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Showing posts with label story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label story. Show all posts
Monday, August 31, 2009
Kim, The Auction and the Baking Sheets
“Honey, how many baking sheets did you buy again?” asked Jared just a few minutes ago as he saw the stack I had brought over from his mom’s earlier today.
I have to start this post off with a minor disclaimer…I AM a SHOPPER! I love, love, love, love, love, love, LOVE to shop. And…I love to get a good deal (remember the mixer?). You can probably imagine the thrill I have when I attend an auction and there’s always the possibility of getting a GREAT deal…and you can decide for yourself if that deal is good or not.
During the summer of 2006, Diane, Frank and I attended the Wild Berry Farm auction. Wild Berry was a fabulous eco-tourism place close to our orchard that had to close for personal reasons and everyone was very sad to see this happen. We were all lined up at the door the day of the auction. If I remember correctly, it was hot out (I was also pregnant with Cedi at the time) and there was a lot of stuff to get through. We had our eye on a few things for certain…caramel apple packages, sticks for caramel apples, some of the tractors if the price was right, stainless steel baking sheets for making caramel apple making easier and whatever else seemed like a good deal.
I got myself my very own bid number and was ready to go. Frank also had his number. We split up so we could cover more ground and there were two auctioneers running. I bought a few things (one of my best deals was a super heavy table for only $1 that we still use to hold apples today!), grabbed a hot dog from the food vending cart, and got ready for the inside auction – displays, appliances, and things to make baking easier. We had a couple of smaller stainless steel trays that we used for caramel apple making…but I thought a few big ones would be great. Diane had me prepared on what we paid for our smaller ones and I had a price in my head as to what to bid to.
Once the room filled with people it was a bit difficult to hear what exactly was going on, but I thought I would be okay. Finally…the baking sheets (everything else I thought I wanted was going way too high for me). The bid started out low, I raised my hand…it was mine. No one else was moving…going once, going twice, SOLD! Yeah! I won the bid. Okay, now they have to ask me how many I want…oh wait…they had said that you had to bid on TWENTY of them!?! What am I go to do with TWENTY commercial sized cookie sheets (that’s right…they don’t even fit into a normal oven)? Not only that but the great ‘low’ price I got on the cookie sheets was now times by 20! Time to go home – I was done bidding for the day. I loaded my baking sheets into my car and went home and took a nap.
To answer my husband’s question from earlier, “Twenty…I bought twenty…”
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Case of the Missing String Cheese
Tonight, Cedi and I were watching 'The Little Mermaid' and we asked Pappa Daddy (Jared) to get us each a piece of string cheese since he was over in the kitchen. He came about four-feet from us and then tossed me the string cheese. I have no hand-eye coordination so obviously I didn't catch them both.
One of the string cheeses' amazingly fell in the crack of our sofa that is next to impossible to retrieve things from (we've already pulled a few upholstery staples out to retrieve the remote). Now the fun began. Of course, the string cheese was not reachable at first (but we did find our missing DVD remote!). Jared decided he would lift the other end of the couch up to shake the cheese over the side more...in doing this he knocked over our lamp which proceeded to shatter all over the floor. I immediately grabbed both the girls and held them clothes while Jared stopped his search for the string cheese and swept the glassy mess up....I then handed the girls to him while I vaccuumed-just in case (glad I did).
One more lift of the couch and the string cheese has been found!
When Pappa Daddy (Jared) gave the almost lost cheese stick to Cedi, her response was, "I don't want this cheese."
A perfect ending to a fun search! We had to laugh.
One of the string cheeses' amazingly fell in the crack of our sofa that is next to impossible to retrieve things from (we've already pulled a few upholstery staples out to retrieve the remote). Now the fun began. Of course, the string cheese was not reachable at first (but we did find our missing DVD remote!). Jared decided he would lift the other end of the couch up to shake the cheese over the side more...in doing this he knocked over our lamp which proceeded to shatter all over the floor. I immediately grabbed both the girls and held them clothes while Jared stopped his search for the string cheese and swept the glassy mess up....I then handed the girls to him while I vaccuumed-just in case (glad I did).
One more lift of the couch and the string cheese has been found!
