Shade Tree Farm

So, we officially opened this past weekend.  We had some families come out and pick apples.  Some folks stopped by and bought apples already picked.  Overall, it was a good weekend.  My daughter, Carrie, was there on Saturday and she was in the orchard helping the families find and pick apples.

The heat has had its way with the orchard and, for the second year in a row, we don't have a very large crop.  Last year, it was the rain and this year, the extreme heat.  I don't even know what a normal year is any more.

Our first group of the season will be with us on Wednesday and we're really looking forward to that.  We always enjoy having the little ones come out, see the orchard and take a hayride around the farm. They seem to enjoy it, too.

We had a pretty good rain late yesterday afternoon which was quite welcome.  I just wish there had been more throughout the summer.  I shouldn't complain - we have a good life on the farm and I do count my blessings every day.   Never a dull moment?  No, there are some dull moments and I enjoy those, too.  I need them every once in a while.

We're off and running - our season is officially open.  We will be making the first batch of cider later this week.  It's my favorite time of year....until spring anyway.

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We finally got a fairly decent rain on Tuesday which was wonderful.  I don't know if it was enough to make a difference, but we will take what we can get.  We have delayed opening the orchard and store until August 28 due to the heat slowing down the growth process.  The apples look good, just not quite ripe yet.  The store is all cleaned up and shelves are stocked, so we're just about ready!

On Monday, we were filmed for a Tennessee Farm Bureau Farm Fresh spot.  It will air on Nashville's Channel 4 on Aug. 27 at 1:00.  It was fun to do and the folks involved were so nice.  Thanks to Tiffany Howard with Farm Fresh for asking us to do it.

We have 2 groups booked already!  I just hope the heat will subside by the time we host the first group in a couple of weeks.  I am looking forward to the children coming out to see us.

We are adding a workroom to our orchard barn, on the back.  The roof is on and the concrete floor has been poured.  Completion should be either done or almost done by the time we open.  It will give us more space to process the apples and make cider.  We are looking forward to that.

We continue to pray for rain, not just for our orchard, but for all of the farmers.  Last year it was too much rain and this year, not enough.  Does anyone remember when we had a "normal" year?

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We are so excited as the apples are looking good!  We should be ready to open on August 1.  We have some early apples, but the Japanese Beetles had their way with them.  There were 6 trees destroyed.

We only have 3 peach trees, but they produced rather well.  We have about 50 more and I hope at least some of them will be producing next year.  Peaches seem to be very popular around here.

Friday we begin an addition to the apple barn.  Tom is increasing our work space and adding more equipment that will make washing the apples and making cider a bit easier.  What we have now is light years ahead of where we started which was literally under a shade tree behind Tom's workshop.  Tom set up a frame and put a double kitchen sink in it.  He bought a disposal that he attached to the sink and that is how we ground the apples.  We would put the apples in the sink and wash them.  Then we would empty the side with the disposal and drop the apples into the disposal. It was not the best setup as we had to stop shoving apples into the disposal periodically to clear it.  Once the apples were ground, we put the pulp into the wood cider press and starting pressing the pulp which involved putting a long stick into the top and turning it.  I got to hold the jug under the spout and let the cider pour in through a sieve and funnel.  It was a long, labor intensive process, complete with bees flying around your head, and we usually were at odds by the time we were through....but that cider sure did taste good.

Now we have a much more sophisticated setup in the orchard barn with a commercial press and grinder.  We still have the old-fashion cider press that we let visitors use if they want the cider-making experience, but it's even more advanced than what we did under the tree behind the shop.    With the new equipment, we will be able to wash the apples and send them to the press on a conveyor belt.  I don't know if I can stand much more upgrading.  We're going to be so uptown we may have to lose our Southern accent.

