Melrose are ready!!
Melrose are a great baking apple. They keep their shape and flavor after baking . It is a great apple for baking whole. They are a nice eating apple too, especially if you let it sit for a bit after being picked. Melrose are a cross between a Red Delicious and Jonathon apple.
We have a row of Melrose that is a few years old, and we have some scattered trees in the older portion of the orchard. Ask about those if you'd like them.
Liberty apples are ripe now too.
We only have a small amount of these but they are worth mentioning. They are a small apple but one of the sweetest I have ever tasted! Really good eating apple. I read that this is an apple that doen't keep it shape when baked in a pie, so if you like that, then try these. Also I read that is one of the best for apple butter.
We have one row of these, and actually each tree in the row alternates between Honeycrisp and Liberty. All the Honeycrisp on this row are gone now so it will be easy to identify the Liberty.
We also have some carts available for you to use to haul your buckets down the rows. Feel free to use them!
Other apples update:
Still a decent amount of Honeycrisp and Gala. Definitely necessary to go to the north far end of the orchard to find them, but there is plenty there. Gala are getting a little soft. Still great for applesauce and cooking but not as good anymore for fresh eating.
Still lots of Golden Delicous, Jonagold and Ruby Jon.
Some Red Delicious left.
Other happenings:
I made some applesauce and apple crisp with Ruby Jon for the first time. I think Ruby Jon is great for both. I especially liked the applesauce. It broke up easy for applesauce but seemed to keep it shape a bit for the apple crisp.
We have given a few apple tours this year to some schools in the area.
Here is a quote from Shawna Mole, one of the teachers on the field trip:
"Our school had a wonderful time at the apple orchard today! We enjoyed that your tour was very relevant to what out first graders were learning in class, and your willingness to let students explore and experience your farm hands-on was awesome! We will come back each year as long as you will have us! Thank you again for your excellent tour and your wonderful farm and family! Centennial Elementary School First Graders had a terrific experience! See you again next fall!"
This is late in coming but please meet Amanda and Stella! They help run the apple orchard a few days a week. If you ask, I think you can con her into giving you a gator ride!!
I found this website about apple information. It rates what people like best for applesauce, pies, etc. We don't have some of the apples they talk about, but we have many of them. You might find it interesting. Take note that the dates they provide for when the apples are available may be different than for us in Oregon. This site is based out of Indiana.
If anyone has any good apple recipes they'd like to share, please post them in the comment section! I am hoping to start a Recipe section!!
The weather continues to be beautiful. Take advantage!
