U-Pick apples:  We had so many customers out to pick apples today that we are now out of McIntosh and Mollie’s Delicious to pick.  We still have some Gala and JonaMac, but that is all until the rest of the fall apples get ready.  We anticipate opening more varieties to pick around 9-23.  But please check back to make sure, since the weather will be the deciding factor.

Cider:  We sold so much cider today that we will have to make more tomorrow (9-18) .  So, we will probably have a gap on Sunday where we will be out.  Please call before you come out for cider to make sure it is available:  269-244-5690.

U-Pick Tomatoes:  We have reopened the tomato field for picking, at $12/bushel.  We are not able to provide any more picked tomatoes by the bushel, but you can pick them yourself.  Call ahead to check on availability, as it is dependent on how many people have picked that day and the weather cooperating to ripen them.    269-244-5690.

Bosc Pears are ready:  If you don’t know this pear, you should.  Bosc pears are an elegant variety, with distinctive characteristics that set them apart from other pears. Those who are familiar with Bosc appreciate their crunchy yet tender flesh and their sweet-spiced flavor.  Plus, they keep wonderfully.  They are available by the bushel and in smaller eating quantities.

Bosc pears, just picked, 9-17-11

Thanks for choosing local products.  Thanks to all of you who came out today and enjoyed the farm with us.  We loved seeing you and hope you had a great visit. If you did, please let us know,  and if there is something we can do to make it better, please let us know that too!

Beth and everyone else at Corey Lake Orchards

Cider:  Yes, we successfully made our 2nd pressing this afternoon.  Thanks to the many people who helped us with our equipment issues and got us going again: my son Jay, my husband Joe, our brandy maker Bruce, and the rest of the team here at the orchard who helped pull it all together.    We sampled it coming off the press tonight and declared it “delightful.”  It is a blend of Gala, McIntosh, Mollies Delicious, JonaMac, Honeycrisp and Jonagold.    Free samples available at the market for you to try.   Reminder:  Our cider is not pasteurized, it is the “real” thing.

Apple Dumplings are Back:  Our bakers will have their famous apple dumplings available on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  If  you have never tried these, it is a must!

Picked or U-Pick apples in the market:  We now have Mollie’s Delicious, Gala, Jon-a-Mac and McIntosh apples for sale in the market.   You may also pick these four kinds.

• Mollie’s Delicious is a large, sweet eating apple.  It is a late summer apple and this will probably be the last weekend for them.
• 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 apple and a McIntosh.
• McIntosh:  This is the “real” old fashioned McIntosh.  It has a white flesh, is very juicy, slightly tart and smells wonderful.  Great for applesauce or making apple juice.

Available in the market, already picked are:  (Not for U-Pick)

• Honeycrisp:  Very crisp, excellent sweet flavor with a great bite.

A 20-bushel bin of Honeycrisp just picked!

• Jonagold: This is a large, crisp juicy apple, both tart and sweet.  We do not have a lot of these this year, so if this is your favorite, call us to reserve them for you.  269-244-5690.

Large and lovely Jonagold apples on the tree

• Nu-Red:  This is a hard, crunchy, sweet/sour eating apple, that has become my personal favorite.

Fall apples:  The remainder of the fall apples are not ready yet.   Yes, we know it seems late, but they simply are late.  We anticipate opening the remainder of the fall apples around 9-23 for U-Pick.  The cool weather continues to slow things down and we want to make sure the apples are ripe and at full flavor.   We have lots of apples this year, so there will be plenty when we open for picking.   So please let them enjoy a little more time on the tree.  The fall apples that will be available to pick are:

1. Cameo
2. Cortland
3. Fuji
4. Jonathan
5. Mutsu
6. Ida Red
7. Red Delicious
8. Red Rome
9. Northern Spys
10. Golden Delicious

For a description of these and all of the apples that we grow, please go to the apple listing on our website:  http://www.coreylakeorchards.com/seasonal-offerings/apples/

Grape Update:    The white Niagara grapes will open for U-Pick on Friday, September 16th.    We anticipate the purple Concords opening around 9-23, again, depending on the weather.    The grapes will be 25 cents/pound to pick, if you pick over 100 pounds, they will be 20 cents a pound.

