Picked Strawberries are available in the market daily now at $3.25 a quart.   We are still taking orders for larger quantities of picked berries, however we are at a point in the season where we can’t promise them but will try our best.  Pricing will be:

• a flat of picked berries (8 quarts) is $24.00 ($3.00 a quart)
• or a case of picked berries (16 quarts) for $44.00 ($2.75 quart)

U-Pick Strawberries:  We have had a good run of berries so far.  There is still good picking,  but the berries are getting smaller.  We rotate our fields every 3 days to get you the best picking we have.  However, these cool nights are just not helping to get them ripe.  We will stop picking some of our early berries in the next few days (about 1/3 of the fields) which will cut down on our U-Pick availability.  We will continue to open at 8:00 am each day (weather permitting) but we might get picked out early.  For example, today we closed at 9:30.  If you need more information about U-Pick, please go to the bottom.**

Cherries:

• Sweet Cherries:  We have a good crop of Sweet cherries this year, but not the bumper crop like we had last year.  We lost about 20% of them during the May frost.  We hope to start picking some sweet cherries for the market this coming weekend, June 22nd.  We will set a U-Pick opening date on Friday June 21st along with pricing information.
• Sour Cherries:  We have a very small crop of sour cherries this year (25%) as they were in their critical bloom stage when we got the frost on Mother’s Day weekend.  So, we lost about 75% of them.  We expect them to be ready around June 28th, again, depending on the weather.  Please check back closer to the end of the month for more information.

**Strawberry U-Pick Information:  

• U-Pick Strawberry times:  We will open the field at 8:00 am  and it will remain open until we are picked out or until 11:00 am.  
• Our goal is to always have good picking for our customers.  So we will close the field when all the picking for that day is complete.  Depending on how many people come out in a given day, there could be some days that we will close before 11 am.    Picking will be on a first come, first serve basis. Given the cooler weather this June, we may have to close on certain days for ripening. 
• To get the latest picking information, check our website, our facebook  page or our answering machine.  You can call the night before or the morning you are trying to come to make sure we are open.  With the price of gas, we wouldn’t want anyone to make a trip only to find out we are closed!
• Location:  The strawberry fields are located on AL Jones Road, between Corey Lake Road and M-60.   You may go directly there, just look for the signs as to where we are picking each day.
• U-Pick Strawberry pricing will be  $1.50 quart.  Please bring quart containers if you have them, if not, you may purchase or borrow ours but bring containers (bowls, tubs, etc.) to put them in to take home.
• We are trying something new this year which is dedicating a section of the field for those who want to come out for the farm and U-Pick “experience.”  We know there are many families who would like to have their children understand where their food comes from and how it grows.    For this group, the “experience” is almost more important than how many berries are picked.  If you fall into this category, we will give your family information on how berries grow and show you how to pick them.  When picking in this section, each person picking will be allowed to pick up to one quart so we can hopefully accommodate all who come.
• Please dress for strawberry picking!  Due to the rains this week there is plenty of mud.  The foliage is wet in the mornings so long pants and long sleeves along with rain boots is suggested.
• If you are trying to pick larger quantities of berries (over 5 cases or 80 quarts), please call us in advance and we would like to try to work with you to schedule you in on a day when we have lots of berry availability.  Ask to be put on our “large quantity list.”  269-244-5690.

• a flat of picked berries (8 quarts) is $24.00 ($3.00 a quart)
• or a case of picked berries (16 quarts) for $44.00 ($2.75 quart)

Please call in advance and we will call you when they are available.  We are about half way through filling our orders.

Strawberry U-Pick Information:    Our U-Pick berries are ready now. We have been open for 2 days and picking is very good right now.   We expect the U-Pick season to last about 10 days.

• U-Pick Strawberry times:  We will open the field at 8:00 am  and it will remain open until we are picked out or until 11:00 am.  
• Our goal is to always have good picking for our customers.  So we will close the field when all the picking for that day is complete.  Depending on how many people come out in a given day, there could be some days that we will close before 11 am.    Picking will be on a first come, first serve basis. Given the cooler weather this June, we may have to close on certain days for ripening. 
• To get the latest picking information, check our website, our facebook  page or our answering machine.  You can call the night before or the morning you are trying to come to make sure we are open.  With the price of gas, we wouldn’t want anyone to make a trip only to find out we are closed!
• Location:  The strawberry fields are located on AL Jones Road, between Corey Lake Road and M-60.   You may go directly there, just look for the signs as to where we are picking each day.
• U-Pick Strawberry pricing will be  $1.50 quart.  Please bring quart containers if you have them, if not, you may purchase or borrow ours but bring containers (bowls, tubs, etc.) to put them in to take home.
• We are trying something new this year which is dedicating a section of the field for those who want to come out for the farm and U-Pick “experience.”  We know there are many families who would like to have their children understand where their food comes from and how it grows.    For this group, the “experience” is almost more important than how many berries are picked.  If you fall into this category, we will give your family information on how berries grow and show you how to pick them.  When picking in this section, each person picking will be allowed to pick up to one quart so we can hopefully accommodate all who come.
• Please dress for strawberry picking!  Due to the rains this week there is plenty of mud.  The foliage is wet in the mornings so long pants and long sleeves along with rain boots is suggested.
• If you are trying to pick larger quantities of berries (over 5 cases or 80 quarts), please call us in advance and we would like to try to work with you to schedule you in on a day when we have lots of berry availability.  Ask to be put on our “large quantity list.”  269-244-5690.

