Fruit Trees Blooming, Still Cracked Pecans & 'Gold Rush' Apples for Sale

    We've had a succession of beautiful blooms on our fruit trees over the last 2 weeks.  Peach trees are finishing blooming now, pear trees are in bloom, and apple trees are just starting to bloom.  When it's not raining, I'm very busy pruning all our fruit trees.

Ornamental crabapples in our backyard flank our pear orchard, which blooms in the background.

   The forecast calls for rain all day tomorrow, April 4 and Sat. April 5, so I'll be in our sales building sorting apples on those days.  Light frosts of 32 to 33 F are expected for Mon. morning April 7 and Tues. morning April 8.  Those temperatures would provide beneficial fruit thinning for our tree fruits, but please join us in praying that temperatures don't drop below 31 F, which would hurt our peach crop.

'Souveniers' peach trees were in full bloom last week. This variety is the first to bloom & our first to ripen. If we don't get a hard freeze in the next week, we'll start selling them about July 10.

   Over the last 10 days, Bill planted 200 more pecan seedling rootstocks in our lowest 10-acre field along Highway 166, which are now getting watered in well.  In a few years, he'll graft scions of varieties from his pecan breeding program onto these rootstock trees.

   We still have many cracked pecans and 'Gold Rush' apples for sale.  From Dec. 16 to June 14 we're open by appointment.  That means to phone 620-597-2450 a day ahead, and leave a message on our answering machine with your name, day and time you'll come, and what you want to buy.  You can make an appointment to arrive here between 10 a.m. and 12 noon, or between 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., Mondays to Saturdays.

Asian pears (in front) bloom very prolifically, while European pears (in background) are less showy.

 

 

 

   If you're driving on Highway 166, see our highway sign, and come up to our farm, you'll see the sign on our sales building saying we're open by appointment and to phone 620-597-2450.  You can call that number, which is a landline to our house, and if I'm in the house, I'll come out to the sales building.

   If it's nice weather I'm out pruning, so ring the bell on the sales building porch very loudly, and I'll come over to the sales building.  But if you know you'll be coming this way, please phone 620-597-2450 a day ahead and make an appointment.  Thanks.

   We had a great pecan crop last year, and will likely have pecans from Bill's pecan breeding program for sale until late Aug. or early Sept.  We also still have some bags of 'Kanza' pecans for sale now, and may sell out of those by late April or May.  All these pecans have large nuts, thin shells and great taste, and I give taste samples.

   Pecans store well for 3-4 months in a fridge, and for over 6 years in a freezer.  We sell cracked pecans in 4-pound bags, which are over 75% pecan kernels and under 25% shell fragments.  Each bag has the equivalent of 6 pounds of in-shell pecans, and when you pick out the kernels, you get 3 pounds or more of nutmeats.  Each bag costs $19.70 + sales tax.

Sandhill plum bushes near our house bloomed a couple weeks ago. If we get a sandhill plum crop this year, Bill will make sandhill plum jam, which we sell.

   We have many harvested #2 'Gold Rush' apples, packed and ready for sale in our cooler, and a few #1 apples.  People keep buying more of the #1 apples, so please call a day or two ahead if you want these.

    #1 'Gold Rush' apples keep in top condition for fresh eating for 10 to 11 months in a fridge when stored in the plastic bags I packed them in.  This apple variety gets sweeter after a month or two in cold storage, as starches convert into sugars.  #2 'Gold Rush' apples keep for 3 to 4 months in a fridge, and are great for cutting into slices for fresh eating, baking and making apple butter.

   Harvested apples sell for $1.48 per pound + sales tax for #1 fruit with no damage.  A 20-pound box of #1 fruit costs $28.57 + sales tax, and you save $1.00.  We have some very nice #2 fruit that sell for $1.18 per pound + sales tax.  A 20-pound box of #2 fruit costs $23.65 + sales tax, and you save $5.00 including tax over a 20-pound box of #1 fruit.

   We'll have 'Gold Rush' apples for sale until about mid-late June 2025.  Projected sales dates for all our crops are shown in the sidebar at left under Crop Sales Seasons.  That also tells which crops we sell harvested, and which crops we sell pick-your-own.

  As always, we take cash or checks for payment, but NO credit cards or debit cards, and no "apps".  We don't use a smart phone, and have no phone line to the sales building.  So please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover the amount of fruit you want to buy.  Thanks.