When you come to pick grapes, please bring the following if you have them:

1. Five gallon plastic pails to pick in, this is how we measure how much you pick instead of having to weigh them all.   A five-gallon pail (which is about a 1/2 bushel) weights 20 pounds.  If you don’t have these, you can borrow ours, but bring containers to take them home in.
2. Scissors or clippers to cut them with.
3. Small wagons to help you get them out of the vineyard (our rows are very long!)

Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions about grape picking:

Can I wait and pick the white grapes when I come for the purple concords?  Yes.  We are reserving a block of white grapes for that purpose.

How long will the grapes last?  Once we open, we are anticipate several weeks, but that depends on how many customers come out and how many grapes they pick.

What hours is U-Pick open?  We open at 8 am and close at 6 pm.  We ask that you be finished picking by 6 pm.

Can I pick apples and grapes together?  It looks like our apples will be ready to pick at the same time as the Concord grapes.  So yes, save room to pick apples to take home as well.

Fruit:   This is the last few days for watermelon and peaches.

Tomatoes:  We are still trying to pick tomatoes for everyone who wanted them.  If you haven’t got on our list, please call us at 269-244-5690.     This week as I was unloading a bin of tomatoes, I got to the last few only to find a friendly frog waiting for me!

Friendly frog in the bottom of the tomato bin

Winter Squash:  We have acorn, butternut. buttercup and sweet dumpling squash ready now.

Fall Ornamentals:  We have a good selection of gourds, small white and orange pumpkins to decorate with and some beautiful mums.

Brandy House:  The Brandy house will be open for tasting and tours on Saturday, from 1 – 4.  Bruce would love to see you.  He has been busy trying to make peach brandy this week.

Thanks again for buying local, we hope to see you soon.

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards

Picked or U-Pick apples in the market:  We now have Mollie’s Delicious, Gala, Jon-a-Mac and McIntosh apples for sale in the market.   You may also pick these four kinds.

• Mollie’s Delicious is a large, sweet eating apple.  It is a late summer apple and this will probably be the last weekend for them.
• 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 apple and a McIntosh.
• McIntosh:  This is the “real” old fashioned McIntosh.  It has a white flesh, is very juicy, slightly tart and smells wonderful.  Great for applesauce or making apple juice.

Fall apples:  The remainder of the fall apples are not ready yet.  We will open for those to pick probably mid to late September.  This past week’s cool weather has slowed things down.  We have lots of apples this year, so there will be plenty when we open for picking.  The fall apples that will be available to pick are:

1. Cameo
2. Cortland
3. Fuji
4. Jonathan
5. Mutsu
6. Ida Red
7. Red Delicious
8. Red Rome
9. Northern Spys
10. Golden Delicious

Grape Update:  When you come out, that wonderful aroma you smell is the white Niagara grapes!    We are awaiting the results of a sugar sample (hope to know by 9-13) to determine the opening date.    For your planning purposes, we think the white Niagara grapes will be ready around 9-14 and the Concords possibly the week of 9-18 or later.   They will be 25 cents/pound to pick, if you pick over 100 pounds, they will be 20 cents a pound.

Fruit:   Our seeded watermelon have decided to get ready now that summer picnic season is over, so we have a lot and will have them on special this weekend.  We will have peaches this weekend as well.

Winter Squash:  We have acorn, butternut and sweet dumpling squash ready now.

Brandy House:  The Brandy house will be open for tasting and tours on Saturday, from 1 – 4.  Bruce would love to see you.

Thanks again for buying local, we hope to see you soon.

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards

Exciting news!!  We are opening up U-Pick apples this weekend since we have so many early apples ready to be picked.  We have never had as many early apples before as we have this year, plus they are beautiful.   There are four varieties ready that you may pick:

1. JonaMac
2. Mollies Delicious
3. Gala
4. Macintosh

They will be $15 a bushel to pick.  Please bring baskets or containers if you have them.  We will give you baskets to pick in.

