Hi everyone!  We’re less than 1 month away from this year’s Apple-Palooza which includes our apple pie contest.  I have at least one judges spot to fill this year so I’m going to once again open it up to you all to apply for the contest.  I need you to fill out the questions below and email it to me at lapaceksorchard {at} gmail {dot} com.  I’ll post all the answers on a post and then I will leave it up to the readers and orchard followers to vote for the newest judge (s).  Apple-Palooza is on Saturday, October 25th.  You would be needed for judging from approximately 12:30 to 3:30ish (may be less or more depending on how many pies are entered in the contest).
Name:
Contact Info (phone number, email):

Have you ever judged a pie and/or food contest before?
Why do you think you’d be a good apple pie judge?
What is your favorite thing about eating pie? 
How many years have you been enjoying pie?

What qualities do you look for in a good pie?

Do you believe you could be a ‘fair and unbiased’ pie judge?  
Anything else you’d like to share with the voters about your pie judging dreams?

So get to it!  Answer the questions and email me asap!  Please spread the word to any friends you think would be interested in this position!  Responses must be in by Friday, October 3rd.  Voting will start on Sunday, October 5th.

I made new orchard magnets!  I couldn’t resist!

This photo of Cedi taken by Karmen Lindner Photography was just SCREAMING to be made into an orchard magnet!

I love this shot that Karmen took too – but I had to go with the closer shot of the apple …

Stop by the orchard to get your free magnet!

Yesterday was officially the first day of fall!  What does that mean – time for pumpkins, gourds, indian corn and more!And yes – we have a plethora of these things at the orchard!

All pumpkins/gourds should be weighed at our ‘Pumpkin Weigh Station’ under the lean, recorded on the sheet found by the scale, put in your vehicle and the sheets brought in to pay.  Squash can be brought into the store for weighing and payment.

The ‘Pick Your Own Pumpkin Patch’ is officially OPEN!

The Poynette Area Public Library is sponsoring a Book Discussion hosted at Lapacek's Orchard on Wednesday, October 8th at 1:00 pm. If interested, pick up a copy of the book, "The Apple Orchard", by Susan Wiggs at the library. If you need a ride, call the library at 635-7577. Refreshments will be served! Hope to see you there!

Pick up your copy of Susan Wigg’s The Apple Orchard from the Poynette Area Public Library

Read It!

Discuss it on Wednesday, October 8th at 1:00at Lapacek’s Orchard, N1959 Kroncke Road, Poynette WI.

Refreshments will be served!

 

I started reading the book as soon as I heard this was the book they are discussing.  So far I’m sucked in and it’s a good one! Can’t wait to finish it and hear what everyone has to say about it in October!

Today, I wanted to take a minute to talk to you about how we pick our apples. We do not allow pick your own at our orchard – the trees are just not planted in way that is conducive to pick your own so we decided not to pay for insurance coverage for that on our orchard.

Back to the story:  we have two main pickers - Frank and Jared.  What they do is keep an eye on the apple trees that are coming close to being ready.  They do this by taking an apple, biting into it to taste it and then checking the seeds.  If the apple tastes goods and the seeds are brown or turning brown - it's time to start picking.  Now, they don't just go and pick all the apples off that particular tree. They go through first and pick the largest apples with the best color. Then they wait a few days and pick the largest apples with the best color and repeat.  At some point - for instance, if the apples are starting to drop - they'll go in and just clean the apples off the tree. 

photo by Friends in Photography

Most trees take 3 to 5 picking sessions for the apples to be completely picked off and others, like the Honeycrisp, will be picked from throughout 10 visits.  By doing this - we're helping control the quality of the fresh apple making its way to you and your home.  This is also the reason some varieties may run out for a day or two.  We pick what is ripe, when it's ripe.  If we sell all the ripe ones we still have to wait for more apples to ripen before we pick them.  
We do our best to keep a consistent stock but it can be difficult with certain varieties.  Now that we've started the Macintosh and Cortland apples we will ALWAYS have these in stock.  We have enough trees that even with select picking we can keep up with demand  of the Macintosh and Cortland. We appreciate your patience with this and I really do try to keep you all as informed as possible daily on the orchard's Facebook page.  Also - if you're concerned about a certain variety - don't hesitate to call us before heading out for the visit (608-635-4780).

