Christmas/New Years Eve

We will be closing at 3pm on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve and will be closed all day Christmas Day and New Years Day. All other hours remain the same.

For additional information including availability please call the farm @ (845) 255-0693.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Winter Showroom

Now that Thanksgiving is over and the cold weather is really setting in, we're moving our sales room down back like we always do. We'll have apples, cider, honey and maple syrup all winter, but you'll have to swing down back to get it. Don't worry, it's easy to find. Just follow the signs.

Winter Hours:
M-F: 9:30 - 5:00
Sat: 9:00 - 4:00
Sun: 11:00 - 4:00

November Update

We hope everyone had a fun, safe and festive Halloween Weekend!

Now that it's November, a lot of things change around the farm. Pick-Your-Own is officially over for the year. Thanks again to EVERYONE who came and made it such a great season! If you're really still super-eager to pick something you'll have to wait until strawberry season in June 2011.

Despite PYO being closed, the roadstand will remain open on its normal hours (9:30-5:00 all week) and will still have apples, cider, donuts, pies, etc. After Thanksgiving we'll do our normal winter re-location to the warehouse down back, but there's still a few weeks before we have to worry about that.

Once again, thanks to everyone who came picking this year. Don't forget to share your memories by uploading any photos from the farm to our facebook page at www.facebook.com/dresselfarms. Weather-wise it was by far the nicest year we've had in a long time and we hope you enjoyed it.

Just about done

This weekend, October 30th & 31st, will be the final weekend of Pick-Your-Own apples and pumpkins for the year. We do still have apples available for picking, especially Granny Smith and Fuji. If you're looking for baking apples we also have Romes available.

The roadstand continues to be open daily from 9:30 to 5:30 with all varieties of apples, fresh-pressed Dressel Farms cider, honey, maple syrup, and fresh Apple Cider Donuts.

As a special bonus, come dressed in a costume this Saturday or Sunday and mention this post at the ice cream stand to get a free small cone! (one cone per costumed person)

Happy Halloween!

There's a chill in the air

It's been a great harvest so far, but it's not quite over yet. October 2010 is a rare month as it has 5 full weekends, so we still have 4 more days of pick-your-own left.

This weekend (23rd-24th) will still have plenty of apples left on the trees for picking. Prime varieties include Fuji, Romes, Granny Smith and Staymen/Winesap. We also have some Golden Delicious, Red Delicious and Mutsu/Crispen left as well.

The picking on Halloween weekend will depend on how cold the nights get between now and then. We will definitely be open the 30th and 31st with PYO pumpkins and apples, as well as the roadstand with all your fall favorites.

Call ahead for availability if you're concerned. (845) 255-0693

The Heart of the Season

This past weekend was a great one. Thanks to everybody who came to the farm on one of the most beautiful October weekends I can remember.

This weekend is Columbus Day, which means we'll be open Saturday, Sunday AND Monday with PYO! If you're planning on including us in your holiday weekend, we recommend getting here earlier rather than later. This tends to be our most popular weekend of picking, so if you want to beat the crowds you should try to be on the farm between 10 and noon!

By this weekend, most, if not all varieties will be ready to pick. Mutsu/Crispen are finally sweetening up, all of the Fuji are perfect and Staymen/Winesap should also be coming into ripeness. There are still tons of great pumpkins to get for your Halloween decorations, and the cider donut machine won't stop running all weekend.

Check the website for driving directions, pricing and more. If you have comments or photos you would like to share, head on over to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dresselfarms

It's almost October...

September is coming to an end. The days are getting shorter and the air is getting cooler. The leaves are starting to turn and the view of the mountain from our orchard is possibly the best way to take in the autumn colors.

Pick-Your-Own continues through October. By this weekend, most varieties will be ready for picking. Golden Delicious has been coming on slowly, but we think they'll be good to go. The Mutsu are still pretty green and, as always, the Granny Smith and Romes will need a few more weeks.

Chestnuts began to fall last weekend, but any wind this week will surely drop a ton more on the ground. By this weekend you won't be able to walk a step through there without stepping on chestnuts.

The doughnut robot will be running full steam all day and we'll have freshly pressed cider to wash it all down with. To take the chill off, we might even brew up some famous hot mulled cider, too.

It's Pick-Your-Own season, again

If today's cool air doesn't get you in the fall mood then you better come by the farm. We've got PYO up and running every weekend from now until Halloween weekend and I defy you to find a more quintessential autumn activity than visiting an apple orchard.

Apples are running early this year, so we've already got McIntosh, Honeycrisp, Gala, Jonamac, Macouns and even Cortland varieties ready. We've also got fresh cider that we're grinding almost daily now, which also means we've got Luisa's famous Apple Cider Donuts being made every day!

