NEW THIS WEEK! Please Come Pick Your Own Delicious Juicy Asian Pears ASAP! Also Pick Your European Pears, McIntosh Apples & Final Rows of Peaches; Fresh Donuts; Open 7 Days a Week Rain or Shine!

– SUMMARY –

U-pick Asian pears • U-pick European pears • U-pick peaches • U-pick tomatoes • U-pick apples • U-pick peppers • U-pick herbs • Open 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM every day rain or shine U-pick Asian pears • U-pick European pears • U-pick peaches • U-pick tomatoes • U-pick apples • U-pick peppers • U-pick herbs • Open 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM every day rain or shine • Fresh donuts every day 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM • Shop for peaches, pears, apples, tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, garlic, flowers, honey, syrup, pottery, slushees, fresh donuts, and more • COVID: Farm stand staff are vaccinated, and current protocols include: (1) We are not requiring masks since the farm is an outdoor experience, (2) We recommend that unvaccinated people wear masks, (3) Practice social distancing under the covered porch area, (4) These protocols could change • Drive slowly on the farm • Drive VERY CAREFULLY when approaching and leaving the farm on Route 96!

– FULL STORY –

DEAR FARMKETEERS: Time to meet a new fruit. Not new-new, but maybe new to you. The Asian pear. Shaped like an apple, sugared like a pear. Sometimes, therefore, called the apple pear. Crisp and juicy. Sweet and grainy. Delicious when fresh. Pyrus pyrifolia! Have you ever?! Won’t you now?!

U-PICK ASIAN PEARS = THIS WEEK. Come up to the Asian pear orchard past the playground, just shy of the vegetable patch, in a couple long rows behind the sign that says, “ASIAN PEARS.” The picking is easy. Don’t squeeze them! They are ready. And don’t trouble about varieties, they’re all quite similar in form, fit, and function. Just pick a bunch and load up your basket. You won’t regret it.

U-PICK ASIAN PEARS = RIPE NOW. This is how they look. Don’t wait for them to turn red – they won’t! They are ready to go. This is a fresh-eating fruit. Go time.

U-PICK PEARS = EUROPEAN VARIETIES TOO. Ask at the stand and we’ll point you to what’s hot.

U-PICK PEACHES = THE FINAL ROWS. Come pick the rest of the peaches. This historic crop will be the stuff of stories. It just kept on giving. Go up the main farm road til you see the sign that says, “PEACHES” and you’ll be set. Unless everyone gets here before you. Weekdays are a good idea.

U-PICK PEACHES = SUMMER. In a fortnight we’ll surrender to autumn. For now, eat your fresh peaches.

U-PICK APPLES = MAC ATTACK! Ask at the stand for directions to the Vintage Orchard. You will find the McIntosh apples on trees scattered round the grounds – look for orange ribbons. We know a guy in Pocklington, Yorkshire, England, who says, “McIntosh is without doubt one of the great North American apple varieties, typified by attractive crimson colours and a crunchy bite. The flavor is simple and direct, generally sweet but with refreshing acidity, and usually a hint of wine — often referred to as vinous.” Please come be bona fide apple people and pick these vintage specimens with all the zeal you normally apply to Millenialcrisp, er, Honeycrisp.

U-PICK APPLES = TEACHABLE MOMENT! Now would be an especially good time to read our How to Pick an Apple tutorial. Tune up for autumn. New varieties will ripen each week from now through October. But for now please find the orange ribbons and pick Macs. Reportedly you can also pick Honeycrisps now even though we haven’t opened them yet. ‘Creekniks went rogue and tore through the Honeycrisp rows, picking 1/3 of the crop before it was properly ripe. Who are we to stand in the way of such a bumrush?

U-PICK TOMATOES & PEPPERS = STILL OPEN, SLOWING DOWN. The bushel sale went bangbusters and hoovered up buckets of beefsteaks and pasters. But you can still hunt for beefsteak, Marzano, Roma, heirlooms, etc. You can also pick bell peppers, frying peppers, jalapeños, serranos, and more varieties. You just have to come explore the patch.

U-PICK HERBS = OPEN! Basil, parsley (flat and curly), dill, cilantro, thyme, sage, oregano. The garden is at the farm stand. This is a modest patch suitable for the Type B home chef who would pick a bag of mixed herbs for seasoning and dressing – not big enough for hordes of Type A pesto pickers.

FRESH DONUTS = Every day 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM except Monday. We’ve said it before, and it was possibly true: making fresh donuts six days a week is a revolution in small farm fryer logistics. Yes, the Mark 2 Donut Robot continues churning out fresh fried toroids of fructotic splendor – sprinkled, if you like, with cinnamon sugar. “A sprinkle of sin, sugar,” is all you have to say. No donuts on Monday, when the Donut Robot observes its Cyborg Sabbath. Amen.