread!
• Cinnamon Rolls, New Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts
• Assorted Muffins and Blueberry Coffee Cake
• Cake Donuts: Buttermilk, apple cider and pumpkin.  Good news, these will be available every day now for the next several weeks while so many of you are out picking.
• Caramel Apples — made with JonaGold apples
• 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!  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, Cortabella (pure cortland apple cider) 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.

Good news on Terri K who was injured in an ATV/SUV accident at the farm, she is home now continuing her recovery.  She came to the farm this past weekend with a smile and hugs for everyone.  We continue to thank the many people who continue to ask about her and are keeping her in your thoughts.

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local. 

And here’s how one of our days went this week, there was no point in crying over spilled  grapes, but we wanted to!

***

National Farm Safety and Health Week, is recognized Sept. 16 – 22.  We’d like to remind everyone that many farms like ours, are into a heavy fall harvest.  This means many different tractors, farm vehicles and implements are out for many hours of the day, so please slow down and watch for them as you travel the rural roads.  We also ask for your help in watching for customer vehicles turning into our orchards and vineyards over the next month as people come to pick grapes and apples.  And a thank you in advance for this.

Good news on Terri K who was injured in an ATV/SUV accident at the farm, she went home today from the hospital.  There is still a long recovery ahead, but we are grateful that she is making such good progress.  She has taken up painting pumpkin gourds while she recovers….we hope to have some on our market soon for sale!

It looks like a beautiful weekend coming up, so we will have both grape and apple picking available, plus just the opportunity to enjoy all of the fall sights of the farm.  So many smells, textures, and colors of pumpkins, mums, gourds, squash, apples and colored corn.  Check out our giant pumpkins, the Spookley story in the straw bale fort, and the antique trucks, tractors and the like.  Please share your photos with us on Facebook, Instagram, or email to us.  (We are so busy in the fall we never get to see our own displays!!)

Grapes:

Both the white Niagara and purple Concord vineyards are open for you to come pick.  These are both seeded grapes used for making juice, jelly and for those who know them—for fresh eating!  We should have them up until the first frost, so plan a trip out to get some.    See info below on key information you should know before you come.  ***

We have so many white grapes  that this is the year we are asking everyone to try the Niagara grapes.  Here’s why:

• They are sweeter than the Concord
• They are easier to pick (larger clusters, less foliage and double wire trellis make them that way)
• They don’t stain like the purple Concords do

Those who have tried them have not gone back to Concord.  Many are also mixing the two colors, especially into juice.  It makes a nice pink juice and the white grapes sweeten it up.

To encourage all of you serious Concord juice makers into trying these, we are offering this incentive.  If you pick 5 or more 20-pound buckets of Concords (100 pounds or over) you can pick one 20-pound bucket of white Niagara’s for free!  Take them home and try them out.

Picked grapes: We are taking orders for bushels of picked grapes both white Niagara and purple Concord at $26 a bushel and $14 a 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.   Remember, you can use your squash as a decoration first, then eat later!

Sweet Cider: We are pressing sweet cider now.  Our first run was delicious!

2018 Apple update:  We have a smaller crop of apples this year due to spring weather issues. Also, as you are in the U-PIck apple orchard you will notice some of the other affects of the spring frost which left some scars on the apples.  At the bottom of this blog post, we have a chart which estimates when the varieties will be ready, and which ones we don’t have many of so that you can pre-order them.  We also have copies of this information at our market.

Apples:   Everything we have on the market now is listed below.  We hope to pick some Golden Delicious, Northern Spies and Jonathan for the weekend.  We will be spot picking so would encourage you to get bushels later (a week or so) when they are riper.

• 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 are open now for a few varieties.  Apple are slow in ripening this year and getting their color and full flavor.  Picking is available during our business hours of 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 first for directions.  You will be driving to the orchard, so send someone to the market to get directions before getting everyone (especially excited children) out of the car!
• There will be some remaining Gala and Cortland ready for you to pick this weekend.  We are opening some trees of Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Jonathan and Northern Spies, but we encourage you to wait if you can before you pick them or pick only small quantities as they really need to ripen more.  If you pick, select them very carefully for those that are riper than others.
• 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 are: $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

• Concord and Niagara grapes
• Bosc Pears:  This is a sweet, hard, eating pear which keeps well (not a good canning pear)
• 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 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 soon.

So on the market right now, we’ve got: 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 and 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.  This week Becca picked baby ginger that she grew, find it in the organic section of the market.

Freshly picked ginger

Bakery:  We are not going to be able to make apple dumplings this year on a regular basis (due to apple shortage), but we are going to make them one weekend for everyone who wants them.  There will be a sign up sheet at the market for the apple dumpling lovers or you can email us or call us.  Let us know how many of the 2-apple pack dumplings you want.  Remember, these freeze well.  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:  Apple caramel, M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate  Chip, Coconut Pecan, and Lemon
• Pies:  Apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Peach
• 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!  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, Cortabella (pure cortland apple cider) 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.

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local. 

***U Pick Grape information

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 6 pm).

• 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 level 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

Apple information update:

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. 

***

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.

Terri at the Texas Township Market

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: We only have 3 varieties ready. By this weekend, we will have all size quantities available of the following apples (including bushels).

• 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

• Since Labor Day weekend with sweltering heat and rains kept many of you away, we are opening up u-pick apples again this weekend for you to be able to pick your own. The varieties available will be Gala, Jon-A-Mac, and Mollie’s Delicious.
•  Apple picking 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
• After this weekend, u-pick apples will close again until more apples are ready, please check back the week of September 17th for an opening date.
• 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 have a few peaches left, and they are available for $15 a peck, $8.75 a 1/2 peck and $4 a quart. We don’t have any more bushels available. Oh how we all are going to miss the peaches.
• Bartlett Pears: We have a few small eating baskets left then they are gone for the year.  Bosc Pears, a winter pear will be ready in a few weeks.
• Watermelon
• Fredonia Grapes (this is an early grape like a Concord grape, with seeds)
• 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, (we will have another 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.

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.

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 (finally enough pears ripened to make this pie that has become a favorite for so many of you)
• 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. We’re nearing the end of our Strawberry and Prince Tribute stock for the year, just so people know.

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.

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local. 

***