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I went out and visited the orchard today.  We only have 3 peach trees and they are being a bit stubborn this year or maybe my memory is fading (no comments, please).  I thought they were usually ready by the end of June, but I picked a couple today and brought them to the house.  They are not ripe yet.  I don't think it will be long, but they are still very hard.   Tom has planted more peach trees and I'm looking forward to having more peaches to sell, maybe next year.

The apples are looking good for the most part.  There is one tree that has died after apples started growing.  It looks so strange with dead leaves and green apples.  I'm sure there's a poem in there somewhere.

Tom has been diligent in spraying and checking the trees, but there are 6 trees that the Japanese beetles have pretty much destroyed.  They are just the opposite of the dead tree (see paragraph 2) with green leaves and dead apples.  Overall, the apples are looking good and I'm so excited.  I think some will be ready in about 2 weeks.  I am at the point of going out every couple of days to check. 

It is a wake up call for me to finish getting the orchard barn ready for business.  I have been working up there some, but I need to get busy and get things in order. 

I know it's going to be a great season at Shade Tree!

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We keep thinking that the apples will be ready soon.  Tom has been so diligent about checking them.  Last year it was too much rain and too cool.  This year, just the opposite.  I guess there is never a perfect year.

We only have a few peaches.  With just 3 trees, the peach supply is limited, but the trees don't have as much fruit as usual.  Hopefully, next year we will have more peach trees mature enough to bear fruit.  I hope so.

We are excited about this season.  Now that we have one year under our belt, we THINK we have a better idea of what to expect.  I guess there are always surprises.

We are keeping our fingers crossed that all of the apples will be pickin' ready in a couple of weeks.

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We have had some issues with the web site and now that they are resolved, I can start blogging again!

I am happy to report that we do have apples this year!  We have been watching them very closely and they are coming along just fine.  Some of the trees are not as full as others, but there seem to be apples on every tree.  The 3 peach trees have fruit, but, again,not as much as 2 years ago.  The trees that were planted last year are growing nicely.  Well, with the exception of a few that were hit by rolling hay rolls yesterday.  Tom was carrying a load of hay rolls up to the new hay barn and 3 rolled off the wagon into the new trees.  He thinks one tree was broken off and if it was only one....it could've been a lot worse!

I have been working on the store inventory and we are going to have more items for sale in the store.  We will have jams, jellies and apple butter to name a few.   I'm looking forward to getting the store stocked.

It has been raining this morning and it is most welcome.  The weather is such a fickle beast.  Last year, we had such a cool, rainy summer and this year, it's not even officially summer and we're already having 90+ days.  I spoke with a vendor in Oregon yesterday and it was 55 and she was in a turtle neck sweater while I was trying to stay cool!

We should have peaches and blackberries in about 2 to 3 weeks.  I'm ready for the season to begin!

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We have little peaches!  Tom and I were out walking in the orchard the other day and we were so pleased to see that the fruit is there.  After that near freeze a couple of weeks ago, we were holding our breath.  Tom said there were some apples out there, too.  He and Tyler have been working hard in the orchard and I think it is paying off.  

 We have about 40 calves on the ground.  We just have a few more to go. The twins seem to be thriving.  Tom has moved the cows a couple of times already and they seem to be happy.

Tom and Tyler were making picnic tables this morning.  We now have 5, which is great.  I would like to have 8 to 10, but I will take what I can get.  They are doing a great job.  I'm eager to get the picnic area established and ready for the season.

We are building a new hay barn - the framework is up but we are having rain and wind delays right now.  Tom is hoping to have it done by the weekend.  His son, Lewis, is building it.  It will change the landscape of the farm, but I think it will be an asset for us.  

 I'm ready for the weather to warm up and stay warm.  

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Tom and our "hired hand", Tyler have been busy planting trees and bushes.  They have planted 125 blueberry bushes, 60 apple trees and 30 peach trees.  Some have been planted right beside the orchard barn.  I hate that we have to wait 2 to 3 years before they will bear fruit. 

Tom was teaching Tyler some of the basics of pruning yesterday afternoon.  That is not an easy job, but Tyler seemed to be catching on just fine.