Greenhouse tomatoes and cucumbers:  We are picking these daily now.  This weekend we will start pulling our green onions, yellow and white with long green stems.  We hope to pick Kale, Swiss Chard and lettuce as well.

Baked Goods available this weekend: 

• Blueberry, cherry, cherry berry, peach, and strawberry rhubarb pies.
• Baseball cutout cookies that say #1 Dad,  lemon and monster cookies.
• Cinnamon rolls, cinnamon bread, White bread (no 12 grain).
• Strawberry shortcake.

Asparagus:  This will be the last weekend for asparagus.

Coming soon:  Cut your own Herb garden.  For those who like to use fresh herbs, check out our herb garden in the middle of the driveway by the pine tree.  We are growing virtually every kind of herb we could get seed for.  Some are ready now, the rest soon.

Brandy House Tours and Tasting:  Saturday from 1 -4.  Bruce would love to have you come out.

Michaela’s weekly bakery update.  The bakery is progressing but we lost a little time this week with some construction issues.  So we will try to make up time and still hope to open some time in July.  This week I have decided to discuss our bread.  We make all of our bread fresh from scratch using old recipes from my great-grandma Susie.  My great-grandma had eight children and a husband to feed during the great depression, so to make it by on what little money they had, she would bake bread every other day using a “start” from each batch, making sure she would not need to buy yeast.  We unfortunately are not able to keep starts to make our bread out of, instead we use fresh yeast for every batch.  For those of you curious about our bread making process, here are a few pictures of us making it this morning.

Mixing the dough by hand helps prevent over working that would cause the bread to be tough.

Kneading the dough to bring all the ingredients together.

Throwing the dough allows the middle to come to the outside to ensure everything is evenly distributed.

A loaf of bread ready to be baked and then enjoyed by a happy customer!

This is how we make all of our breads every week!  Making bread is our second favorite thing to do (second only to pies!!).  It is our love for the wonderful aroma of fresh baked bread that gets us going every morning!  We start baking now around 5:30 AM, and the smell of bread and a good strong cup of coffee keep us going until 10:00 PM!!!!

For all the Fathers out there, Happy Fathers day from the bakers!  Michaela and Patti

Happenings on the farm this week.  We were thrilled by the 1 and 1/2 inch of rain we got this week.  Orchards, vineyards and our field crops seemed to double in size before our very eyes, (and we were thankful not to have to move irrigation pipes!!)    The weeds seemed to quadruple so our attack to keep up with them was in full tilt. We lamented at the deer eating our row of lettuce–in broad daylight as we watched them. (sorry it seems as if they prefer red-leaf and have eaten at least 25 heads…)  The crew spent much of the week picking strawberries,  amazed at how large and plentiful the berries are this year.  Even my Dad said this was the best strawberry crop he can remember in 52 years–perfect foliage–but of course he admonished us over the number of weeds!

We are delighted that strawberries came at the “normal” time this year so they can be available for Father’s Day weekend, graduations and all of those special events that fill up the month of June.  Our hearty congratulations to the many graduates, newly weds and Dad’s who are the recipients of our strawberries.

Beth and Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local!  Have a great weekend.

Will open on Wednesday, June 12^th at 8:00.  We will be open daily from 8 until 11 am.

Length of season:  Our early berries are ready now and our later berries are just beginning to ripen.  We expect the U-Pick season to last about 10 days to 2 weeks.

Our goal is to always have good picking for our customers.  So we will close the field when all the picking for that day is complete.  Depending on how many people come out in a given day, there could be some days that we will close before 11 am.    Picking will be on a first come, first serve basis. Given the cooler weather this June, we may have to close on certain days for ripening. 

To get the latest picking information, check our website, our facebook  page or our answering machine.  You can call the night before or the morning you are trying to come to make sure we are open.  With the price of gas, we wouldn’t want anyone to make a trip only to find out we are closed!