When Pappa Daddy (Jared) gave the almost lost cheese stick to Cedi, her response was, "I don't want this cheese."
A perfect ending to a fun search! We had to laugh.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Adventures in Cider Making
Last night, Jared and three friends made LOTS and LOTS of cider (I had to watch the girls). So, I was in bed by the time the rest of this happened. On the way over to the store to deliver the cider, the truck ran out of gas (about a mile away). Jared had a little bit of gas in the truck for his chainsaw so he put that in...now the battery was dead. Jared left the truck and ran back to the house and got some more gas, jumper cables and more gas. His buddy Al drove one of the vehicles to deliver and they made it back safely.
Just another example of our fun lives :)
Just another example of our fun lives :)
Friday, October 17, 2008
Locked Car, Sorting Mishap, Caramel Apples, and More!
A few days ago, Frank's car thief skills were put to test...this time he failed. He was unable to unlocked someone's car after they had locked there keys inside. Luckily, the nice lady lived just in town and Diane took her home to grab her spare keys. The situation was resolved quickly and she kindly gave us some Beet Jelly for our troubles...yum!
Yesterday we were busy sorting for our caramel apple orders and the final produce auction (that was this morning) when I noticed smoke and that the sorting grids were not moving. I quickly turned off the machine, we moved the leaves away (no real fire started...just a few small flames) and avoided complete disaster. Unfortunately, our sorting machine no longer worked and we still had 10ish bushels to sort for the market and stock our store. Frank was on his way home from picking and he took the motor out and brought it to Columbia Electric to be fixed. The people were very kind up there and managed to fix it by early this afternoon for us. Luckily, we have a 'back-up' sorter that we could run our apples through...we just have to do a bit more hand sorting. We survived this dilemma and we have an order in for a back up motor in case this is to ever happen again (which we should've already had...)!
Jared and I are making caramel apples...again. I think this is just what our lives are going to be like for the next week or so...they've been a real hit. The last of the limited edition mixed nuts are at the store. If you want one make sure to stop in soon.
I'm heading to the Sun Prairie Farmer's Market tomorrow morning. Jared will get to spend a bit of time with our girls in the morning. I'm sure he's looking forward to that...he hasn't gotten to spend much time with them lately.
The weather forecast looks wonderful and we're looking forward to another beautiful, fall weekend. Hope to see you at the orchard!
Yesterday we were busy sorting for our caramel apple orders and the final produce auction (that was this morning) when I noticed smoke and that the sorting grids were not moving. I quickly turned off the machine, we moved the leaves away (no real fire started...just a few small flames) and avoided complete disaster. Unfortunately, our sorting machine no longer worked and we still had 10ish bushels to sort for the market and stock our store. Frank was on his way home from picking and he took the motor out and brought it to Columbia Electric to be fixed. The people were very kind up there and managed to fix it by early this afternoon for us. Luckily, we have a 'back-up' sorter that we could run our apples through...we just have to do a bit more hand sorting. We survived this dilemma and we have an order in for a back up motor in case this is to ever happen again (which we should've already had...)!
Jared and I are making caramel apples...again. I think this is just what our lives are going to be like for the next week or so...they've been a real hit. The last of the limited edition mixed nuts are at the store. If you want one make sure to stop in soon.
I'm heading to the Sun Prairie Farmer's Market tomorrow morning. Jared will get to spend a bit of time with our girls in the morning. I'm sure he's looking forward to that...he hasn't gotten to spend much time with them lately.
The weather forecast looks wonderful and we're looking forward to another beautiful, fall weekend. Hope to see you at the orchard!