The pear trees are in bloom and the buds are just beginning to show up on the apple, peach and cherry trees.  I can hardly wait for them all to be in full bloom.  I will post some photos for sure.

 Tyler has been working for us for about 4 or 5 months now.  He is a freshman in college and his dad and Tom are first cousins.  He has been a real asset, especially for Tom.  Tom shows him how to do something one time and Tyler remembers.  Not like me, the city slicker who can't remember how to string a fence wire from one session to the next.  The problem I have is there is usually too much time elapsed and I have to be retaught.  Actually, I do remember how to string fence wire - it's driving the big tractor that I have trouble with.  I can do it and I'm not quite as intimidated as I was at first, but I am still not completely at ease with it.  I guess I should do it every day so it will be old hat for me.

We have right at 40 calves on the ground.  Of course, they only come either at night or when it's raining buckets or we need to be somewhere in 30 minutes.  They just seem to know. 

We're still keeping our fingers crossed that we don't have any late freezes.  Life on the farm is always a gamble, it seems.

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Spring has sprung for sure!  Tom has been busy in the orchard.  He has planted 30 more blueberry bushes and about 50 more apple trees.  He was able to get some honey crisp apple trees  - something that people have asked us about.  Of course, they won't be bearing fruit for a few years, but I'm tickled to have them. 

 We have about 32 calves on the ground.  No more twins, but all healthy.  Tom has had a particularly good time tagging the babies in the rain.  Invariably, when it's cloudy or looks like it might rain, it doesn't until he's in the truck on the way to the pasture to check cows.  Murphy's Law lives at our farm.

 We have begun construction on a new hay barn.  It will be our second hay barn/pavilion.  Tom's son, Lewis, will be doing most of the construction work.  It's so nice to have a steel/iron/construction worker in the family.  He has come in handy on more than one occasion.

  The trees are beginning to bud and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we won't have a late freeze.  Everything looks so promising right now.  The daylillies are beginning to come up, too.  I just know it's going to be a great year at Shade Tree Farm.

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Sunday morning, Tom went out to check the cows.  He called me shortly after he went out to tell me that he thought we had another set of twins this year.  We had a set of black ones last year, but this year's set is very special.  They are as different as any twins could be.  One is solid black and one is red with a white/red face.  The black one is a bull and the red one is a heifer.  I went with Tom this morning to check cows and I was tickled to get the photos I did.  Tom was still not 100% sure they both belonged to one mama, but after this morning's outing, there is no doubt. 

We have a total of 6 babies so far - 2 are at another farm that Tom leases.  This is my favorite time of year on the farm and I enjoy going with Tom to check to see if we have new babies every day.  We have to tag them as soon we can after they are born.  With every passing hour, it gets harder and harder to catch them.  The ideal time is to be there when they are born and before they get on their feet.  Then, the problem is keeping Mama off of you so you can get the baby tagged.

 Another sign that spring is upon us is Tom sprayed the orchard for the first time yesterday.  So, work has officially begun for this season's crop.  The trees are beginning to show the first signs of budding.  Of course, now that it's warm enough to get out and about, it's supposed to rain on and off all week.    Sigh.

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The sun is shining.  It is amazing how that can change your complete outlook on everything.  It has inspired me.  Tom and I are making plans to get out in the orchard and yard this weekend to prune, trim, pick up and start getting ready for the upcoming season.  It has been so cold and wet that doing anything outdoors has been next to impossible.  I have already been up to the orchard barn working a bit and I plan to get more done up there in the next few days.  We are expanding the store this year to include more items and I want to get it all organized in my head and start getting displays in place and determine just how much I want to include.

It's going to be a great season - with the sun shining, I can just feel it!

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It has been snowing/raining all morning.  I'm beginning to understand what winter is like in the northeast a little bit.  The snow has not all melted and we're supposed to get 3 waves of it over the next 2 days.  I guess the only difference is we can actually see the grass at times. 