Location:  The strawberry fields are located on AL Jones Road, between Corey Lake Road and M-60.   You may go directly there, just look for the signs as to where we are picking each day.

Please plan to visit our main market when you come, located on Corey Lake Road.  We have greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers, and asparagus for sale!

**Additional U-Pick Strawberry information:

• U-Pick Strawberry pricing will be  $1.50 quart.  Please bring quart containers if you have them, if not, you may purchase or borrow ours but bring containers (bowls, tubs, etc.) to put them in to take home.
• We are trying something new this year which is dedicating a section of the field for those who want to come out for the farm and U-Pick “experience.”  We know there are many families who would like to have their children understand where their food comes from and how it grows.    For this group, the “experience” is almost more important than how many berries are picked.  If you fall into this category, we will give your family information on how berries grow and show you how to pick them.  When picking in this section, each person picking will be allowed to pick up to one quart so we can hopefully accommodate all who come.
• Please dress for strawberry picking!  Due to the rains this week there is plenty of mud.  The foliage is wet in the mornings so long pants and long sleeves along with rain boots is suggested.
• If you are trying to pick larger quantities of berries (over 5 cases or 80 quarts), please call us in advance and we would like to try to work with you to schedule you in on a day when we have lots of berry availability.  Ask to be put on our “large quantity list.”  269-244-5690.
• U-Pick Strawberry times:  We will open the field at 8:00 am  and it will remain open until we are picked out or until 11:00 am.   We plan to open  each day weather permitting closing only for berries to ripen if the weather turns cold.   If we close the field for ripening, we will make that decision the day before, so please call us the day/night before you plan to come to make sure we are picking that day.   For safety, we will close the field during a lightening and thunder storm.

Here’s to a good strawberry season, Beth and everyone else at Corey Lake Orchards

The U-Pick strawberry field on June 6th–coming, but still not quite ready for us to open.

Picked Strawberries are available in the market daily now at $3.25 a quart.   We are picking more each day, but the cool weather is holding them back.  Since June is forecasted to be cooler than normal, we would expect the season to last longer, at least 2 weeks and possibly even 3 this year.  We do sell out on some days so feel free to call if you want us to hold them for you.  269-244-5690.

We are still taking orders for larger quantities of picked berries, pricing will be:

• a flat of picked berries (8 quarts) is $24.00 ($3.00 a quart)
• or a case of picked berries (16 quarts) for $44.00 ($2.75 quart)

Please call in advance and we will call you when they are available.  We started filling orders today.  (269-244-5690).

Greenhouse tomatoes:  We are getting a good supply of greenhouse tomatoes in now.  Our greenhouse cucumbers are coming very slowly this year, sorry we are only picking a few each day right now.  Local asparagus is still available for about another week.  Rhubarb is now gone for the year.

Baked goods will be available Friday, Saturday and Sunday as usual.  In addition to pies, bread and cookies, our bakers will be bringing their home-made shortcake for you to use with your strawberries.  All you need is to pick up some whipped cream!

Happenings on the farm this week:  This week we replanted our summer squash, watermelons, cantaloupe, zucchini and sweet potatoes that we lost in the cold weather about a week ago.   If you have noticed the crew working along M-60, they are re-mulching the blueberries.  And we have continued the battle against the weeds this week–just amazed at how nice they are growing with last week’s rains!    The grapes are blooming and the apples are forming and setting nicely on the trees.     The bakery project continues, more cement poured this week for setting up equipment, which has started to arrive.  All very exciting and sometimes even a bit overwhelming!

Michaela’s Bakery Update:  This week I wanted to tell you about our pie making.  The number one comment we hear from our customer’s is, “I love your wonderful pies, they melt in my mouth!”  We never get tired of hearing this!!  What makes our pies different from everyone else’s?  Each and every batch of pie dough is measured, mixed, and rolled by hand.  We do small batches of dough at a time to be sure the resulting dough is not tough.  I believe that anyone can make a good pie filling, but it is definitely the crust that makes or breaks the pie!  Our pie fillings are special, we make all of the fillings fresh from the fruit grown at the orchard!  You never have to worry about preservatives in our baked goods, we don’t use anything other than a freezer!

We bake our pies in two sizes–a traditional 9-inch pie and then the “mini-pies” which are 6 inches.    We have found the mini-size pies to be very popular, especially when the whole family can’t agree on what flavor pie to get.  Also, many of our health conscious customers buy the small pie so they can avoid the temptation that comes when there is a large pie sitting on their counter!

Here’s a sneak peak of what happens behind the scenes with our pie making process.    Warning: this may make your mouth water!

Hand patting the dough into the pans keeps it flaky, not tough.

