Regal Peaches Now At Their Peak!

A Few Strawberries Still Available

Tuesday evening, May 15, 2012

Lots of rain last week, light rain Monday night, and heavy rain again this morning!  But the rest of this week the weather looks great for picking!

We are extremely grateful for all the rain  --  it is badly needed, and will go a long way toward helping our peaches make a good crop the next couple of months.  Because we maintain grassy walkways in the orchard, and because our soil is partially sandy, most areas are never too muddy to pick (with the exception of the strawberry fields).  It rained so much on Tuesday morning that we had to close.  By early afternoon the sun came out, we opened up again, and we had customers back in the orchard picking!

  Regal, our first peach variety of the season is now in the second week of its two weeks of production.   There is still a tremendous amount of ripe fruit ready for picking this week!  Unfortunately, all of the fruit in the Regals has been smaller than usual this year.  In spite of the size, the flavor is still excellent.  This variety was hit particularly hard by the severe freeze in February of 2011, leaving the trees damaged.  We have lost some trees and many limbs in this block, and all of the trees have a lesser amount of foliage to support their crop  --  hence, the smaller fruit.  Even though there was freeze damage to the entire orchard, most of the other peach varieties are looking much healthier than Regal, and therefore should have normal sized fruit.

Ask about price discounts now through Friday on two half bushels or more of peaches.

The blackberries started very early this year, and are now coming in strong!  They have been very plentiful the past two weeks, and should continue to be abundant for the next couple of weeks.  We are now taking blackberry appointments. (Read more details below, and information about appointments for picking larger quantities.)  Right now may be the best time of the blackberry season, with all four of our varieties, Brazos, Rosborough, Womack and Kiowa, all producing at the same time!

The strawberries are continuing to produce a few ripe berries each day, but their production is so insignificant now that it takes a great deal of time and effort to find enough to make picking worthwhile.  Their season will be coming to an end very soon.  Typically, our strawberry plants will produce a good supply of berries until about the first or second week of May.  As the weather becomes hotter, the plants quit producing.  Also, we have lost some of the plants prematurely to various causes this season, contributing to the sharp decline in production.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

We are primarily a pick-your-own orchard, but most of the season we have fruits and vegetables, which we have picked, available for customers who are unable, or prefer not, to pick.  Although we try to always keep some pre-picked fruit on hand, it is best to call ahead, and place an order, particularly for larger quantities.  (Due to the higher demand for pick-your-own on weekends and holidays, we usually have a very limited supply of pre-picked fruit on these days.)

The best way to know what is in season at any particular time is to check back here regularly.  During the harvest season, the information here on the website will be updated frequently, in order to inform our customers of current availability, prices and hours, and to announce what is coming next.

Hours of Operation

Notice:  Beginning Monday, May 7th, we are opening earlier.

We have now changed to our "peach season hours"  --  ripe fruit and weather conditions permitting  --  our hours are normally as follows:  open 8:00 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and at 1:00 p.m. on Sundays, and close at 5:00 p.m., if not earlier.  We will always close early (or entirely) on any day when we feel like the remaining fruit is not ripe enough to be picked.  We strongly recommend coming early in the day to have the best selection, and to avoid arriving after we have had to close.  Occasionally, we must close a full day or more, in order to assure that our customers will have the ripest, best tasting fruit.  During peach season, there may be days when we are open, but not have peaches, due to gaps between varieties.  It is a good idea to check here, or call our answering machine (830-997-9433), the night before you plan to come, and also if you cannot make it out until later in the day, to be sure that we will be open,

We may be closed some Thursday afternoons from May through July  --  this is when we go to our local Fredericksburg Farmers Market, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the Marktplatz.  Call before trying to come on a Thursday afternoon.

Pick-Your-Own Prices

Peaches:  Regal:  $27.00 per ½ bushel (apx. 25 lbs.)  --  $1.40/lb. for smaller quantities

($10 minimum)

Blackberries:  $3.25 per pound, plus a one time $.75 charge for the re-usable berry box.

($5 minimum)

Strawberries:  $2.75 per pound, plus a one time $.75 charge for the re-usable berry box.

($2 minimum)

(Sorry, we do not accept credit or debit cards -- cash or check only.)

General information about our pricing:  Since our products are not manufactured, and are at the mercy of nature, the quality, size and quantity can easily vary from week to week, especially in our many peach varieties.  Therefore, our pricing is also flexible, reflecting those changing conditions.  Our strawberry and blackberry prices generally remain the same throughout most of their respective seasons.  Prices for pick-your-own are less than if we do the picking for you.  However, due to the need for competent employees to assist customers with picking instructions and supervision, the prices are only moderately different.  We occasionally offer discounts when we want to encourage customers to come out and help us pick an over-abundance of ripe fruit, before it becomes a loss.  Since the demand for our fruit is usually greater than the supply, we rarely have the need to wholesale our products, nor offer reduced prices for customers picking larger quantities.

