Here is part of a recent letter from LocalHarvest.org:
It’s March and all around the planet, farmers and gardeners are beginning to tuck their seeds into the dark soil. If you’re one of them, you already know the pleasures of this quiet activity, and its eventual rewards. If you have been thinking of growing a little of your own food, this might be your year. A few seeds, a little time, what could it hurt to try?
Here are my favorite reasons to grow food:
- It’s aesthetically pleasing and it pulls me outside.
- My family likes the food.
- It saves money.*
- It gives me something to talk about with the neighbors.
- Last night’s supper: tomato sauce and roasted eggplant I’d put in the freezer in September over polenta and cheese. Yum, yum, yum.
- My daughter is growing up knowing that raspberries grow on canes and potatoes grow underground.
Our readers will enjoy watching the blogs at LocalHarvest.org.
Kauffman’s is pleased to announce that our homemade Sweet Apple Cider was voted as the best tasting apple cider of 15 entries in the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention, held in February, 2010, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This is the second time our apple cider has won the top award since this taste competition was started in 2007, and it reflects the many rave comments about our cider that we receive at our retail market in Bird-in-Hand.
And while we are talking about apple cider, Tony, our cider department manager (in photo), reports the following numbers for the 2009 cider production season:
Total cider production in 2009 (highest production in our company’s history): 400,190 gallons, pressed from 122,148 bushels of apples. 36,000 gallons out of this total was used for apple butter production; that leaves 364,000 gallons that were enjoyed by thousands of people in and around Lancaster County.
The cider production in the “cider season” of September, October, and November was 218,245 gallons; the production in October alone was 102,600 gallons.
As an encouragement to our blog readers who hate snow, one good thing about the snow is the effect it has on the agricultural outlook. All this moisture seeping down, down, down, deep down… it’s a good thing for fruit, corn, alfalfa, you name it. True, the snow can be in the way, and springtime can be really messy with melting and mud, but we all eat food that is grown in our excellent Lancaster County soil. This snow and moisture only helps that.
Here I will describe the production process of our award-winning, homemade Sweet Apple Cider.
Step 1 is using the correct blend of apples. An operator inspects and washes the apples as they are dumped from an orchard bin and then shredded by a high-velocity paddle. The cider blend that won 1st place in last week’s Hershey competition during the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention had a high concentration of Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Stayman, plus a number of other varieties.
Step 2 is pressing the juice out of the shredded mix, which is done by state-of-the-art squeeze boxes.
Step 3 is filtering and carefully flash-pasteurizing the juice. Again, this is done by modern, clean equipment that is certified for food processing.
Step 4 is bottling the cider. We have a “network” of cold-storage tanks and piping that delivers the cider to an automated bottling room.
And, our customers enjoy the result of this process. We have fresh Apple Cider for sale in our retail market every day; you can order it online (shipped frozen) to be shipped to friends and family out of the area.
Young fruit trees for your yard, garden, or cabin/mountain property – available for planting in spring of 2010. Prices are based on quantity and begin at $21.95, a small investment for years and years of production that a quality fruit tree offers. If planted and cared for correctly, fruit trees will add value to your real estate, particularly a mountain property where the presence of wildlife is valued. Call us, 717-768-7112, and place your order with Lyndon.
We sell Apple, Cherry, Peach, Pear, and Plum trees; available varieties and more detailed ordering instructions are in our downloadable Fruit Tree Brochure. And yes, I included the shot of blossoms as a teaser. Your tree may not have a blossom load like that in its first year, but give it enough time….
For any fruit grower, now is the proper time to prune fruit trees in preparation for the 2010 harvest. Phil Beiler, a regular employee here and orchard enthusiast, offers pruning services. Email your name and phone number to info@kauffmansfruitfarm.com with a Subject line of Pruning Services, and we will get your message to Phil so he can contact you.
Winter is often assumed to bring a much slower pace to many businesses and industries – not so, however, in the orchard. Our dedicated crew switches from harvest mode to preparing for the next harvest. There is a lot of work to do to enable our thousands of fruit trees to produce a crop that has good market value.
The biggest task is pruning – cutting off some of the branches and twigs that, though they contributed to the 2009 harvest, will actually detract from the 2010 harvest if not removed. The photos show two of our orchard crew using power tools and lifts to prune the larger trees, and the tractor attachment eliminating the resulting brush. An efficient harvest is our goal.