A fresh batch of dough ready to become a tasty pie! (Yes this really is the same bowl we make 100+ pies at a time with!)

A rhubarb pie awaiting a top.

Hand rolling each pie top keeps it flaky so it will melt in your mouth (Also a great arm exercise!!)

 

 .

Hand fluting each pie gives it the special “home-made” touch, a fork just doesn’t compare!

Ready to be baked, are you hungry yet?

A cherry pie, just out of the oven, waiting for a lucky customer to enjoy and maybe even share!

When the bakery opens (still hopeful for July) you will be able to see for yourself how we make our pies.  Looking forward to serving you soon in the bakery, Michaela.

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local…hope to see you soon,  Beth

**U-Pick Strawberry information:

• U-Pick Strawberry pricing will be  $1.50 quart.  Please bring quart containers if you have them, if not, you may purchase or borrow ours but bring containers (bowls, tubs, etc.) to put them in to take home.
• We have doubled the size of our U-Pick berry field from previous years in order to have more berries available for those who want to pick their own.
• We are trying something new this year which is dedicating a section of the field for those who want to come out for the farm and U-Pick “experience.”  We know there are many families who would like to have their children understand where their food comes from and how it grows.    For this group, the “experience” is almost more important than how many berries are picked.  If you fall into this category, we will give your family information on how berries grow and show you how to pick them.  When picking in this section, each person picking will be allowed to pick up to one quart so we can hopefully accommodate all who come.
• If you are trying to pick larger quantities of berries (over 5 cases or 80 quarts), please call us in advance and we would like to try to work with you to schedule you in on a day when we have lots of berry availability.  Ask to be put on our “large quantity list.”  269-244-5690.
• U-Pick Strawberry times:  We will open the field at 8:00 am  and it will remain open until we are picked out or until 11:00 am.   We plan to open  each day weather permitting closing only for berries to ripen if the weather turns cold.   If we close the field for ripening, we will make that decision the day before, so please call us the day/night before you plan to come to make sure we are picking that day.   For safety, we will close the field during a lightening and thunder storm.

With May behind us, June gets everyone thinking about fresh Michigan strawberries.  Our strawberry crop looks good so far this year.  The rains are helping to them to be nicely sized and the forecast for the next several weeks is the kind of weather which strawberries like (not too many extremely hot days and some cooler nights coming).

We may have some early strawberries on the market this coming week  and we’re projecting U-Pick to be ready around June 8th, depending on the weather.   We will announce the opening date as soon as we know it.

We are taking orders now for picked strawberries.  Please call (269-244-5690) or email us your order and we will call you when we have them picked.  Already picked strawberries will be $3.25 a quart this year.  For larger quantities, pricing will be:

• a flat of picked berries (8 quarts) is $24.00 ($3.00 a quart)
• or a case of picked berries (16 quarts) for $44.00 ($2.75 qt)

U-Pick information:

• U-Pick Strawberry pricing will be  $1.50 quart.  Please bring quart containers if you have them, if not, you may purchase or borrow ours but bring containers (bowls, tubs, etc.) to put them in to take home.
• We have doubled the size of our U-Pick berry field from previous years in order to have more berries available for those who want to pick their own.
• We are trying something new this year which is dedicating a section of the field for those who want to come out for the farm and U-Pick “experience.”  We know there are many families who would like to have their children understand where their food comes from and how it grows.    For this group, the “experience” is almost more important than how many berries are picked.  If you fall into this category, we will give your family information on how berries grow and show you how to pick them.  When picking in this section, each person picking will be allowed to pick up to one quart so we can hopefully accommodate all who come.
• If you are trying to pick larger quantities of berries (over 5 cases or 80 quarts), please call us in advance and we would like to try to work with you to schedule you in on a day when we have lots of berry availability.  Ask to be put on our “large quantity list.”  269-244-5690.

U-Pick Strawberry times:  We will open the field at 8:00 am  and it will remain open until we are picked out or until 11:00 am.   We plan to open  each day weather permitting closing only for berries to ripen if the weather turns cold.   If we close the field for ripening, we will make that decision the day before, so please call us the day/night before you plan to come to make sure we are picking that day.   For safety, we will close the field during a lightening and thunder storm.

Greenhouse tomatoes:  We are getting a good supply of greenhouse tomatoes in now, come on out and get some for a BLT!  We still have rhubarb and hope to have it for a few more weeks.    There are a few bedding plants and hanging flower baskets left.

The Brandy House will be open on Saturday from 1 – 4.  Bruce would love to have you stop in.  The baked goods shelf has been stocked with pies, cookies and bread.  You really have to try the new cinnamon bread.

