Hello, everyone! I know it's been awhile since I posted. I think things are starting to slow down at the store and I've been savoring a little bit of laziness. Things at the apples store are going very well. We still have LOTS of apples, cider, and caramel apples, so don't hesitate to stop by to get some more.

This is the last week for the farmer's markets. I was at DeForest on Tuesday night and wow, it was cold! I enjoyed being there and I think it went very well considering it was the first year that DeForest has had a market. It always help when the community is so enthusiastic and supportive of the markets. Frank went to Waunakee for the last time last night and it sounds like it went well (I haven't been to the store yet for a full report). I have the very last market at Sun Prairie this Saturday. The weather forecast looks a bit nicer than it did for me on Tuesday night. If you miss us at any of these markets don't forget that our store will be open until at least the day before Thanksgiving!

I have been crafting like crazy in anticipation of our upcoming holiday hoedown at the orchard. I have a few new listings on my etsy site: www.kimscraftyapple.etsy.com. Also, Diane has created a new page on our website with more details of the craft sale: http://merr.com/users/lapacek/crafts.htm. We hope to see you there!

Kids are calling...write more soon!

Well, I have one more market to go to in Deforest and two in Sun Prairie. If anyone is thinking about buying bushels to make sauce or freeze apples please call us SOON and I will deliver them to the markets for you. Also, don't forget that cider freezes wonderfully!



I know everyone will be sad when the markets are done for the year but don't hesitate to take a ride up to our store. We will be open until at least Thanksgiving. Depending on how many apples we have left at that point we may remain open a bit longer...we'll have to see and we'll be sure to keep you posted.



I'm happy to say that we have additional schools that we are providing apples to this fall for the kids' lunches. Not only do we still provide them to Waunakee, Poynette and Rio schools, but Fall River and Middleton schools have also added us onto there lunch menu. Reports have been great that the students continue to enjoy there fresh, locally grown apples! We will continue to provide these schools with apples until the end of the semester.



The guys are still picking apples for us. They've been working on Red Delicious, Cameo (yum!), Jonagold, Empire, Idared, Jonathons, and probably a few others that I'm forgetting. We're thinking that picking will be done at the end of the week but our cooler is stocked up with lots of apples for your enjoyment. We still have 16 varieties of apples for you to choose from.



The pick your own pumpkin patch has been quite a hit! Lots of families are stopping to go for a nice walk on our farm to get to the patch.



On Saturday, my sitter, Kelsey, took my girls to a farm festival and below is an adorable picture of Cedi right after she bobbed for apples!

are we busy... I don't even think I can properly describe just how busy we are right now, but I'll just give you an example of my girls' babysitting schedule today. They went to Denise's in the morning around 8 for the day (normal). I picked them up at 4, one of my weekend sitters, Ashley came to the orchard around 4:15 and watched them unitl 6. Then they go to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa until about 6:15/6:30 when they were dropped off once again at Denise's. I picked them up around 8:30ish. We had to do this so we could get apples sorted for our crazy large caramel apple order and do everyday store type things during the day. Frank had to go to Waunakee for the Farmer's Market and at the same time Jared and I had to make cider and Diane had to watch the store. Typically, after 6:00, Diane and Frank would just watch the girls, but this being the only night of the month that they have there Badgerland Produce Auction meeting that didn't quite work out and they went to Denise (thank you again Denise!).

On tap for tomorrow: Caramel Apples, picking (my parents are coming to help...thanks mom and dad!), sorting, more caramel apples

I apologize if this blog doesn't make sense...I need to go to bed...

On a sad note, I have to report that the gala's are all sold out for the season. Make sure to try a Cameo when you come in...I'm a huge Gala Girl and I am really enjoying the cameo's right now...

Hello All! I'm taking a quick breather to update you on the lastest happenings in the orchard! Jared got today off from work and picked apples all day...I looked outside and the trailer is really full! I came with him in the morning to help pick and we started on the Gala's. They're absolutely beautiful and delicious! Then we decided to see how the Honeycrisp were doing...well, they are DONE, READY, JUICY, DELICIOUS, and we picked them. They are currently for sale on the shelves of our store.