It’s time to get back at my saucesational analysis!  I went through the list of apples I hadn’t analyzed on my blog yet and the first to ripen is the Arlet, aka Swiss Gourmet.  So, I peeled/cored/sliced some Arlet apples up and put them into my trusty pot.

 

Arlet is described to be ‘A modern apple for people with a modern taste.’  I’m going to have to say that I must not be very modern as it definitely is too tart for me (don’t forget though – I’m a sweet apple girl).  Jared and Diane both really enjoy this apple though.  And we’ve also had many customers from last season coming in looking for that apple that started with ‘Swiss …’  which is Swiss Gourmet aka Arlet.

Anyway – it cooked down into a chunkier sauce, definitely browning up slightly in color (which doesn’t bother me) and had a full bodied taste that was on the tarter end of my taste bud spectrum.  I wouldn’t say it is a horrible sauce but a few sweeter varieties mixed in (like the ginger gold and or silken) would definitely create a sauce with a lot of depth and flavor. 

Have you ventured into our ‘magical fairy walkway yet?’ (It’s the covered portion between the two sheds on your way back to the goats.  When we had that installed I made sure they used some translucent roofing so the sun would still shine through.  Diane has done an amazing job at making the plants, creative planters and fairy garden items make the walkway a completely magical experience. 

If you want to take a piece of that magic home and trying it out  - we have our succulent mugs for sale in the shop (or if you prefer one in the magical walkway that’s fine too). 

I took this ‘vine’ right after we opened the store on Saturday morning when things were quiet at the orchard.

The store opens when we change the wood sign at the entrance. 

There were LOTS of gorgeous raspberries just waiting to be picked or eaten.

Apples were polished and sorted to be put into bags for the customers to pick up.

Caramel apples, apple cider donuts, and honey were all made up and stocked up for you all to enjoy! 

Welcome to Lapacek’s Orchard.

A few years ago we introduced our limited edition chocolate chip caramel apple.  We call it ‘limited edition’ because we’re still not able to 100% predict the ratio of chocolate chip/plain/nut caramel apples we need to make each time.  We do have the nut/plain ratio pretty much figured out but the chocolate chips throw a wrench into things a bit.  I personally love the chocolate chip ones – it’s like a Rolo covered apple – yummy!

Anyway – I had to post this picture of Capri.  Capri is our 6 year old and she is truly a HUGE helper at the orchard.  She is in charge of picking all of our baby tomatoes and she does a great job at keeping up with the patch. She also LOVES to help Papa (aka Jared) make caramel apples.  She has two jobs – taking the plains of the tray that they ‘dry’ on and putting them into the packages and labeling all the packages.  This girl can actually focus and do the task with little to no whining.  The other morning she was a super helper and she earned her very own actual chocolate chip caramel apples.  (We’ll often cut up a caramel apple into slices for the girls to each but they rarely get their own big caramel apple).  She insisted in eating it the traditional way one eats a caramel apple – on a stick.  Good luck Capri!

Overall, Monday was a gorgeous day.  We did have a few boughts of rain though.  One of those was a crazy downpour just before we closed for the day.  When I went to the house – here’s the shot I took looking east from the orchard …

We’re having a ‘please don’t squeeze my apples’ #selfie contest this month (September) at the orchard!

Take a #selfie of yourself in your very own ‘please don’t squeeze my apples’ t-shirt from Lapacek’s Orchard!  Use hashtag #pleasedontsqueezemyapples #selfie #lapaceksorchard on instagram and/or twitter and/or share your picture to the orchard facebook wall to be entered!

You can enter the #selfie contest once/week in September (up to 4 chances to win)!

One person will win $15 to use at the orchard during the 2014 season (Basically you would get your t-shirt for free!)  Winners will be chosen at random and announced at the beginning of October.  Have fun with this little contest!

 

Don’t have one of our fabulous t-shirts yet?  Stop by and purchase one – we have sizes YXS to Adult 3XL available in our shop.

Just can’t wait and want one shipped to you!  Just order below!

RED T-shirts can be purchased with this widget:

Size

Child XS - Red $15.00 USD Child S - Red $15.00 USD Child M - Red $15.00 USD Child L - Red $15.00 USD Adult S $15.00 USD Adult M $15.00 USD Adult L $15.00 USD Adult XL $15.00 USD Adult 2XL $18.00 USD Adult 3XL $18.00 USD