Many Harvested Apples; Pecans Start Nov. 12

   Our pick-your-own apple season ended on Nov. 2, but our worker Hannah Helwig and I harvested over 3000 pounds of apples last week.  These are stored in large bins in our big cooler in our pecan building, and I'll sort out of these bins into trays of #1 and #2 apples all winter and spring.

The 'Brandywine' red maples I planted 14 years ago around our sales building are in beautiful fall color.

   We'll have harvested 'Enterprise' apples for sale until about mid-June 2026, and 'Gold Rush' apples for sale until about mid-July 2026.  For the next month or so, we'll also have some harvested apples from my apple breeding program.

I started harvesting some 'Gold Rush' apples into 20-pound trays last week. These keep in top eating condition for 10 to 11 months in a fridge, and get sweeter as starches convert into sugars. 

   We still have about 60 pounds of 'Blake's Pride' pears for sale, and about 220 pounds of  'Harrow Sweet' pears.   I give taste samples of all fruits and pecans available when customers come, for those interested in buying them. 

   Harvested pears and apples sell for $1.48 per pound + sales tax for #1 fruit with no damage.  We harvest directly into bags in boxes that I weigh to 20 pounds, so if you get a 20-pound box of #1 pears and/or apples you save $1.00.  We also pick some nice #2 fruit, with some surface scarring but no internal damage, that sells for just $1.18 per pound + sales tax, and often sells quickly.

   My husband Bill just started harvesting our 2025 pecan crop last week.  Each morning he used our mechanical trunk shaker to shake the nuts from a tree row to the ground, then each afternoon he used our mechanical harvester to scoop up the nuts with rubber fingers.  Each evening he ran the harvested pecans through our field cleaner, then our stationary cleaner in our pecan building, to remove debris. 

My husband Bill cleans newly-harvested pecans using our stationary cleaner in our pecan building.

   The cleaned pecans were then loaded into burlap sacks holding 65 to 70 pounds each.  These cleaned pecans have to dry for 7 to 10 days before Bill can crack them using our high-efficiency pecan cracking machine.

   We'll start selling our new pecan crop about Nov. 12, and we'll have cracked pecans for sale until about mid-Sept. 2026, as shown at left under Crop Sales Seasons.  That also tells which crops we sell harvested, and which crops we sell pick-your-own.

   If I'm not in the sales building when you arrive, ring the bell VERY loudly so I can hear it from the back of the orchards, as I'm still harvesting apples.  (If I am in the sales building, please do NOT ring the bell.  Thanks.)

   As always, we take cash or checks for payment, but NO credit cards or debit cards, and no phone "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 produce you want to buy.  Thanks.