Happenings on the farm this week:  This week we spent a lot of time dashing out of the latest rain downpours as we tried to work out in the fields, orchards and vineyards.  The crew walked through all of our concord grape vineyards doing some touch-up pruning and we are pleasantly surprised at how many concord grapes it appears we are going to have this year.  So remember that come fall grape picking time!

Another project this week was removing a section of the grape vineyard adjacent to the market.  Those of you who saw all of the bulldozers, bobcats and large trucks here might have wondered what in the world we were building….. all the activity going on is to put in a new septic system to for the upcoming bakery and a long over due parking lot.

Taking grapes out sure goes a lot faster than the initial planting and multi-year wait for them to mature!

Sorry for all the commotion at the market this week with our construction….

Bakery update:   Michaela- our baker–will be giving you a weekly update about the upcoming bakery.   Many of you know that Michaela and her mother, Patti, have been baking 3 years for the farm market  under the guidelines of the Michigan cottage food law.  The Michigan cottage food law allows new entrepreneurs to “test the water” by baking non-perishable foods in their homes, which they are able to sell directly to customers.  Thanks to all our loyal customers who have come to love the baked goods they make,  we now feel we can take the next step and open a commercial, licensed farm-market bakery.  With a  licensed bakery we will be able to expand our offerings to other products!  In the next few weeks, Michaela will be letting you know what other products they will be baking.

Michaela and her mom Patti at work on this week’s baked goods

Michaela’s bakery update:  I wanted to let you know a little bit about how my baking got started.  I was fortunate enough to come from a family of bakers!  It all started back in the great depression, when my great-grandma Lena would sell chocolate cakes with fudge frosting along with her famous pies to support her large family.  Her special  fudge frosting recipe is the one that we still use today on our brownies; it remains a “top secret” recipe that only my mom and I know.  My other great- grandmother Susie was well known for her homemade bread, which she made every other day to feed her large family and we are still using her recipe for the bread we bake.   My mother developed the pie crust recipe that we use now.  It took years to perfect it.  But we feel it is the flakiest, “melt in your mouth” crust we have ever tried.  Between the two of us, we have developed the pie fillings that are made from the fresh fruit grown at the orchard.    The key to making a pie people love is the crust, the filling and how it is made.  In one of my future updates I will tell you a little bit more about how we make the pies.

We are always thinking of new ideas to try.  If you visited the market last weekend, you probably noticed a new item, Cinnamon Bread, which was the latest idea to pop into my head at 1 AM.  You must have liked it as we sold out quickly and had to go back and bake more!

As we continue the bakery planning–we would welcome any and all of your ideas on what you would like us to offer.   So feel free to email us back or fill out a card with your ideas the next time you are at the market.   We’re very excited about the new bakery, Michaela.

Preparing the cinnamon bread

So as always, thanks for buying local and we hope to see you soon.

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards

Rhubarb:  We have plenty of rhubarb, if you want to freeze it, please order larger quantities in advance, over ten pounds is $2 a pound.

We are slowly beginning to pick a few tomatoes and cucumbers out of the greenhouse.  This year we are raising a smaller size cucumber in the greenhouse in addition to the long ones we usually grow–try them, they are delicious!  It will take several weeks for there to be any quantity coming on so we tend to sell out quickly when we bring them in.   The cooler and longer spring has really held our greenhouse produce back.

Yeah–the first greenhouse tomatoes of the year–they even taste like tomatoes!

Memorial Day happenings:  Bruce will have the brandy house open for tours and tasting (sure to warm you up this cool weekend.) on Saturday from 1 – 4.  Our bakers will have their usual selections of home made pies, cookies and bread.    Since this is a holiday weekend, they will have peach pie (in short supply so available on holidays only) and will have red, white and blue cookies!  Baked goods will be available Friday thru the holiday on Monday.

Plants:  We still have tomato plants, herbs, flowers, squash, pumpkin, watermelon, cantaloupe and pepper plants.  We hope to have cucumber plants by Monday, May 27th.    Plants are going fast so if you are just beginning your garden preparations,  you might want to come get your plants as we will not be getting any more in.  We still have a nice selection of hanging baskets and the large tomato plants for your porch or patio.

The 2013 fruit season:  We felt very blessed when we checked our fruit crops after  the May 12th frost.   While the frost did some damage to our fruit depending on the stage of bloom it was in, compared to the 2012 loss it was minimal.

Fruit Timing:   It looks like the fruit will come in at its normal season, unlike last year when it was 3 weeks early.   This means strawberries the first half of June and cherries toward the end of June, maybe even into July.  We hope to have some early strawberries to sell on the market around June 1 and U-Pick strawberries around June 8th?  We will give you an update in a week when we will know more.