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Sunday, May 11, 2008
Pantless Sorter: An Adventure from Lapacek’s Orchard
It was a hot, but beautiful day, once again at the orchard. Diane (my mother-in-law) and I were sorting apples while some of our customers were feeding the cows, checking out the emus and exploring the orchard. Diane was sorting the apples into ‘cider’ and ‘sold-as-is' at the tables and I had just poured in a new bushel to go through the polisher and sizing racks. As I was making sure the apples were going through the polisher I suddenly realized that one of the rotating bars from the machine had caught in the hammer loop of my shorts and was twisting them tighter and tighter on my leg. I screamed. Then I quickly flipped the off switch, which was luckily in arms reach and Diane came over to inspect what was going on. Try as I might I could not untwist my shorts from the bar. We finally realized the only way that I could untwist my shorts would be to actually take them off. Now, the location in which I was stuck had a window directly to the right of me, two clear, glass doors looking into the store, a garage door on my left, and a garage/sliding door behind me. Diane was able to close the garage door but I was still exposed on three sides. Luckily, no one was in the store at the time, but people were outside, about to come in at any minute. Diane was kind enough to grab me one of my 9-month-old daughter’s, Cedi, baby blankets to try to keep me covered up. Diane went into the store to create a distraction in case someone were to come in and I quickly hopped out of my shorts, untwisted them, and ran to the corner to put my shorts back on.
Yes, what happened could have been bad…I could not have been so close to the switch, I could have really injured myself. But, in reality, everything turned out fine and I can’t help laughing about being a ‘pantless sorter’ for a few minutes.
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Adventures in Blueberries
This past weekend Jared, the girls and I were in Michigan to pick up the blueberries that we planned on planting at the Kroncke Road Orchard. When we arrived at Hartmann's Plant Company we discovered that not only did they not have anything ready for us, but they did not have ANY of the varieties that we had ordered. This was quite an annoyance because I had called three previous time to confirm the order and pick up time…including the previous day, only to be told everything was ready. So, they ended up finding us other varieties of blueberries that should grow in this area and they threw in forty extra plants as well. They loaded our van with as many plants as they could (200) and shipped the rest for free since they were not prepped in the boxes they had told us they would be.
Once we left we were still upset about what had just happened and were just mindlessly following the directions of the GPS. About twenty or so minutes into the drive I realized we were heading north…we needed to get to Wisconsin, not Canada so this didn’t make too much sense. Earlier in our trip though, the GPS kept trying to take us off of the freeway and we ignored it thinking the freeway would be faster only to be stuck in construction for thirty to forty-five minutes. After that incident I decided to believe the GPS. Well, it continued to take us farther north and we finally realized that when we had chosen ‘fastest route’ the GPS figured that the fastest route to Wisconsin was if you took the ferry. At this point, we were almost to the dock and figured we might as well check it out and see if that’s what we wanted to do. Also, the girls really did not want to be in the car anymore. Just because nothing could possibly go our way at this point in the trip, when we arrived at the dock, they were just closing the gates and the ferry was leaving…we had missed it by a mere five minutes. The next one wasn’t going to be loading for over five hours. We had a decision to make…either wait it out and let the girls play at the beach or throw them back into the van and drive through Chicago at rush hour. We decided to wait it out. The rest of the day went smoothly…Cedi really enjoyed the sand…she even tasted it (she didn’t enjoy that quite as much) and the ferry ride was really nice. We finally arrive home just after 10. One thing we learned was that next time we were going to chose the option ‘cheapest route’ instead of ‘fastest’.
Once we left we were still upset about what had just happened and were just mindlessly following the directions of the GPS. About twenty or so minutes into the drive I realized we were heading north…we needed to get to Wisconsin, not Canada so this didn’t make too much sense. Earlier in our trip though, the GPS kept trying to take us off of the freeway and we ignored it thinking the freeway would be faster only to be stuck in construction for thirty to forty-five minutes. After that incident I decided to believe the GPS. Well, it continued to take us farther north and we finally realized that when we had chosen ‘fastest route’ the GPS figured that the fastest route to Wisconsin was if you took the ferry. At this point, we were almost to the dock and figured we might as well check it out and see if that’s what we wanted to do. Also, the girls really did not want to be in the car anymore. Just because nothing could possibly go our way at this point in the trip, when we arrived at the dock, they were just closing the gates and the ferry was leaving…we had missed it by a mere five minutes. The next one wasn’t going to be loading for over five hours. We had a decision to make…either wait it out and let the girls play at the beach or throw them back into the van and drive through Chicago at rush hour. We decided to wait it out. The rest of the day went smoothly…Cedi really enjoyed the sand…she even tasted it (she didn’t enjoy that quite as much) and the ferry ride was really nice. We finally arrive home just after 10. One thing we learned was that next time we were going to chose the option ‘cheapest route’ instead of ‘fastest’.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Lapacek Orchard Story
Many people have asked for the story of how our orchard came to be.