We were leaving a home on Friday and there were Bradford pear trees on either side of the driveway.  They both had buds on them.  Now, I've seen buds on trees this early when we've had unusually warm days, but we haven't had very many warm days much less several in a row.  Hmmmm. 

I hope that is not a bad sign as far as the orchard goes.  It has been so muddy and snowy and we haven't actually walked through the orchard to check.  I guess we'll be doing that in the next day or so no matter what the weather is doing.  Last year it was too much rain which made for very few apples.  A late freeze would do us in this year.  Can you get a tarp large enough to cover 200 trees?  

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I don't remember a winter like this since I was a child.  I remember when I was in high school and we had snow the night we were to go back after the 2-week Christmas break.  We didn't go back for another 2 weeks.  I think my mother was ready to throttle all 4 of us kids.  I remember sledding and then coming in to warm up by the fire and Mother always had hot chocolate ready for us - a wonderful childhood memory for sure.

Winter on the farm brings different wonders.  Watching the cows "graze" in the snow.  Just what are they grazing?  Is it just habit to be out munching on something?  Tom keeps the hay rings filled and when the hay rolls are dwindling, you can be sure the "girls" are waiting by the gate for him to bring more.  They seem to be picky about which hay rolls they like, too.  We have not figured out why they favor one hay roll over another.  I'm sure it has nothing to do with being female

 As I sit in my little upstairs office (okay, technically it's a bedroom, but it's my office now), I can look over part of the farm and after 6 1/2 years, I still find it so beautiful.  The geese are flying in and out to the big pond in the back, I see an occasional coyote (which makes Huck go nuts), and the squirrels are scurrying around the yard.  Now, if I just saw the snow melting and they weren't predicting more snow in the next day or so, it would be perfect. That's okay, I'll muddle through.

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I am beginning to grow weary of the winter weather.  I know we have not been hit as hard as the northeast.  I watch the news and see what they are dealing with and I stop and count my blessings that we only have about an inch of snow on the ground.  I do understand how this weather can inspire depression.  I am ready for spring.

We should be having babies within the month.  That is my favorite time of the year and I'm looking forward to it.  We have seen babies be born while it was snowing and I hope that isn't the case this year.  What a welcome to the world!  If this is what it's like, let me back in!

I am having issues with our web site.  I have changed the front page several times and I can't get the changes to show up when it is published.  I guess I'm going to have to break down and call our technical guru.  It really looks good, I promise!

Today I'm meeting with a vendor to talk about T-shirts, an item I want to add to our store.  I am excited about what they will look like.  I hope to do anything but a white T.  Won't we look cute in our T-shirts when school groups come to visit?  I know Tom is excited about it :)

 Just the anticipation of spring being just around the corner makes me happy.  I have so many plans for the farm and the orchard.  Now to just make them happen!  I'm chomping at the bit

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As winter seems to linger on, Tom and I are beginning to think about the upcoming season.  We are plotting and planning in an effort to make our operation better, maybe not necessarily bigger - maybe a few additions.  We plan to put in some type of play something.  We are thinking a bin of corn or oats that the kids can play in safely.  We will probably add something along that line each year for the next 2 or 3 years.  We are working on making our orchard store more interesting.  We are going to add more items, especially handmade items.  We may even be selling items from our garden like tomatoes, peppers, egg plants and a few other items.  We will have pumpkins again.

 We are also working on our program for school groups.  We liked what we did last year and we plan to enhance that program with more visuals and more choices for activities.  We plan to hire several people to help us with groups this year.

 We are so excited to have one season behind us and look forward to this next season using what we learned last year to make future seasons better and better.  

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October has been a wonderful month!  We are so excited about our first season.  We have met so many people from so many places and I think that is my favorite part of having our orchard open to the public.  We have been taking good notes and know that next season will be even better. 