After I finished picking some apples I went to the store to help Diane sort and run the store. Our neighbors were busy getting things out for our upcoming garage sale (starting tomorrow and running through Saturday). We stayed fairly busy throughout the afternoon. Frank headed out to the Waunakee market and we got the first of our pumpkins out. It's really starting to look like fall at the orchard!

Well, I have a few minutes to grab a bite to eat! Hope to see you soon!

Hello All! It was a rainy day at the orchard. Not a lot of customers but we got a lot of those little things done before we get super busy. The rain was also really needed so that makes not being able to pick a bit easier to handle. I brought some new jewelry to the store today...these funky chunky necklaces that I've been making. I've heard MANY requests for more necklaces so I've been trying to fulfill that request. I also hung up labels for the new hoodies that we dyed. They are hanging up high in the 'craft & veggie' room so don't be afraid to look up when you walk in.

One of the things we've been working on lately is to try and get our apples out and into the local schools. Waunakee bought our apples for the entire fall semester last year and they reported that twice as many apples were being eaten and that they were seeing less in the garbages. We are continuing to provide apples to them this year. Rio picked up a delivery for some apples today and we will be delivering some to Poynette on Monday. I have a call into DeForest to see if they are interested as well. It's nice to be able to support our LOCAL schools with food that can be produced in there area. Hopefully this works out for everyone!

Enjoy the rest of this wonderfully rainy day!

So, I know this is a bit strange...I live on an apple orchard with TONS of apples and I only like a few varieties...gala, honeygold (we only have limited quantities) and now another variety...SANSA! Yeah! I now LOVE 3 out of the 37 varieties and like about 5-6 (I can also eat fireside, tolman sweet, and late season paula reds (when there nice and sweet). Unfortunately, this is the first year we've gotten any sansa's and they are TINY (which, ironically, I also love small apples) and we don't have very many. Frank and Diane picked all they have at there orchard...about 6 (I ate 3 today...plan on finishing those off tomorrow) and I had Jared check ours. He said we'll have maybe about 10 lbs total this year, but they are not ready over here yet. Basically, this is just a teaser for next year. Something for all of you sweet apple lovers to look forward to trying. But the word in the orchard is there are quite a few honeygolds' so at least there will be a few options this season.

The girls went to a sitter today and I was able to get LOTS done at the orchard. I sorted Frank's apple's for the Waunakee market...haven't heard how that went yet, put up a window screen display of some of my $4 earrings, did some work for the orchard on the computer, laminated signs, sorted more apples, and helped customers. Overall, it was a very productive day. As I was sorting some Ginger Gold's, Diane read my mind and brought down a bowl of popcorn from the house. It was delish! The perfect afternoon snack.

No word on how the caramel apples yet fared at the market, so I'm going to assume for the time being that we don't have to make more tonight...we'll see if that changes. Hope to see you all soon! I'm going to go put my girls to bed and then myself!

Yes, that's right, Jared and I just finished our very first batch of caramel apples. We made 72 with nuts and 27 without nuts. We're hoping they last through tomorrow...through Thursday would be nice, but I'm guessing we'll be making more tomorrow night.

I worked at the store this morning with Frank, Diane, Cedi and Capri. While Capri was napping Cedi helped me make some 5 lb bags of red potatoes. She did really good until she decided it might taste as good as an apple...turns out it's "ucky" when it's not cooked! The store is really starting to come together. It's pretty exciting. I made some really cute infant hats with flowers sewn on them that I just put in the store. Tomorrow we should really be able to make some progress since the girls are going to a babysitter for the day.

Frank will be heading down to Waunakee for the farmer's market tomorrow night. It's been decided that I will take DeForest on Tuesday and Sun Prairie on Saturdays. Frank likes the Waunakee market so he was fine with taking a day of them. He's quite the talker so feel free to stop by and say 'hi' if you're at the market tomorrow.

Had a few people asking about cider. Well, there's none yet. We're thinking probably the week after Labor Day...maybe that weekend. The key to a good batch of cider is to have as much of a variety of apples as possible. You get a really good flavor when you combine all the unique taste's together. It takes us a little while into the season to get enough of a variety to make cider worth selling. We'll definately keep you posted about when some will be available.

I'm going to head to bed! Take care and see y'all soon!