Happenings on the farm:  True to farm life, we spent most of last week moving irrigation around the farm trying to keep our young crops growing and then this week, we find ourselves unable to get in the wet fields with the several days of rain!  The rain and the couple of 80 plus degree days really got things growing–including the weeds–so we have spent a lot of time this week trying to keep the weeds under control–a never ending task.

Irrigation change overs can be a thankless job–thanks Jay

This week we planted peppers, eggplant, watermelon, cantaloupe, our U-Pick tomato field, pumpkins, squash, gladiolus, sunflowers and new this year:  sweet potatoes!    The flower cutting garden got put in adjacent to the market (there are extra flower plants available for sale if you want to do a small cutting garden.)  The orchards have  finished blooming, but the blueberries and strawberries are in full bloom, along with tiny grape clusters now in the vineyards.

Blueberries in bloom are exquisite

The strawberry field in full bloom and forming green berries

Little grape clusters forming

Happenings at the market:  Finally—we have all of our approvals in place and have started construction on a bakery!  We have been wanting to get this going now for several years and finally it is becoming a reality.  Thankfully we already have experienced bakers–Michaela and her mother Patti–who have been selling their baked goods here on weekends now for several years.  The bakery will allow us to expand our offerings to you in many ways—while continuing to provide baked goods that utilize the fruits and vegetables we grow here.  The bakery will be located at the market where  we are converting the cold storage room.  So we apologize in advance for some of the construction noise that will be going on for the next month.  When you are here, check out the weekly progress.   We hope to open by July 1.  In the upcoming email/posting updates–Michaela will be giving you more information on the bakery and all the exciting changes about to happen.  Stay tuned!

Pouring the cement floor for the bakery

Hope to see you soon and as always, thanks for buying local.

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards

Asparagus:  We should have plenty of asparagus this weekend, unless it cools down too much, which will slow it down.  Please see the end of this for some really interesting information about the nutritional value of asparagus.

Rhubarb is finally here, available by the pound.

Plants for sale:   We currently have a selection of cold crop plants: cabbage, kale, brussell sprouts, lettuce, broccoli, swiss chard, etc.   We also have many varieties of tomato plants for sale.    This weekend we will get our pepper and eggplants in–while it is okay to pick these up now, you should wait to plant them until this next cool spell is done.  In a few weeks we will have our “vine” crops:   squash,  melons and cucumbers.

Flowers for a cutting garden.  Many of you have admired the cutting garden that we put out each year by the market.  If you would like to start some of your own, we still have some left.    The annuals we use in the cutting garden are:  cosmos, snapdragons, asters, zinnias, and gomphrena.

Mother’s Day ideas:     This year, consider some of our special Mother’s day items we are putting together. Many of our local vendors will have their items on the market this weekend.  This will include local honey, cards, art and Ruth’s famous pecan and cashew brittle.  We have a nice variety of flower pots and hanging baskets.

Baked Goods for Mom:    This weekend we will have the following:

• Cookies:  Large, pastel flower cut outs, Monster and Zucchini Chocolate Chip
• Pies: Apple, Blueberry. Cherry. Cherry Berry and Peach.  Note: Peach pies will be only offered a few times this year until peach season as our frozen peach supplies are limited.  We are making peach available for Mother’s Day weekend.  In addition, since rhubarb is now ready, they will have rhubarb and strawberry-rhubarb pies as well!
• Sugar Free Pies need to be ordered in advance
• Also 12 Grain Bread, Whole Wheat Bread and Cinnamon Rolls

  Salad for Mom:  We still have large tomato plants for the patio or to set outside—they are already blooming, staked and some have little tomatoes on them.  Pair these with one of our lettuce bowls that can be put outside, the lettuce can be picked and it grows back! Add a bottle of your Mom’s favorite salad dressing and you have the healthy gift of a fresh salad!

An arranged flower container for the patio or door step for Mom. This year we are combining the best of two things, Cathy’s skills in creating beautiful  flower containers and Beth’s love of collecting vintage items, especially with fruit on them.  Come see the many unique containers available for sale at all price ranges.  If you have a container you would like Cathy to plant, bring it over.

 The Brandy House will be open on Saturday.  Bruce will be open for brandy and wine tasting along with tours of our distillery, on Saturday, May 11th from 1 – 4, and then all Saturdays for the rest of our 2013 season.  Ask to try our new “2D” grape brandy–I tried it today myself and was impressed.   He will be happy to give you some ideas on how to blend our brandies into some wonderful drinks for Mom.