In addition to all of that we also have a great selection of vegetables, peaches and acorn and butternut squash. It looks like it's going to be a great weekend for picking, so stop by and see us!

Early Apples Available

The warm spring has brought everything into maturity almost 10 days early this year. Because of this, we already have Jonamac, Gala and even early strains of Honeycrisp available at the roadstand.

As of now we estimate that Pick-Your-Own will begin Saturday, September 11th; and since everything is coming on so early, we'll be sure to have a great selection of varieties right off the bat including McIntosh, Empire, Gala, Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, Cortland and Macoun.

Hope to see you soon!

Grapes

For the first time ever, we now have our very own seedless table grapes for sale at the roadstand. We currently have 2 varieties- one white (Himrod) and one red (Reliance). These aren't the flavorless Thompson Seedless you buy in the grocery store! Stop by and see what I mean.

Availability Update

The roadstand is open every day from 9:30-5:30 with lots of fresh produce including our very own yellow and white peaches, nectarines, plums, raspberries, summer vegetables (including cucumbers, peppers, summer squash and tomatoes) and sweet corn.

At this point we think the apple season is ~10 days ahead of schedule which means we may be picking our first varieties as early as August 15th. PYO will start in September regardless. We'll keep you notified.

Roadstand Open

We reopened the roadstand today. It will be open daily from now through the fall from 9:30 - 5:30.

We currently have fresh peaches (both yellow and white) as well as plenty of our own fresh summer vegetables and a pile of sweet corn. I don't know about you, but fresh local sweet corn is definitely on my menu for dinner tonight!

The roadstand...

...is not quite ready to open yet. We're cleaning up, picking some peaches, and getting ready to potentially open tomorrow. Check back later for updates!

Grand Reopening

We're getting set to reopen the roadstand this Thursday (7/22) with our very own peaches, raspberries and summer vegetables. This date is tentative pending weather and yields so check back in a couple days for up-to-the-minute info!

Summer Vacation!

Pick Your Own strawberries is officially closed for the season. The next PYO available will be apples in September.

The roadstand is still open daily from 9:30 to 5:30 with berries and cherries, however, it will be closed from July 5th until July 22nd when it will reopen with fresh peaches and vegetables.

PYO Wrap-up

Today will be the last day of PYO strawberries for the season. Once again, thanks to everyone who came to pick. It was a great season and we hope you enjoyed yourselves.

The roadstand remains open for the rest of the week with berries and cherries.

The ice cream stand will remain open daily throughout the summer and we've frozen enough berries to make strawberry sundaes until next June!

Strawberry season is drawing to a close. This weekend (6/26-6/27) will most likely be the last weekend for PYO for the season. Monday we officially go on "day-by-day" status, so if you're planning on trying to pick next week be sure to call before you leave to make sure you're not disappointed when you get here.

Thanks to everyone who's already been here picking for making it a great season. Turnout was fantastic. We hope you all enjoyed picking (and eating) all those berries. We'll see you next June!

Blueberries are in

Blueberries are now available at the roadstand.

We're estimating about a week left for strawberries which falls short of our hopes to make it to July 4th. This is all due to both the warm spring which brought on an early crop as well as the late frost that hindered the quantity of good fruit.

To summarize, now available at the roadstand:
Strawberries
Cherries
Raspberries
Blueberries
(some) Apples/Cider
Honey and Maple Syrup (as always)

Cherries are ready!

I get almost as excited for cherry season as I do for strawberries. Partly because I have cherry trees right next to my house and after work I pick a hand full and sit in my lawn chair with a drink munching cherries and seeing how far I can spit the pits.

But I digress.

Cherries are now available at the roadstand right next to the strawberries. Grab a quart of each and add some diversity to your fruit bowl!

(Sorry, Cherries are not available for PYO. We don't want you getting hurt on the ladders.)

PYO

PYO strawberries will begin this Thursday (6/10) at 6pm.

Hours will be:
EVERYDAY from 8am-noon

AND

Thursday and Friday evenings from 6pm-8pm

Price is $2/lb. For directions to the patch, stop by the roadstand and/or look for the signs along route 208.

Strawberries are available!

Starting today the roadstand will be open daily from 9:30 - 5:30 (or until we sell out) with fresh strawberries. Get here early to ensure you don't miss them!

Pick-your-own will being in about 2 weeks.

Strawberry Update- pt2

Turns out we were able to save a percentage of earlier berries, so the previous estimation was (happily) way off. We are scouting the patches daily to determine how many we berries have ready for picking. At this point we're unsure if we have enough to warrant opening, so the store will be closed at least for today.

Check back regularly as the status of the roadstand is "day-to-day" and we'll surely sell out early for the first few days.

