When will you have sweet corn?  We hope we will be able to start picking some this weekend, probably Saturday.

Why don’t you have any tomatoes?  Remember those really hot weeks we had in May and June?  It caused all of our greenhouse tomatoes to ripen at the same time.  Many of you commented that you could not believe how our counters were overflowing with tomatoes.  We try hard each year to time this just right so that our greenhouse tomatoes carry us to our field tomatoes, but due to the hot weather we had early, we missed it.  Knowing that many of you want a tomato to slice on a hamburger or BLT this weekend, we purchased tomatoes today from another grower that we know in Indiana who had extra greenhouse tomatoes.  We normally do not do this and prefer not to, as we like to hold true to ”growing what we sell,” but we have made an exception and so…..this weekend, we actually do have tomatoes, they are just not grown on our farm.

How come we have missed strawberries and cherries?  It is hard to believe these are gone for the year, but again, due to those extremely hot weeks we had earlier this year, everything is running 10 days to 2 weeks early.  So, keep this in mind as the year progresses. 

So, what else do you have in the market this weekend?  We have yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, fresh onions, new red potatoes, green beans, snow peas, sugar peas, cabbage, and cauliflower.  And…..blueberries!  How much of everything we pick each day varies, so you are always welcome to call the market before you drive over to make sure we have what you are looking for or to ask us to save it for you.  269-244-5690.

So, have a safe and wonderful weekend and thanks as always, for supporting us by buying fresh, local produce and other goods from us.

Beth

U-Pick Pricing:

• 75 cents per pound to pick
• 60 cents per pound for 100 pounds and over

Picking information:

• The sour cherry trees are about 10 – 20 feet tall.   For good picking, you should bring your own ladder.
• Be sure to dress appropriately (closed shoes, long pants and sleeves) as you many run into poison ivy/sumac in the orchard area, among other hazards.
• Please bring your own containers.  We have buckets you may borrow to pick in, then you can transfer to your own containers (bowls, tubs, buckets, etc.)
• Check in at the market first for directions and to weigh the containers you are picking in.

Picked Sour cherries:  $3.00 per quart (approximately 2 pounds).  Orders of 30  pounds or more are $1.25 pound, please call and order these in advance.

Sweet Cherry Update:

We opened for sweet cherry picking on June 12th.  We still have plenty left, but you will need a ladder to reach most of them.    Here are some pictures taken over the last several days of Sweet Cherry Picking:

Customer who picked 149 pounds of Sweet Cherries on 6-13-10

A Beautiful bowl of cherries picked by a customer on 6-14-10

A customer who did not check in or pay for their sweet cherries!!

How Long will the Cherries last? This is definitely the most frequently asked question and one that we unfortunately do not have a good answer to.  It will depend on how many people come out to pick and also on the weather.  The amount of rain we have been getting is causing the cherries to split.    The best advice we have is for you to call the market between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on 269-244-5690 and we’ll tell you what the latest is.

Strawberries: Strawberries are winding down for the season.  We will try to have picked strawberrries on the market through Saturday June 19th as well as U-Pick .

Hope to see you during Cherry season!!

Beth

We hope to have berries possibly through around June 17th or so, depending on the weather.  If it gets as warm as predicted this weekend, that should ripen them back up again for better picking.

Just wanted to give you this update so for those of you trying to come pick, you were aware of the current situation.

Beth

Here’s a picture of a family that came today and had a great time picking (and sampling!)  

Family picking strawberries on 6-3-10

We now have picked berries available in the market for $3.00/quart.  When available or when ordered in advance, you can buy an 8 quart flat for $20.00 ($2.50/qt).  If you would like to place an order, please call us at 269-244-5690 and we will call you when we can get them for you.

Strawberries for Sale

Strawberry U-Pick Opening Date

We will open our U-Pick patch on Thursday, June 3^rd for picking.  They will be $1.00 per quart.  Please bring quart boxes to pick in if you have them, or bring containers (bowls, boxes, buckets) to transfer them in if you need to borrow our quart containers.

Picking Hours:  This year we will open the field at 7:30 a.m. to begin picking.    On busy days, we will hand out numbers when people come in and assign rows to those who arrived first.  When all of the rows have been picked for the day, we will close the field.  In the past few years, we have usually picked out within several hours, especially at the beginning of the season. 

The majority of the berries are still growing and ripening and the best picking should be the week of June 8^th.   But there are still plenty of berries to pick when we open this week, especially to get some for the first strawberry shortcake of the season!  The strawberry season usually lasts about 10 days to 2 weeks, but of course it is totally dependent on the weather.  To inquire about the picking conditions, you can call us at 269-244-5690.

Hail Damage to the strawberries:  We had an extremely bad hailstorm on May 20^th which damaged some of the berries.  On some berries you will see small marks, like a skin abrasion, where the hail hit the berry.  This does not damage the flavor or hurt the berry, but you will see the marks and they are not as “pretty” as we would like them to be!!

Rhubarb:  We will try to have rhubarb available for the entire strawberry season, as so many of you like to combine rhubarb and strawberries.

Asparagus:  Is now gone for the season!

Sweet Cherries:  We have a good crop of sweet cherries this year, but do have some hail damage.  Based on everything running about two weeks early this year due to the early warm weather, check back about June 10th for an update on when they might be ready.

Sour Cherries:  We do not have as many sour cherries as we normally have each year,  check back around June 1oth for an update on when they might be ready.

Greenhouse Tomatoes:  We have lots of them, so make sure to get some when you come for your berries!

Hope to see you during strawberry season,

Beth

Green House Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Zucchini:    We have lots of tomatoes now and they are beautiful this year!  We also pick cucumbers fresh daily.   This week we have fresh zucchini squash from another local greenhouse for sale.  

Green House Tomatoes

Strawberries:  Check back next week (around June 3rd) for more information.  We are still assessing the extent of the damage done to the strawberry crop by last week’s hail storm.  Until the berries and remaining blossoms mature a bit more, we really won’t know how significant the damage is.  We will keep you updated.    Pricing will remain the same as last year: 

• U-Pick:  $1.00/quart
• Picked Berries:  $3.00 quart or a flat of 8 quarts for $20.00.    We will take orders for flats and call you when/if they are available.  Please call us at 269-244-5690 to leave your name, phone number and how many you would like to get.

Other items available now:    Several of the local folks who supply us have now stocked our market for the year:  Ruth’s candy,  pecan and cashew brittle;  Honey from Babcock’s Apiary and Tom’s Bees;  Artwork and cards by Artists Larry and Becky Hackenberg:  Cards by photographer Barb Kroggel.    We love these locally produced products and appreciate the opportunity to carry them.

Hanging Baskets:  We still have a nice selection of hanging flower baskets left. 

Have a safe and good Memorial Day Weekend! 

Beth