We are pleased that we can open this weekend as we know many people will be in the area for Labor Day weekend and would like to have the “apple picking experience” with their families, especially so that the kids can take their teacher an apple they picked themselves!!

Mollies Delicious: A large, sweet eating apple, the perfect apple for your favorite teacher

Picked apples:  If you want your apples already picked, we will have the same four varieties available on the market as well.

A happy apple customer!

Fall apples:  The remainder of the fall apples are not ready yet.  We will open for those to pick probably mid-September.  We have lots of apples this year, so there will be plenty when we open for picking.

U-Pick Tomatoes:  We have finally opened U-Pick tomatoes.  They are $12 a bushel.  Please bring your own containers or baskets.    Until there are “lots” of tomatoes, we are limiting each picking group to 5 bushels.    We expect to have tomatoes until the first frost.  Please call ahead before you come out to pick tomatoes to check the picking conditions since we never can tell how many customers might pick in one day.   269-244-5690.

Grape Update:  If you are out this weekend, that wonderful aroma you smell is the white Niagara grapes!  They have really changed in the past week and are ripening nicely.  For your planning purposes, we think the white Niagara grapes will be ready the week of 9-11 and the Concords possibly the week of 9-18 or later.  Call us by September 10th and we will hopefully have an opening date for U-Pick and the pricing.

Summer Vegetables:  We still have sweet corn, green beans, peppers, and tomatoes on the market.    We still have lots of onions left.  Time to get them to store for the winter.  We also have red potatoes for sale by the bushel.

Fruit:   Our seeded watermelon are ready and very sweet. along with cantaloupe, peaches, pears and plums.    And of course the beautiful apples that we already mentioned!!

Baked goods:  Our bakers will have all of their usual goodies this weekend (starting Friday) and also will have them on Monday for the holiday.

Brandy House:  The Brandy house will be open for tasting and tours on Saturday, from 1 – 4.  Bruce would love to host you.

This Labor Day will mark the 6th year since the loss of Allene Hubbard, my mother who started this beautiful market.  We all work hard to honor her legacy by maintaining the market in the spirit she imparted to all of us.  Thank you to all of the customers who continue to think of her and share her memory with us.

Have a great and safe holiday weekend!

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards

Apples thick on the trees, 8-25-11

Summer Apples:  This weekend we will have a nice selection of summer apples for you to choose from:   Molly’s Delicious, Gala, Jon-a-Mac and Earli-blaze.   Good for fresh eating and cooking, come sample to see which one you like best. We have bushels of Earli-blaze available,($18/bushel)  they are a wonderful pie apple and won’t last long on the market.  Call us if you want us to reserve some for you.  269-244-5690.

Summer vegetables:   The summer vegetables are tapering off, so we are only bringing in a few summer squash, zucchini and cucumbers each day, they will probably be done by Labor Day.  We still have plenty of peppers, green beans, eggplant and hope to have sweet corn (Stears) available through Labor Day weekend.

Melons:  Cantaloupes will be coming to an end in about a week, they have been really good this year, so come out and get a few more while you can.  We have lots of seeded watermelon available.  All of our melons are “guaranteed.”    If you ever get one that wasn’t to your liking, please let us know and we will replace it or refund your money.

Onions:  The sweet onions we have hung to dry are now dry enough to put in mesh bags. Each bag weighs between 8 – 9 pounds.    Yellow and white onions are $7/bag and the red onions are $8/bag.

Peaches:  We are finishing up the Red Haven peaches and are now picking a nice freestone called Reliance.  We should have a pretty good picking of them this weekend, so we will try to offer them in 1/4 bushels (pecks) as well as by the pound.

Bartlett Pears:  We expect to start picking the pears on Monday, August 29th.  They will be $20 a bushel.    If you have not placed your order for these yet, please call the market at 269-244-5690.  For those who have ordered, we will start calling you when they are ready for you to pick up.  Please bring your own containers to put them in when you come.

Bartlett pears, 8-25-11

Red Potatoes:  This year we seem to have more potatoes than we expected, so we are offering them in bushels for $25.00.  A bushel of potatoes weighs between 50 and 60 pounds.    Please call ahead to order these if you would like them so we can dig them for you.  269-244-5690.