Happenings on the farm:    This has been an exhausting but rewarding week for planting.  We put in 700 new blueberry bushes, replaced 70 pear trees, planted 80 new peach trees and 20 new plum trees.    Today we planted part of our new 4-acre U-Pick apple orchard.  This orchard is specially designed with a wide range of varieties and smaller trees to enhance the U-Pick apple experience in the future.  We just all have to be patient now for about 4 – 5 years!!

The fruit trees blooming this week were stunning.  In 50 years we have never seen so many blossoms on the trees–which is not unexpected due to the fruit loss we experienced last year.  And alas, we also had to start irrigating this week–a big thanks to Jay and the crew who had to get all the systems into a “go” mode, not easy after the irrigation is put away for the winter.

It was “all hands on deck” for the many steps involved in planting the blueberry bushes

Replacing pear trees–surrounded by this year’s stunning blooms

Jay searching for the right irrigation coupler, in front of the blooming pear orchard

The first several rows of the new U-Pick apple orchard

Happenings on the market:   We started some market renovations this week which we hope you will like.  We took the asphalt siding off the barn and restored it back to the original wood, we still have one side to go, so please excuse our temporary construction “mess.”  We also did some cement patching of the original 50 year old market floor.

Happy Mother’s Day to all.  This Mother’s Day will remind me and many of you of how much we miss my mother.   But her legacy and spirit continues as we all work to keep the farm and market in the manner in which she and my Dad started.  We like to think she would be pleased with the work we are doing.

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards thanks you for buying local!  Hope to see you this weekend.

 Special information on asparagus below:

Finally–for those who want to know more about the nutritional value of asparagus, Read on!  Tell us if you like this kind of info and we will try to put it together for other produce.  Thanks to Cathy for compiling this!  I learned a lot about asparagus that i didn’t know!!

HOW TO BUY & STORE:     Fresh is always best but it will keep in the refrigerator for days.    Storing with the stem end in cold water (put in plastic and cover) helps keep it fresh longer.

PREPARATION TIP:   You do not need to cut off the ends of our asparagus.  We pick it where it naturally breaks so it will not be tough.    Rinse in cold water before eating.    It can be  boiled, steamed, roasted, sautéed, grilled, pickled, or eaten au natural (raw).   Be sure to keep cooking time to a minimum as overcooking ruins the flavor, texture and nutritional value.

METHODS OF PREPARING:

·         Grilled:   Toss asparagus in olive oil (or lightly brush).  Grill directly on grate over medium heat (or use non-stick tin foil).   Turn once after 3-5 minutes.   Cooking time depends on how crisp you prefer, usually 6-10 min.   Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, garlic, or other favorite seasonings.

·         Boiled:   Add asparagus to pot of boiling water (optional salt, pepper, and butter)   Boil until bright green (about 3-4 minutes).   Rinse under cold water until cool.   This method is best for cold asparagus recipes.

·         Steamed:   Cook in basket or colander over simmering water until bright green and crisp (about 5 min)

·         Microwave:   Put 1 lb fresh spears in micro-wave safe rimmed plate or shallow dish.   Add ¼ cup of water and cover tightly.   Microwave @ 100% for 4-7 min for spears (4-5 min for pieces)   Stir or turn half way through cooking time.   When cooked you may drizzle lemon juice &/or butter for more flavor.

·         Sauteed:    Heat oil or butter in frying pan-add asparagus.   Cook about 5-7 minutes – stirring often

·         Roasted:    Preheat oven to 450 degrees.   Spread spears on a large rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and roll them around to coat lightly.   Roast spears for about  10-15 min – shaking the pan to roll them around for even browning.   Test with a fork to determine doneness.   Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, garlic or other seasonings.

Raw:   Shave it lengthwise with a vegetable peeler or thinly slice it on an angle – then toss it in a salad.          

Beth & all of us at Corey Lake Orchards

So what is the asparagus availability?  We did pick today but were sold out around noon.  It will take us a week or so, depending entirely on the weather, for the yield to improve.    On  “summer-like” spring days like today with 75 degrees, we will be able to pick daily.  If it cools off, we’ll pick every other day.

Also, we are in transition of moving out of an 18-year-old field (not very productive) to a new one planted last year (not in its peak production for another 3 years.)  All of these factors affect how much we have on hand to sell, so we do encourage you to call and place an order or call us before you come to make sure we have it on hand.  269-244-5690.    You can also get the latest info on availability by checking our facebook page.    We will post whether we are picking that day and also if we sell out.  If you haven’t, please join our Corey Lake Orchards facebook page.

Why does the asparagus look different this this year?  It is because for about a week, we will be picking in our new field which has two new varieties for us:

1. Jersey Knight–which is traditional green asparagus but the spears are longer and fatter than the old variety we had.  Do not worry—even with the larger size–it is tender!
2. Sweet Purple–this is a dark purple that is sweeter than standard green varieties.  The spears are large–but also very tender.   (This is what I had for dinner tonight!)