In the late 60’s Frank was in the Navy, and was stationed at the Bremerton Naval Base in Washington state. The family of one of his navy buddies had an apple orchard near Wenatchee and the two of them would often go over the mountains to the orchard to help pick apples on weekends. Frank really enjoyed this time and hoped that one day he would have the opportunity to have an orchard of his own.
Frank and Diane met in April of 1976 and were married in December of the same year. As part of a job transfer for Frank, they moved to the state of Washington. On the weekends Frank and Diane spent time at the local orchards and really enjoyed just driving and looking at the beauty that an orchard could provide. Frank told Diane of the times he used to spend picking apples and how he hoped that when they moved back to Wisconsin, they would be able to find land suitable for an apple orchard of their own. In 1979, two of their dreams came true… they had their first child, Frank Jared, who would later be the owner of another orchard, and they purchased the land that would be their very own apple orchard, which you can see today. Frank and Diane planted their first trees the following spring and continued to plant some trees every year until 1989 when about 700 trees were planted.
In the early years of the orchard, not only were all of the apples hand picked (like they are today) they were also hand polished. For several years, the apple cider was made with a hand-cranked press, which can be seen in the store. Jared and his sister, Karma, grew up helping with all parts of the orchard, including selling apples. Prior to the current store, a hayrack was used as a roadside stand, which was often manned by the kids after school. Occasionally someone still comes in and wants to know what ever happened to those tow-headed kids that used to sell them apples.
In 2002, Jared was searching for the perfect home, when another local orchard was put on the market. He decided that this would be the ideal supplement to his full-time job and shortly thereafter he purchased Hazard’s Orchard, which included about 2900 trees.
Today, in order to continue to have a great orchard, trees are replaced annually with young trees, which will produce higher quality fruit with less labor than older trees. A dwarf apple tree’s most fruitful years are over within 20 years. There are now 3 generations of Lapaceks as Jared's wife, Kim, and daughters, Mercedi and Capri are also part of our family business.
In the late 60’s Frank was in the Navy, and was stationed at the Bremerton Naval Base in Washington state. The family of one of his navy buddies had an apple orchard near Wenatchee and the two of them would often go over the mountains to the orchard to help pick apples on weekends. Frank really enjoyed this time and hoped that one day he would have the opportunity to have an orchard of his own.
Frank and Diane met in April of 1976 and were married in December of the same year. As part of a job transfer for Frank, they moved to the state of Washington. On the weekends Frank and Diane spent time at the local orchards and really enjoyed just driving and looking at the beauty that an orchard could provide. Frank told Diane of the times he used to spend picking apples and how he hoped that when they moved back to Wisconsin, they would be able to find land suitable for an apple orchard of their own. In 1979, two of their dreams came true… they had their first child, Frank Jared, who would later be the owner of another orchard, and they purchased the land that would be their very own apple orchard, which you can see today. Frank and Diane planted their first trees the following spring and continued to plant some trees every year until 1989 when about 700 trees were planted.
In the early years of the orchard, not only were all of the apples hand picked (like they are today) they were also hand polished. For several years, the apple cider was made with a hand-cranked press, which can be seen in the store. Jared and his sister, Karma, grew up helping with all parts of the orchard, including selling apples. Prior to the current store, a hayrack was used as a roadside stand, which was often manned by the kids after school. Occasionally someone still comes in and wants to know what ever happened to those tow-headed kids that used to sell them apples.
In 2002, Jared was searching for the perfect home, when another local orchard was put on the market. He decided that this would be the ideal supplement to his full-time job and shortly thereafter he purchased Hazard’s Orchard, which included about 2900 trees.
Today, in order to continue to have a great orchard, trees are replaced annually with young trees, which will produce higher quality fruit with less labor than older trees. A dwarf apple tree’s most fruitful years are over within 20 years. There are now 3 generations of Lapaceks as Jared's wife, Kim, and daughters, Mercedi and Capri are also part of our family business.
