Unlike the climate, the weather at Philip Orchards has been reasonable this growing season and, all things considered, we look to have a fairly good crop. We had a minor frost during blossom, which caused some crop loss for Cortlands, Macs, and Red Delicious, but in general there has been enough rain for those trees whose roots run deep to keep photosynthesis busy churning out oxygen for the likes of you and me and sugar to make apples and to trade with the root fungi for nitrogen and other plant delicacies. We have plenty of Empires, Spartans, Macouns, Idas, Jonamacs and Golden Delicious. Our last two surviving  Honey Crisp trees are so cluttered with apples this year you’d think they were “grape apple trees”.

We have had fewer D’Anjou pears this year, possibly due to a pollination issue. To turn blossoms into fruitlets, we rely on native bees, mostly tiny wasps, rather than that energetic invasive species known as the honey bee. These days native bees seem to have trouble getting out of bed and off to work if it’s a cold and wet day. Anyway, bee that as it may, we do have other kinds of pears. Seckels, for example, are back with a vengeance this year, and our Harrow Sweets and Boscs are as plentiful as in previous harvests.

Please take note that starting this harvest we will not be mailing anyone a Philip Orchards postcard like this one telling you when the first picking starts for each variety. We will continue uploading a digital version of it to our website, though, and we will gladly send a copy to anyone who would like to receive it as an email message. We look forward to continuing in this new way our long-standing tradition of sending you in a timely fashion the latest information about an upcoming harvest at Philip Orchards

Thank you for coming to Philip Orchards once again to pick your own apples or pears. Welcome if this is your first time visiting us. Our philosophy is that, when you can pick your own, you can pick the best, and, while doing so, you can also enjoy the beauty and splendor of Nature.

Please remember to give us your email address when you leave, if you wish to receive a digital version of the Philip Orchards postcard in the future. We will email it to you once a year at the end of the summer, a few weeks before the start of the harvest that year.