This pruning is part of the reason why we often say that we look forward to the harvest. There is quite a bit of expense, planning, and plain hard work that enables a successful harvest months later. Anticipation builds throughout the year.
FRUIT TREE PRUNING SERVICE – Phil Beiler, a regular Kauffman’s delivery truck driver & orchard enthusiast, can help you prune your fruit trees. Email your name and phone number to info@kauffmansfruitfarm.com with a Subject line of Pruning Services, and we’ll get your email message to Phil for him to contact you.
sort of. Anyway, here is interesting data from our 2009 peach harvest that might make you wish for July to be here.
First picking was June 27; last picking, September 18.
Total 1/2 bushel crates: 9639
% of average crop: 60%
Top Variety: Red Haven (no surprise here)
here is the next set of numbers in the lineup of blog entries talking about our 2009 harvest.
2009 Pear Crop information:
First picking: July 27; last day of harvest: September 18
Total Bushels harvested: 1742
% of average crop: 100% (the pear harvest was a bumper crop)
Top Variety: Bartlett, of course!
are as follows:
Christmas Eve – close at 4 pm;
Christmas Day and Saturday the 26th – CLOSED.
We open again at 7 am on Monday, December 28, and will be CLOSED on New Year’s Day.
We specialize in last-minute gifts. You can stop in and browse our stock of pleasing Gift Baskets and Trays, or call us, ask for Clair, and special-order a basket so you know it’s here for you when you get here. 717-768-7112.
Here is data from our 2009 plum harvest, supplied by Ken, Kauffman’s orchard manager.
First day of harvest: July 7; last day: September 4
Total crates (1/2 bushel): 390
% of average harvest: 40%
Top Variety (number of crates): Fortune
In the two weeks before Christmas and two weeks around New Year’s Day, we stock many beautiful fruit basket arrangements, plus multiple styles of gift trays, including candy/nut trays and Fruit Butter/cracker styles. Some of these arrangements can be shipped, and you can configure them online and have them shipped to your gift recipient. That product page is here. If you live in the Lancaster area, you can stop in and place an order for either a custom or “stock” gift basket anytime. Additionally, our Gift Basket department is available by phone at 717-768-7112.
And of course, if you don’t care about customizing an arrangement, our market has a gorgeous display of ready-to-go arrangements ready for immediate purchase. Stop in and check them out.
Data on the 2009 cherry crop from Ken Kauffman, orchard manager:
First day of cherry harvest: June 12. Last day: July 6.
Total pounds harvested: 12,825
Size of crop compared to normal average: 50%
Top Variety (in pounds): Hedelfingen
Healthy gifts. Natural gifts. Non-fattening gifts. Customizable gifts. Ship-able gifts. Different-from-the-ordinary-Christmas-gift gifts. Here they are. Enjoy, and Happy Holidays.
And they are beautiful! Crafted by our employees on site with care and creativity. You can customize one or pick up one of our stock baskets – either option will be quite satisfactory to your gift recipient. Here is the link to gift baskets in our online store – click here.
"Majestic" Fruit Basket
We recently held several Taste Test events in our retail store, during which customers could sample several apples and fill out a short survey form with their opinions on the apples. We were not surprised that Pink Lady had a very high rating. While relatively obscure compared to well-knowns like Red Delicious and McIntosh, Pink Lady beats both in the flavor category and baking category, although of course this is subject to opinion, plus, as its name indicates, has a pretty pink skin. We have our own homegrown, high quality Pink Lady for sale in our Bargain Bins and inside the store; they were grown on apple acreage along Orchard Road and were harvested only about three weeks ago.
We love harvest time. Afterwards, though, it just feels right to be thankful and consider the holiday season.
Kauffman employees are experts at creating beautiful, aesthetic gift baskets, trays, and boxes. An increasingly popular option is the configurable gift boxes available on our website. You can build them as you wish and have them shipped to your door or as a gift. See this page or just search on the website for “gift”.
Customers from several states have indicated their preference for organic apples. Our first sizeable crop of organic apples includes Rome, Cameo, and Stayman. These are good varieties for the holidays; Rome and Stayman in particular are well-known as baking apples. Imagine an apple crisp steaming from the oven, made with organic apples, served for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