The Lean Comes Down
The weather is finally getting nicer and Frank got a chance to clean up the barnyard. The lean caved in when the snow was piled high on it back in December. Mac and Tosh (our emus) use the barn and barnyard for their winter quarters and move out behind the store for the summer and fall. Fortunately, they were safely tucked inside for the night when the lean came crashing down. Frank and Jared tried to clean it up the next day, but there was so much ice and snow that the skidsteer was pretty much useless. So they shoved the debris up in one end and added a gate so Mac and Tosh could still get outside and waited for better weather. It finally got dry enough this week to haul it all away. This afternoon he's out tilling up the ground where the new trees will be planted. Unfortunately, it's supposed to rain again the next couple of days, so I'm not sure if we'll get a start on the planting or not.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
How I (Kim) Became a Lapacek
After my sophomore year of college I was lucky enough to be hired at the civil engineering firm, Mayo Corporation, as an intern. My job as intern required for me to be at work early in the morning, usually by 6 or 6:30. Most people you know would be crabby and need a cup of coffee before you could talk to them—not me. I am a morning person. Every morning I was extremely (and I must emphasize, extremely) bubbly and talkative. From a distance I had seen Jared laughing and talking with the other guys at the firm, but whenever I would come in the room he would quiet up and usually leave. At first, I just thought I was too hyper and happy in the mornings for him to handle, but later I found out that he was just shy around girls. Things all changed for Jared and I one night after work when everyone went to the ‘Come Back In’ for a “Safety Meeting” and a few beers after work. A group of people decided to play darts, but everyone had to have a partner. By the luck of the draw, Jared and I became partners. A few beers took away Jared’s shyness and we realized that we really clicked. After that, we laughed and joked at work all the time and soon started dating.
That fall, I came to pick apples at the orchard and help Jared out. He had just bought the place (formerly Hazard’s Orchard) earlier that year and was realizing just how much there was to do. I proved myself as a good worker and hit it off with his parents right away. In fact, the first time I walked into Jared’s parent’s house, I looked around and saw all the crafty things his mom did and thought to myself, “This woman is going to like me.” Since it was apple season, Diane (Jared’s mom) did not have much time to put something together for lunch so we all sat down and enjoyed some hot dogs. Diane still brags that was our first meal together and I still came back.
Jared and I continued dating until the next apple season when Jared took me to the top of a hill that over looked the country side and proposed. Of course, I said “yes.” I still had two years left to finish college so we decided to wait until I graduated to tie the knot. We were married on June 25th, 2005, a beautiful summer day and have been happy ever since.
That fall, I came to pick apples at the orchard and help Jared out. He had just bought the place (formerly Hazard’s Orchard) earlier that year and was realizing just how much there was to do. I proved myself as a good worker and hit it off with his parents right away. In fact, the first time I walked into Jared’s parent’s house, I looked around and saw all the crafty things his mom did and thought to myself, “This woman is going to like me.” Since it was apple season, Diane (Jared’s mom) did not have much time to put something together for lunch so we all sat down and enjoyed some hot dogs. Diane still brags that was our first meal together and I still came back.
Jared and I continued dating until the next apple season when Jared took me to the top of a hill that over looked the country side and proposed. Of course, I said “yes.” I still had two years left to finish college so we decided to wait until I graduated to tie the knot. We were married on June 25th, 2005, a beautiful summer day and have been happy ever since.
Welcome
Well, we've been talking about it and now I'm finally doing it. I'm starting a blog for Lapaceks Orchard. Some crazy things can happen at the orchard and now we're going to share them with you. Along with news on the trees and apple crop...and probably some updates on my adorable little girls. Yes, girls, plural...we had our second baby girl on February 24th, 2008. She's going to be like her momma...always on time. She decided to join us on her due date and didn't take too much time in doing it. Her name is Capri Grace and was 8 lb 1 oz and 20.5" long. Most of you probably met our other daughter, Mercedi (or Cedi), this past apple season. I would look forward to meeting her again next year...she's starting to talk up a storm and it's just adorable!
Check back later for more news!
Check back later for more news!
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