Tomatoes:  The U-Pick tomatoes are coming, really they are.  Hopefully we will open sometime this coming week,  Check with us around September 1st for an update.  They will be $12/bushel to pick, the same price as last year.

Homemade Baked Goods:  Since last weekend’s offerings of fresh peach pie and Earli-blaze apple pie were such a hit, they will both be back this weekend.   Also, our bakers are trying a new item:  whole wheat bread and 12-grain bread.

Pictures are back, thanks to my son for giving me his camera that I gave him!

Thanks again for buying local,

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards

• Duathlon:  Pick a bushel of tomatoes, then carry two large watermelon at a time from the field to the waiting tractor.
• Triathlon:  Pick a bushel of tomatoes, then carry two large watermelon at a time from the field to the waiting tractor, dig one bushel of potatoes (we will loan you the shovel) and carry them into the market for us!!

Summer Apples:  We have two great summer apples on the market right now.  Jersey Macs and Earli-blaze.  They are both excellent for eating or cooking.  We have samples of each for you to try to see which you like best.   They are available by the bushel, peck, 1/2 peck of pound. For those of you who love the Jersey Mac, this is the last weekend for them. so hurry over.

Baked goods:  Our bakers are offering fresh peach pie this week (because it is finally peach season!!) andfresh apple pie made out of our Earli-blaze apples.   I can personally attest to both of these pies being delicious.  Of course the bakers say it is because of their crust, I say it is because of our fruit.    You decide….

Watermelons are here:  We started bringing in watermelon today.   These are the real thing: Crimson Sweet (striped round with seeds) or Charleston Grey (long green oblong with seeds.)  Sorry, we don’t grow any seedless watermelon as we find seeded watermelon so much tastier.

Canteloupe:   The canteloupe must have loved this summer’s weather, as they are really nice this year, and so sweet.    We have three sizes:  Medium, Large and Extra-large (and even we are shocked by the size of the extra large!)  The season is at its peak right now and won’t last much longer so come out and get some.

Peaches:  We still have Red Haven peaches, available in small eating quantities only, no bushels.  We have a very small peach orchard since we took out a peach orchard last fall.

Sweet Corn:  Our own sweet corn is now gone for the season, but we will be bringing in Stears Sweet corn (white and bi-color) hopefully through Labor Day weekend.

Greenhouse Tomatoes:    We finished taking out the greenhouse this week,  a huge thank you to all of our customers who have faithfully bought greenhouse tomatoes from us since April.  We have a few left to sell, plus all of the remaining green tomatoes we are selling for 50 cents a pound, this is the time to make fried green tomatoes!!

U-Pick Field Tomatoes:  We are having a very difficult tomato growing year based on a number of field conditions and the weather, beginning with the spring planting.    We had to replant them several times this spring,  which is one of the reasons causing them to be late.    The extremely hot/humid weather in July caused excessive mold/mildew.  Now some of the plants have developed late blight.    There are good years and bad years in farming; and with last year’s tomato crop being so good, this year’s is disappointing.  However,  we still have good tomatoes, with the same great flavor that you are used to getting from us.

Given the need to continue to take care of the tomato plants and keep them as healthy as possible as the tomatoes ripen, we have decided we must postpone U-Pick until at least some time in September.  Knowing our customers are anxious to start canning tomatoes, we will pick them and offer “field tomato seconds” at the same price you could have picked them for: $12 a bushel.  A field tomato “second” is simply a “not so perfect tomato.”   It might have a crack, a skin mark where the tomato touched the wet ground, or be mis-shaped.  These are perfect for canning, you will just have a little extra work to cut some of the spots out.     If you would like these, please call and give us your name, phone number, and quantity desired (limit of 3 bushels per customer until we get everyone some tomatoes).  We will call you as soon as we can get them for you.  269-244-5690.