How long will the aparagus season last?  We hope to have it through the month of May–so about 4 weeks.  We are expecting a shorter season this year given that it started late.

Rhubarb:  We hope to have rhubarb available in about a week.

Please excuse our construction work going on at the market.  We are restoring the original wood barn siding and doing some concrete patching—it will be finished in a few weeks!

Thanks for buying local—and enjoy the asparagus while it is in season.

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards

Asparagus Update:  We will try to pick asparagus for the first time on Weds, May 1st.  It will take a few days to a week (depending on the weather) to pick in large quantities.  So, you are best to call ahead (269-244-5690) and we will save it for you as we tend to sell out early at the beginning of the season.  If you want larger quantities (like 20 pounds or more) please call and get on our order list and we will call you when it is available.

Plants for sale:   We currently have a selection of cold crop plants: cabbage, kale, brussell sprouts, lettuce, broccoli, swiss chard, etc.  These plants like cold weather and you can get these in your own gardens any time now. We also have tomato plants for sale–many varieties.    By the middle of May we hope to have all of our plant selections available: squash, peppers, eggplant, peppers, melons, cukes.  So plan on getting your garden items here, call ahead to make sure we have the plants you want before you drive out as we are bringing them in daily.

Blueberry bushes:  We have some blueberry bushes available but only a few days.  Call us (269-244-5690) if you want us to save you some.  These are 3 year established bushes.  We have two kinds, Duke and Northland.

Flowers for a cutting garden.  Many of you have admired the cutting garden that we put out each year by the market.  If you would like to start some of your own, we will be offering those plants as well.    The annuals we use in the cutting garden are:  cosmos, snapdragons, asters, zinnias, and gomphrena.

In addition we are currently stocking a variety of flower pots and hanging baskets.

Mother’s Day ideas:     This year, consider some of our special Mother’s day items we are putting together for the Mom’s in your life:

  Salad for Mom:

• We are offering large tomato plants for the patio or to set outside—they are already blooming, staked and some have little tomatoes on them.
• We have put together lettuce bowls that can be put outside, the lettuce can be picked and it grows back!
• Buy a lettuce bowl, a large tomato plant and add a bottle of your Mom’s favorite salad dressing and you have the healthy gift of a fresh salad!

Salad Bowls and tomato plants available

An arranged flower container for the patio or door step for Mom

• This year we are combining the best of two things, Cathy’s skills in creating beautiful  flower containers and Beth’s love of collecting vintage items, especially with fruit on them.  Come see the many unique containers available for sale at all price ranges.  If you have a container you would like Cathy to plant, bring it over.

Baked Goods for Mom:    Michaela and her mother, our famous bakers, will be starting up for the year in time for Mother’s Day weekend.  Their offerings will be available starting Friday, May 10th through Sunday, May 12th.   To be sure to get the baked goods you want,  please call ahead or email us to order in advance (269-244-5690).

• Cookies:  Large, pastel flower cut outs, Monster and Zucchini Chocolate Chip
• Pies: Apple, Blueberry. Cherry. Cherry Berry and Peach.  Note: Peach pies will be only offered a few times this year until peach season as our frozen peach supplies are limited.  We are making peach available for Mother’s Day weekend
• Sugar Free Pies need to be ordered in advance
• Also 12 Grain Bread, Whole Wheat Bread and Cinnamon Rolls

    Brandy or Polecat Wines for Mom:  Bruce will be open for brandy and wine tasting along with tours of our distillery, on Saturday, May 11th from 1 – 4, and then all Saturdays for the rest of our 2013 season.  Ask him about some special ways to blend our brandies into some wonderful drinks for Mom.

What’s happening on the farm? Finally some true spring weather and we are busy getting plants in the ground.  Last week we planted 28,000 onion bulbs, 6000 strawberry plants, and all of our cold crop plants–working around the several days that it decided to snow off and on!  Today we planted tomatoes—all for continuing my Dad’s quest of having the first tomatoes ready in Michigan each year.

We even transplanted a few tomato plants we have been growing in greenhouse since February with tomatoes on them!! 4-30-13

Blossoms and Bees:   With another 80 degree day coming this week, we expect the orchards to start blooming soon.  Our beekeepers have been busy the last few days setting up more hives of bees which we think will enjoy the many pollination choices available here in our orchards, vineyards and fields.

Peach blossoms just about to “pop” 4-30-13

Everyone at Corey Lake Orchards is excited about opening for another season to offer you the best we can in local produce and other local items.  Thanks for buying local and we hope to see you soon.