Strawberry Update

As previously reported, the late frost set us back dramatically for strawberry season. Since then we've been meticulously scouting the beds and keeping our fingers crossed for at least a partial crop.

At this point we're still unsure about what kind of yields we will get or when the first berries will be ready, however, we are confident that we will have a much better idea by June 5th. If you're eager to know when you can get your berry fix, check back at the end of next week. We'll be continuously updating so as soon as we know, you'll know.

Thanks

Frost = Bad News

In the early mornings of May 10th and 11th the area experienced isolated patches of fairly severe frost. In the spring, during the early stages of fruit development, frost can cause catastrophic damage with the potential to completely eliminate that years yield. Any temperatures below freezing are dangerous, anything below 30 degrees Fahrenheit is considered killing levels and temperatures below 25 will almost always result in complete loss. The morning of May 11th dipped to 27 degrees from ~4:30 to 5:30am.

While we do have several forms of frost prevention, all are very labor and cost-intensive and none guarantee 100% protection. Unfortunately we were caught completely off guard by the first frost and have suffered substantial damage. We are not completely wiped out, but at this point in time we're estimating that at least 50% of our apple crop is damaged beyond saving. Fortunately, the frost was avoided in our warmer plots, so we do still plan on doing Pick-Your-Own this fall, as well as picking all the orchards that did dodge mother nature's bullet.

As for other fruits, it is still too soon to tell the exact extent of the the damage, but we are fairly sure that nearly 100% of the early varieties of strawberries (e.g. "Early Glow", "Jewel", etc.) were destroyed. This means that the season will be delayed until at least mid-June when we hope the later varieties that have survived will be ready. While it's hard to be certain, it seems like the cherries handled the cold better than anything else, but it will take some time to be sure.

We realize that many of you eagerly await Dressel Strawberries and we'd like you to know that we are just as disappointed as you are with the situation and we are still doing everything we can to bring you the highest quality fruit possible.

We thank you for your understanding and encourage you to continue to check this blog, as well as our Facebook page, for up-to-the-minute information and status updates.

Ice Cream, Anyone?

The ice cream stand will be reopening on Mother's Day- that's Sunday, May 9th!

Hours will be:

Month of May:
Monday - Thursday from 4pm - 9pm
Friday - Sunday from noon - 9pm

May 31st through the summer:
Sunday - Thursday from noon - 9pm
Friday and Saturday from noon - 10pm

Mention this post on Mother's Day and receive a FREE SMALL CONE! Hurray!

Crisp Apples Still Available

While you might not think of March as prime apple time, thanks to modern post-harvest handling technology we still have lots of great, crispy apples available. We're opening new long-term storage rooms every couple weeks so we're never low on good fruit.

If you stop in the retail stand, be sure to ask which apples are fresh from the CA (controlled atmosphere) room to ensure the crispiest (is that a word?) apples we have.

For more information on Controlled Atmosphere, check this out: http://www.usapple.org/consumers/storage.cfm

Honeycrisp

Our Honeycrisp stock is starting to dwindle. You guys are buying 10 bushels every week and we're running out. We figure we've got somewhere between 3 and 4 weeks left, so if you're a Honeycrisp fan you better get your fill soon. After they're gone they won't be back until October!

Twitter

In the interest of technology and all things trendy, Dressel Farms has joined all the Tweeters and created its very own Twitter account. You can follow us @DresselFarms for more frequent (and less wordy) updates on anything and everything happening on the farm. Our tweets will be broadcast on the frontpage of Dresselfarms.com as well as on this page and will also be linked to our Facebook page, so even if you don't have a Twitter account you'll be able to keep more tabs on us than you ever even thought you needed or wanted. Isn't technology ridiculous?

Helping with your resolution

How's that "I'm going to get in shape" resolution going? Need a hand? Check out this link. Apples make the perfect snack. They're healthy AND delicious just the way they are. How many foods can say that?

For all those people like me who didn't make resolutions (or have already given up)- I've got you covered, too. Click here and here. You're welcome.

Our New Building

Recently we've been getting a lot of questions about the large new structure being erected next to the winter sales room. If you've even driven past the farm you've surely seen the frame being put up. Right now it looks something like this:
















To answer your questions, this is eventually going to become a new cold storage building with 4 rooms each of which will be large enough to hold ~12,000 bushels (~1,920,000 lbs). Due to new developments in agricultural technology, as well as our installation of miles of deer fencing, we've increased our yields to the point where our current storage space is insufficient. We've been renting cooler space from another farmer who has exited the market, but we're quickly outgrowing his building as well.

The building will be state-of-the-art allowing us to effectively store apples for up to 10 months while still maintaining the freshness and crispness that meet our high standards. The frame and roof will be completed soon and then in April it will be enclosed and sealed airtight.