We will still have tomatoes to pick once we open the U-Pick in September, for $12/bushel.  Check back at the very end of August to see if we have an opening date.  We have about  80  plants that we put in late, which have not even started turning red yet!  So far, these plants are large and beautiful, have not been affected by the blight and are producing lots of tomatoes, if you can just be patient and let them grow and ripen!!  Your patience and support of this change is appreciated as we work through this problem.

Other vegetables on the market:  onions, red potatoes, various kinds of peppers, summer squash, spaghetti squash, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, cabbage, kale and collard greens.

Brandy House:  The brandy house will be open on Saturday from 1 – 4 for tasting and to learn about how we make brandy.

Fall apples and grapes:  We have a good crop of both this year and will have them available for U-Pick and picked in the market.  They are going to be late this year by about 10 days to two weeks.  Check back the week of September 5th for an update on how they are progressing.

Sorry, no pictures again as my camera has still not turned up from being lost.    I still think it got lost picking corn, if you happened to find a camera in your dozen of corn, please let me know!

Thanks as always for buying local goods and produce.

Beth and everyone else at Corey Lake Orchards

Peaches:  We will start picking a few Red Haven peaches this weekend.  We will NOT have these by the bushel, but in small quantities only: 4-lb boxes for fresh eating.  Because the peaches are late, we expect to have them for about a month once they start.    We will not be bringing in very many each day until they get riper, so please call the market to make sure we have some or have us save them for you, before you drive out.  269-244-5690.

Tomatoes:  We are bringing in quite a few field tomatoes now and are finishing up our greenhouse tomatoes.  As we close out the greenhouse, we have lots of green tomatoes for sale at a “close out” price of $7 a half bushel.  This is the time to make fried green tomatoes or green tomato salsa!   U-Pick tomatoes:  Because we want the tomatoes to be ripe and plentiful, it is going to be at least another week or 10 days before we open the U-Pick tomatoes.  They will be the same price as last year:  $12/bushel.  So, Please check back about August 22nd.  Sorry!

Homemade Baked Goods:  This weekend our bakers have brought two new cookie types.  I was allowed to sample each today, Yum!  The first is a new cookie they have:  zucchini chocolate chip cookies!  They are amazing, especially with a good cup of coffee.  The other is their normal sugar cookie, but this week in apple shapes with faces.

Bartlett Pears:  We have a good crop of Bartlett pears coming, but not as many as last year.  They will probably be ripe the last week of August.  If you would like some, please call us and get your name on our list and we will call you when they are available.  We want to make sure all of our customers get the pears they want as it is getting more difficult to find pears in the State of Michigan, (just not many growers), so we have many other markets which would like to buy them from us if we have any left over.    Call us at 269-244-5690, let us know your name, phone number and how many bushel you would like.

Fruit on the market now: Jersey Mac apples and melons (blueberries are gone for the year.)

Vegetables on the market now:  sweet corn, onions, red potatoes, various kinds of peppers, summer squash, zucchini,  cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, October or cranberry beans, kale, and collard greens.

Brandy Tasting:  It is open every Saturday from 1 – 4.  Please come out and visit with Bruce and try some brandy or our wine.

Sorry, no pictures of the farm this time, I have lost my camera…..I know it will turn up somewhere (maybe in the bottom of a bushel of corn?)

Thanks, as always, for buying local.

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards

Onions:  We have harvested all of our “Candy” onions.  This is a large, yellow, globe-shaped sweet onion.  If you have been getting onions here this year, this is what you probably have purchased.  You will find them hanging on the market to dry.  With harvest complete, we have changed our pricing to give you better value:   The cleaned, single onions in our bin are $1.00/pound or if you buy over 4 pounds, they are  80 cents a pound.  The” onions on the string”  hanging all over the market are also 80 cents a pound.  So far, we have gotten great feedback from our customers on how much they love these onions, thank you!!

Harvesting the onions in the field, tying into bundles to hang

Onions hanging on the market to dry

Baked goods: Our bakers are bringing blueberry and zucchini bread this weekend, try it, and give them feedback!!

