This is not the first time I’ve made applesauce out of Wolf River apples … it’s just the first time I’ve made time to write up the analysis – whoops! 

Anyway – I’m feeling much more determined to get some of these mid-season apples cooked into applesauce and analyzed for you all!

Wolf River … too big and soft to even put through the apple peeler/corer/slicer so I just cut it into chunks.

On a complete side note – it’s really interesting that the apple flesh started to brown pretty much as soon as it was exposed to air.

I cooked these babies up just like all the rest and it turned into applesauce a few hours later:

I have to say … not my favorite.  It was a sour, dry, almost paste-like texture for applesauce. I think one mixed in with others would create depth (maybe 2 or 3 if the batch is big enough) but I would never use these alone to make applesauce again.  Definitely not a high star rating in the applesauce department for my taste buds.

Happy Saturday morning everyone!  At this point it looks like we’re going to avoid more rain today – whew!  With all the rain we’ve had I do have to warn you – the mosquitoes are BAD! Please dress appropriately if you want to go for a walk through the orchard, pick a pumpkin and/or play on the playground.  Long pants and long sleeves are always a good idea and if you are cool with it – bug spray.

So let’s chat about something serious.  Our honeycrisp apples are selling out – quickly. They were definitely significantly damaged by the frost that hit our orchard in May and its evident as we sort them.  If you want one last bag of honeycrisp before the season is up … come visit us ASAP!

What are you going to do if you get the shop and the honeycrisp are already gone – please – try some other apples!  There are some really good ones ready too!

Here’s the list I recommend trying out before you just decide you’re all done with apples until the 2017 honeycrisp crop:

Melrose – Jared is loving these this year! They are juicy and crunchy with great flavor.  The favorite thing I’ve ready about this apple comes from Adam’s Apple Blog

“If you like sweet and simple, but Honeycrisp is a sugar lump too far, this [melrose] might be your apple.”

(Complete Sidenote:  Have you visited Adam’s Apple blog?  It’s really interesting if you want more insight on TONS of different apple varieties.)

Jonagold – the jonagold is another great one to try after the honeycrisp.  It’s got a great flavor and texture!  Great for eating and cooking – a win/win!

Snow Sweet – WOW!  This is one delicious apple!  It’s not really like the honeycrisp but it’s so good all on it’s own with a unique flavor that we’ve found that pretty much everyone who tries them buys a bag … a big bag!  I have a feeling this apple, once known more, will exceed the demand of the honeycrisp some day.

Alright – if you’re a person that thinks the honeycrisp is a fine apple but not necessarily your first choice … what do we have to offer you?

We’re not quite sure what caused it but the apples are exceptionally good tasting this year!  Our apples are always good … but this year they are just exceeding all of our expectations.  If you like a sweeter apple – we have the fireside, gala, fuji, honeygold, and tolman sweet.  (I would also put the snow sweet in this category but since I’ve already mentioned it.).

Want something that’s sweet and tart – try our hazen, sno, spartan, rebella (a great sauce apple too!), shizuka, arlet, jonathan, crimson gold and smoothee. 

Let’s chat a little bit more about the smoothee apple. The smoothee – we had a school tour on Wednesday morning of this past week … do you remember what the weather was like?  Yup – it was storming – hard!  Luckily, it was a group of 10 kids and we were able to improvise and they still had a fantastic time at the orchard.  And can I just give a little shout out to the 4K students at St. John’s from Pardeeville – what an amazingly well behaved group!  Anyway – back to my point – part of our improvised plan was to let the kids taste test three different apples under the lean, dry from the rain.  They sampled the macintosh, smoothee, and honeycrisp.  Afterwards we asked them there favorites and I would say half chose the smoothee over the honeycrisp! If you are a fan of the golden delicious – this is definitely an apple you want to try.

Are you more of a fan of a tart apple?  No worries!  We have the varieties for you too!  Give the crimson crisp, Bonnie’s Best, haralson, and empire a try.  The Macintosh and Cortland are still in there tart/crisp phase of there life so if you like them for eating – it’s still time!