We will be open for a few more weeks and we will be making cider for a while.  We are still waiting for state approval, but are moving forward with that venture.

 I don't take my life on the farm for granted and every day I count my blessings and say a little prayer of thanks for being so lucky to live in such a wonderful place.

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On Thursday, Oct. 2, we hosted the Southaven and Springfield Home School Groups.  We had 22 children along with all of their moms and one dad.  The children ranged in age from 18 months to 12 years.  They all seemed to enjoy the afternoon.  They learned about apples and Johnny Appleseed.  They made a pig with an apple and Tom took them on a hay ride around the farm.  Tom then made apple cider for the group.  They were here for about 3 hours.  I don't know who enjoys these visits more - me or the children.  I so enjoy having them here and talking about our orchard and farm. 

 We have a good supply of apples right now.  We have Fujis, Bradleys, Winesap, Romes and one heirloom variety, Arkansas Black - probably my favorite.

 We have mums and a supply of pumpkins from one of our local farms.  Even though we did not have a good year with our orchard, we have managed to still offer locally grown products and that makes me happy.

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What a great day we had yesterday!  The Moms Club of Clarksville came to visit and I hope they had as much fun as we did.  We talked a little about apples then walked through the orchard, found a tree with lots of apples, so everyone got to pick an apple.  Then, we went back to the orchard barn and made a pig with an apple, had lunch and then Tom made cider for them.  Thanks to the Moms Club for being such a fun group.  We are looking forward to them coming back every year.  

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So, Labor Day has come and gone and that is, supposedly, the unofficial end of summer.  Of course, with temps being in the mid to upper 80s for the next several days, it ain't over till it's over.

It has been a sad few days for us - on Sunday, we lost our sweet Border Collie, Bud.  We're not sure what happened, but we think it might have been heart worms.  He had collapsed on the back porch when I found him and he died on the way to the vet.  Tom and I are both having a hard time with it.  Tom buried him under a tree out in one of the pastures where he loved to run.  We miss him so much.  It was so appropriate that he died Sunday as we were having thunder storms.  Bud was so scared of thunder and would go hide behind the wood stove in Tom's shop, even if the thunder was way off in the distance.  He just didn't like it.  Thunder will always remind me of Bud.

I guess it was fate that a friend brought us Huck, who had been abandoned, a few months ago.  Huck seems kind of lost without Bud.  Bud was definitely the Alpha dog and Huck seemed to accept that.  He would try and play with Bud and Bud didn't really want to play, but sometimes he would and then sometimes Bud would just pick a fight with Huck because he could.  

As far as our operation, we are slowly getting our act together and should have the bathroom in the orchard barn completed this week.  We hope to have apples this weekend and have the store open, too.  We keep running into red tape, mostly with the state (go figure), but we're getting there.

 We have our first field trip group scheduled and several that are possibilities.  I have been working on my presentation to the children and gathering information.  I think it will be a fun time for them. 

It's going to be another busy week, but I think we're up for it.

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We are behind schedule.  We had hoped to have the orchard barn complete and ready for operation by mid July and it is not complete as I write this.  We are getting close and it should be done in about a week, but our frustration level is, um, rather high at the moment.  I have been purchasing merchandise to go in the store and it is beginning to stack up around the house and down at Tom's shop.  We are both ready to get things out of our ways. 

 Our vision for the orchard has dimmed a bit.  Our crop of apples is not even half of what it was last year.  Last year was a bumper crop for sure, so it's really not a good one to compare to, but we thought we might have more than we do.  So, we're working on a Plan Be and we will have apples to sell, but we may have to pick them ourselves. 

The new part of the orchard is doing well.  In fact, one of those new trees has an apple on it!  It looks so funny hanging on this skinny little tree that is about 3 feet tall.  Now, that is encouraging!  I look at that lone apple and I find faith again that our orchard will be overflowing with fruit next year.

We have hit the proverbial bump in the road, but we will not only survive, we will thrive. 

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