Tomatoes:  We are still bringing in tomatoes from our greenhouse but are also starting to bring in several bushel a day  from the field.  The first thing we noticed is how spoiled we got from eating the “perfect” greenhouse tomato!  Since they grew in a controlled climate, never touched the ground or had to deal with inclimate weather, they looked good and tasted good.   Let’s just stay the field tomatoes are not as pretty, as they have been subjected to just about everything mother nature can throw at them!  But, the important thing is, they taste great!!  We’ll let you know when there is enough to start U-Pick tomatoes.

Mr. Hubbard picking greenhouse tomatoes, they grew so tall this year this is even a reach for him!

Vegetables:  The market is full of summer vegetables:  corn, cucumbers, zucchini, spaghetti squash, yellow summer squash , green bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, hot hungarian peppers, jalapeno peppers, eggplant, red potatoes cabbage and green beans.

Fruit: The only fruit we have right now is blueberries, but we have plenty of them.

What’s coming:  We hope to have peaches and melons within a few weeks.  Both crops are coming along nicely.   We probably will not have enough peaches to sell by the bushel, it just seems like the cold winters and deer have really taken the toll on our peach orchard.

Here’s hoping we see you this coming weekend for fresh, local produce and other goods.

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards

Also, due to the extreme heat we are trying to leave as much produce in the cooler as we can, so some of the bins of vegetables may seem like we don’t have many, feel free to ask if there is more to bring out.

For those of you following the Hummingbird flower garden, almost all of the flowers are in bloom, including the sunflowers.  Thus, we will have lots of flowers for sale this weekend, including sunflowers.  Bring your own vase if you want and make your own bouquet!

Sunflowers in the Hummingbird garden, 7-20-11 The little "specs" on the flowers are bees pollinating

Yes, we have Sweet Corn!  We started picking corn this week and should have it all weekend.  It is bi-color.  We have been selling out early each day, so if you want corn, come early in the day or call us to save it for you.  (269-244-5690).

Denim "guarding" the corn on the way back from the day's picking

Baked goods:  Our bakers are bringing a new pie this weekend called “cherry berry.”  made with cherries, blueberries and cranberries.    Be sure to check that out.  Also, if Michaela waits on you, be sure to thank her and her family for going out blueberry picking during this hot week in order that they could pick and freeze enough blueberries to make pies for the  rest of the year!

Blueberries:  Our blueberries will be ending this week, but we will continue to bring them in as we have been from Leduc’s in Paw Paw.    They are telling us they will have blueberries for several more weeks.    We have them available in 10-pound boxes for $25, 5-pound boxes for $13.00, $5 a quart or $3 a pint.

Summer vegetables: The market shelves are full now with the summer bounty:  green beans, red/white/yellow onions, green bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, hot Hungarian peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, green and yellow zucchini, peas, sweet corn, new red potatoes, and lots of yellow summer squash!

Tomatoes:  Our field tomatoes are slow in coming, despite the heat.  Fortunately, our greenhouse tomatoes are still coming in.  We have also started picking green tomatoes daily for those of you yearning for fried green tomatoes!!

Lodi apples:  This will be the final weekend to get Lodi apples, which is a great applesauce apple.  We will have more varieties of summer apples following this one.

Brandy tasting this Saturday:  Our brandy house will be open from 1 – 4 on Saturday, please come meet our new brandy maker, Bruce.  He had his first experience this week making brandy, he may have a few stories to tell about it!

So we know it is going to be a hot weekend, but we would still love to see you coming out for fresh local produce and other goods.

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards

• 10 pound box is $25.00**
• 5 pound box is $13.00**
• 1 Quart for $5.00
• 1 Pint for $3.00

**It would really help us if you could call us in advance and order these, thanks!  269-244-5690.

Baked goods:  This weekend our bakers will be featuring fresh blueberry pie, since of course it is blueberry season.    I highly recommend their blueberry pie which is available Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

Vegetables: The market is now full of summer vegetables:  green beans, fresh dug red potatoes, fresh onions, peas,eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, hot Hungarian peppers.    But still, we know most of you are waiting for sweet corn:  We might have some on Sunday, if it is as hot as predicted.  Call us to find out;  269-244-5690.

Again, thanks for buying local,

Beth and everyone at Corey Lake Orchards