And with that I think I’ve covered all the apples in the shop … We have some great pumpkin patches this year so I hope you keep that in mind as you’re collecting pumpkins. There is also quite a variety of winter squash, pie pumpkins, and decorative fall items from gourds to Indian corn to adorably tiny pumpkins.

What else is happening in our neighborhood?

This weekend is the official start of the season at Creek Bed Country Farmacy!  This fantastic corn maze and outdoor play area is located just about 3 miles from our place … a perfect opportunity to spend your day enjoying the non-rainy day in the country!

Creek Bed Country Farmacy will have the Soggy Prairie Boys performing 1-3 to celebrate the official start.  Sounds like a great time to me!

A little interesting fact … my husband, Jared, is not only a great farmer but he’s also a land surveyor at Burse Surveying & Engineering.  Every spring Julie from the Farmacy sends Jared the plan for the maze.  He programs it into CAD so once the corn has grown a bit he can go in and use his total station to cut out the design.  It’s a great partnership between farms!  This years theme is “Country Barn Dance”!

September 24th Events nearby:

Brew-B-Que in Lodi

Heritage Fest in Windsor

And with that – you have your weekend forecast!  I hope the orchard is in your plans!

PS!  Have you gotten our new app yet? It’s called “Apple Love” and it’s meant to be a companion to you on your visit or before you visit to get you more informed about all the apples we have.  Each morning I will update what apples are “In Season” (in the shop now), “See you Next Year” (done for the 2016 season), and “Coming Soon” (apples we have to pick).  If we sell out of apples during the day I won’t be able to update the app until the morning. 

Okay – truth time.  The “Bella” apples real name is “Rebella” but I just think it’s the worst name ever so I’ve decided to call it a Bella apple.

I realized that there are bunch of mid-season apples that I haven’t done my “Saucesational” analysis on yet – time to get too it!

I peeled/cored/sliced the Bella apples and put them in my little crock pot to see how it worked.

 I’m happy to say that this apple makes a great sauce.  It has a great texture that’s a bit chunky but not hard.

The flavor is fabulous as well!  It’s almost a tangy flavor … lots of depth with a little sweet and a hint of tart.  Definitely an apple I would use again (or be happy to mix in with others) to make a delicious sauce!

Happy Saturday morning from Lapacek’s Orchard everyone!  Today’s forecast will be a little less extensive than last as I of course am running behind this morning.  There’s still a lot of great info on last weeks though so be sure to check it out HERE to find out more.  I do my best to keep the apple varieties that are in the shop listed on the upper left of the blog. The weekends here get a bit crazy so I’ll update whenever I get a moment but if it says low it may run out before I have a chance to take it off the list.

Apples to try this weekend …

Arlet – a modern apple for a modern taste.  This apple has a unique sweet/tart flavor.  It didn’t make it commercially because it’s prone to russetting on the skin – which really doesn’t effect the apple at all … just the look.

Rebella – We have a decent crop of these great apples this season so be sure to give them a try.  As I was researching farther into them I read that they are insensitive to frost … which helps explain why they don’t seem as affected as some of the other varieties.  Just a random fun fact I guess.

Crimson Crisp – these are sort of hidden in the shop … but are a fabulous apple!  They are tart and crisp and soon to be your new favorite apple!

Shizuka – not only does this apple have a fabulous name to say … but it has a wonderfully, appealing sweet-tart flavor.  Definitely add these to your list of apples to sample.

Our pumpkin patches are officially open!  Grab a wagon if you see one around the shop or bring your own!  Head out into the patches (you can find out where by grabbing a map), weigh your pumpkins at our pumpkin weigh station under the lean, mark the sheet you find at the station appropriately, put your pumpkins in your vehicle, and bring the sheet you marked into the shop to pay!  It sounds complicated but it’s really pretty simple … we’re just trying to avoid everyone lugging their pumpkins into the shop if we possibly can!