Peaches

Peaches are our primary crop!

  We currently have 12 varieties, ripening between mid-May and early August.  Each variety lasts approximately two weeks.  With the exception of the information provided above regarding the Regal variety, it is still too soon for me to try to start guessing the dates, or prices, for the other varieties.  It does look like we could have a gap in production around Memorial Day, since, at this time, I don't expect the next varieties, Sentinel, Gala and Harvester, to begin until the first week of June.  They could surprise me, and begin earlier, but we will not know for sure until approximately two weeks before the actual ripening dates.

  January through early March is the time when each tree in the orchard is meticulously hand-pruned, to create the most desirable structure for a healthy crop.  Peach trees produce best when they have had adequate "chilling hours" during their winter dormancy, from November through February.  During this dormancy, freezes do not usually cause any harm to the trees.  The trees bloom and set their fruit in March, followed by the emergence of the new foliage.  In April, our workers begin the tedious work of thinning.  Thinning is the task of removing excessive fruit, so that the remaining peaches can grow to larger size.  This work is done almost exclusively by hand, one peach at a time, and is usually not completed in all varieties until late May!

From late February to early April, we are always vulnerable to freezing weather, which can result in either a partial or total loss of the year's peach crop.  Springtime is also when there is the threat of thunderstorms, accompanied by hail, which may scar or devastate the crop.

A lot of pruning, irrigating, fertilizing, insect prevention and weeding goes on year-round, in order to maintain healthy peach trees, and to produce good quality fruit.

Leaf fall in the peach orchard in November 2011.

Blackberries

  Blackberry season is May and June.  We have four varieties, that ripen at different times over that two month period.  The plants are tied up on trellis wires, with grass walkways between, for ease of picking. 

The blackberries are now producing large quantities of berries each day, and will continue to produce until about mid-June.  Since all varieties are beginning much earlier this year, it looks like the most abundant time period will be from now until the end of May.

  If you are wanting to pick a larger quantity of blackberries  --  7 pounds (a full berry box) or more  --  it is not necessary, but you may want to make an appointment for picking.  We are now taking appointments for picking.  We will probably take appointments for only about three weeks  --  after that, all blackberry picking will be "first come, first serve" each day.  Since it is very difficult for us to estimate the amount of blackberries that will be ripe for picking on a particular day, in advance of that day, appointments are not something that we really care to do.  We take reservations as a service to you, our customer, so that you can be fairly confident that you will have the amount of fruit you want when you arrive.

If you are making an appointment, this is what we need of you, in return, to make it workable:  (1) When you call, be prepared to give us the amount of blackberries you intend to pick, in boxes, pounds or quarts (we do not need to know the number of people).  Do not over-estimate!  (2)  Have several different dates in mind that will work for you.  (3)  You must be here at opening time (usually 8:00 a.m.)--no exceptions.  We try not to "over-book", so that there will always be some "surplus" berries available for that day, and there are always customers without appointments who are anxiously waiting to start picking as soon as the appointments have been assigned their rows. 
Caution!  Remember where I said earlier that the appointment process is difficult for us to do?  Anyone who abuses this "privilege", in any way, will find it difficult to make an appointment with us in the future.

Vegetables

We now have onions for sale at our orchard stand.

  Because of the threat of killing freezes, most of our summer vegetables can not be planted until early April, which results in harvest being mostly in June and July.  We try to have a good assortment of vegetables each year.

 Although we allow some pick-your-own, we do most of the picking of the vegetables ourselves, so that we can be sure that they will be harvested at their freshest and best early each morning.  They are then available for sale at our orchard stand, until they are sold out for that day.

We do not grow fall and winter vegetables.

Strawberries

Strawberry season is primarily March and April.  In June/July we remove the old plants, take out the old plastic and irrigation lines, and plow up the field.  In September we rebuild the plastic-covered beds, and in October we plant new plants.

Strawberry plants in November 2011, about a month after they were planted in October.

2/3/2012 - Removing older leaves, and pulling weeds, from the same strawberry plants, in preparation for approaching harvest time.

Other Orchard News

Many of you, who have been coming to the orchard for a long time, know the two men who have been working for me for more than 25 years, and who are essential to the success of our operation, Manuel Botello and Carlos Rodriguez.  Both of these men, within four days of one another, suffered the death of their fathers in El Fuerte, Zacatacas, Mexico on March 22nd and March 26th.

*  *  *  *  *  *

Looking for something else to do while you are in Fredericksburg?

For other activities in the area, click on the link to the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce at the bottom of this page.

*  *  *  *  *  *