We have some pie pumpkins and winter squash to get you started!  We haven’t picked it all yet but we have picked what’s ripe so far.

Our instagram challenge is #orchardbeauty – see if you can take a picture at the orchard that captures the random beauty you find like Karmen Lindner did with the bench HERE and the door HERE.

See you at the orchard for some apples and fun!  Hope you enjoyed this weekends Orchard Forecast!

PS – I will be watching my phone a bit for texting as I work the register this morning … both of my girls are competing at there first gymnastics meet this season.  Luckily I have an amazing support system and there aunt is able to take them but she’ll be texting me there scores throughout the day!  Thanks for understanding!

Good morning everyone!  I’m going to start a new blogging series for the next few weeks – a weekend forecast!  Now, I will probably mention the weather a little bit but it’s mostly going to be about what apples are here, what’s running low, the one you need to try, etc.  I’ll also mention if there is anything else fun in our area happening that I know about in case you want to make a few stops on your trip up or back from here.

It’s wet and rainy as I put this post together but the forecast looks like it’s going to dry out.  The clouds will stay with us … but so will the cooler weather and I’ll take that!  It’s a perfect day to get apples for baking and cider to sip on!

The different variety of apples on our shelves grew drastically over the last few days!  I’m struggling to find more room for them all!  (a good problem to have!)

Of course you’ve probably heard that the Honeycrisp are here.  These are the only apples we don’t sampl e – they’re that good that you’ll just have to trust us that you’ll like there juicy, crisp flavor.  I guess I would categorize it as a sweet apple but there is just a hint of tartness about it.  The thing about the Honeycrisp is that pretty much everyone likes them … people that like sweet apples like them and people that like tart apples like them … they’re just a really good apple.  We have about half of the crop of honeycrisp we had last year so we should be fine for about two to three weeks.  I wouldn’t recommend waiting until October to get your fix.

We also have our classics the MacIntosh and Cortland apples.  We have quite a few of these this season and they are at their prime right now – crisp and tart!  If you are imagining the Mac’s to be a sweet, softer apple be sure to give the fresh, just-of-the-tree Mac’s a try.  I’m pretty sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  Both of these apples are considered staples in a baker’s world.  MacIntosh are going to mush down when backed and Cortland’s are going to hold their shape. Another fun fact about the Cortland is that it doesn’t naturally brown quickly after being cut … this might be a great solution to your child’s lunch!

If Zestar’s!, Paulared, Ginger Gold, or Jonamac are you favorites – come in this weekend!  We just have a few bushels left.  Paulared’s are in their prime for sauce making!!!!

We had a few popular varieties get hit really hard with the frost … just a few bushels of each and that’s before we sort out the visible frost damage.  If you want Cox Orange Pippin, Wolf River, NW Greening or Smokehouse get here ASAP!  They’ll be gone before you know it!

The Silken’s are in and we have a great crop of them this year!  It’s no secret that Silken’s are my favorite apple.  They’re sweet, tender, and delicious.  I don’t feel like the skin is too thick which I really appreciate in an apple.  I don’t like to be still chewing the skin after the juicy, delicious part is already in my belly.  I would classify Sliken’s as a purely sweet apple – there is absolutely no tartness to them!

Want to try something different?  We have the Frostbite apples ready.  We don’t have TONS and TONS of them so I’m guessing if folks read this they’re going to go pretty fast.  Frostbites are definitely a unique apple – they are small and they have an odd flavor, reminiscent of sugar cane.  I would recommend sampling these before you purchase because it’s one of those apples you’ll either love or hate.

Golden Supreme!  These are considered an “Early Golden Delicious” and I would say 90% of folks who have tried them so far this year have purchased a bag.  I would call them a sweet/tart apple airing on the side of sweet.  A great crisp, great flavor, and a gorgeous apple!

Other fan favorites are the arlet (swiss gourment) and crimson crisp.  I would classify arlet in the sweet/tart category airing on the tart side.  I love it’s description – a modern apple for a modern person.  Crimson Crisp are a small, tart apple.  We don’t have TONS of either of these apples but I imagine if you stop in this weekend you’ll be able to get a bag or two.

Some great tart apples we have are the Haralson and Wealthy apples – great for eating and baking!  If you’re a “tart person” these apples are for you!

The Jonathan apples are also in.  We have an “okay” crop of these apples.  I would also classify these as a tart, hard apples.  These are actually great grandma’s favorite! Great for eating and they do make a wonderful applesauce.  If you leave the skins on it makes a beautiful, delicious sauce!

We baked apple cider donuts for hours later into last night so they’ll be ready for you today!  Freshly pressed, unpasteurized, unpreserved apple cider is in our cooler is here waiting for you to take home to enjoy during the Badger Game!  Grab a caramel apple or two to snack on later!  It’s not secret that our caramel apples are HUGE! We actually like to put ours on a plate and cut it up into slices to have the whole family enjoy … a little less messy with the kiddo’s too.  Still hungry?  Just cut up another one!

Other Local Events

I know that when I go places it’s nice to know about other things happening in the area – so that’s what I’m going to tell you about!

Pardeeville Gymnastics Practice Meet – My girls will not be helping at the orchard today as they’ll be up in Pardeeville.  Two will be competing the practice meet and Pip will be helping hold up scores.  This is a great opportunity to not only see what my girls have worked super hard accomplish but also gives you a chance to check out the gym and see what it has to offer for your family. The meet starts at 10:30!

Creekbed Country Farmacy – there’s a fabulous corn maze/pumpkin patch just down the road from us! This weekend is the start of their “preview weekends”.  Open today, September 10th and tomorrow, September 11th from 11am to 5pm with the corn maze and playground only.  They officially open for the season on September 24th.

Rock N Wool Winery – a fantastic winery is open just on the north side of Poynette, about 8 minutes from the orchard.  The owners also happen to be our uncle and cousin.  You won’t be disappointed after visiting this gorgeous winery located inside a renovated sheep barn. The work they’ve done is stunning and the wine they make is delicious!   I texted Shaun (the owner) to see if anything special is happening today and he said, “It’s harvest so the whole place smells like fresh wine.  Live music today and ice cold cider bin.”  Sounds great to me! Open today from noon to 8pm.  Sunday’s 12-5.

Sassy Cow Creamery -  There is a delicious creamery not too farm from us!  It’s SO worth the trip!  Stock up on milk, cheese, and ice cream!  My personal favorites are S’mores and Blueberry Cheesecake!  Although you really can’t go wrong with any of the flavors!  Open 9-7 on Saturday and Sunday 11-6.

The Yahara Riverfest is happening in DeForest from 12-5 today.  I’ve never been able to attend myself but I’ve heard great things.  Also I know that one of the groups will be selling our apple cider donuts as part of their fundraiser!

Badger Game – Kickoff is at 2:30!  Cheer on my alma mater (the Badgers) for me!

Quilt Expo – not really near the orchard but it is the last day for the Quilt Expo down at Alliant Energy Center. Both myself and Diane have quilts hanging in the show.  I also put up a special exhibit at the show – 192 twenty-inch quilts.

And that’s this weekends forecast!  I hope you found it helpful!

If you know of an event or place folks should visit around or near the orchard please email me!  lapaceksorchard@gmail.com

Many folks visit our place, come into the shop and compliment me on how beautiful the gardens are. 

I always let them know that I have no claim in that – it’s all my mother-in-law (and maybe a little my girls) that makes the outside gardens look as beautiful as they do!

I’m probably one of the only farmer’s that has a black thumb and can’t make anything grow!

My mother-in-law, Diane, shared a great story about some of the flowers that are planted in our garden.  A customer of the orchard had extra Dahlia’s and didn’t know what she was going to do with them.  Her granddaughter suggested that she bring them to the orchard so we could plant them.  The grandmother thought it was a great idea and Diane just happened to be out and about at the orchard when they dropped them off.  They are now growing beautifully here for you all to admire.