PEACHES 2020 — II and PEARS CANCELLED

Today I received the bad-but-not-unexpected news that later peaches are in too short supply to be available to us. Given early frost problems (that affected both pears and peaches – I don’t know for sure about apples but expect so) and the hurricane, the late peach crop is coming in at about the volume predicted back in early July when I first contacted the orchard. 
So we won’t have later peaches this year. 

And I have decided not to get pears, either: the trip does not make financial sense.

I really hate to disappoint you. But  . . . I sure do appreciate your support!
Keep an eye on this website as spring gets closer to see if we will again be growing vegetable seedlings, flowering and scented geraniums, heirloom perennials and succulents. I’ll announce our plans as soon as I can get them clearly in mind.

And please watch also for an announcement about 2021 peaches. By mid-July we should be able to have a moderately good sense for how the crop looks next season. I will post an early, preliminary announcement and follow up with an email as plans clarify. Feel free to contact me, too.
And, in addition, please continue to tell your friends about what we do here. This year several folks were referred to us and are happy with our work. We appreciate the referrals, your own support, and your help. 

My best wishes for a safe and healthy winter season.

PEACHES 2020 – II

AUGUST 29, 2020

Good News: there will be a 2020 PEACHES :  Part II 

Several aspects are still unclear but here is what I know now:

1. The peaches will be available “around September 10.” I fully expect box size and price to be same as our most recent offering:  24 lbs per box, and $43 delivered here.
2. I also plan to have additional peaches available in smaller quantities (PROBABLY up to 10 lbs) without pre-ordering.
3. We will be offering Bartlett pears at discounted prices, both by the box and in smaller quantities; these prices have not been set yet, but I will let you know at least three days before orders must be finalized. The discount prices reflect the fact that the orchard suffered a frost (yes, the same orchard that also survived the recent hurricane!) that damaged the pears when they were very young and tender. The skin shows frost rings, making the fruit less valuable financially —  but we benefit because the flesh is unaffected.

What I do not know yet:

1. The exact date.
2. Whether there may also be apple varieties available.

Please think whether you may wish to participate in any of these offerings, and give me, by email, a sense of which one(s) you would be likely to order in advance or to purchase in smaller quantities on a walk-in basis.

IF YOU DEFINITELY WISH TO ORDER PEACHES PLEASE DO SO BY EMAIL TO maplespringsfarm@yahoo.com.

And watch this space for further details about the other fruits.

I think it would be safe to discuss these tentative plans with other folks who might wish to participate, though I might have to operate on a first come-first served basis.

Thank you very much for your ongoing support.

Thank You

for your support today (Friday, August 21) for our 2020 Peach Project!! Many old friends of the farm, and several folks who had never shopped with us, made today’s peach distribution wonderfully successful. In fact, I think we have never before, on a single day, sold so many peaches — both pre-ordered boxes to faithful customers and smaller quantities to walk-in customers.

Thank you, too, for your generous donations to our collection for the Harrison Food Pantry.

Thank you very much!!

The only downside to such a pleasurable day is this: we no longer have any peaches left to sell to walk-in customers on Saturday and Sunday!

The pre-ordered boxes are still here and ready to go home with those who contacted us ahead of time. Thank you, also, for your support — in many cases, over 8 or 10 years or more.

We’ll be here on Saturday and Sunday, 9-5, until all the boxes have been picked up.

Whichever group you’re in, or would like to be in, if you like the peaches and would like to ensure that you can get them next year, please consider “Following” this website. Doing so ensures that you will receive an email notice when we post a new message, and then you’ll know how our season is developing and what great products we’re currently offering.

Thanks again for your great support!

 

 

 

PEACHES ARE HERE

2020.08.20

The peaches have arrived safely after a whirlwind round trip. We received all the boxes ordered and they look real good.

You may pick up the boxes you ordered, or buy smaller quantities (up to 10 lbs) if you did not pre-order.

We will open at 9 AM and close at 5 PM, each of the next three days:

Friday, August 21

Saturday, August 22

Sunday, August 23

If the peaches for walk-in customers have all been sold, that will bring an end to that portion of the 2020 peach project. Therefore I encourage you to come as soon as you can fit it in your schedule. I will post that information here if it occurs.

Also available during these hours: 7 varieties of our own garlic. These are the same varieties we have grown for quite a few years, and offer a variety of flavors and intensities. I’m confident you can find some you’ll love! 

I will also offer you a chance to contribute to the Harrison Food Pantry, and a thank you gift for doing so.

 

 

 

2020 PEACHES CONFIRMED

AUGUST 17, 2020

I have confirmed that we will be able to get peaches from our usual orchard again.

I plan for them to be here and available for pickup by those who pre-ordered, beginning Friday, August 21 from 9:00 – 5:00 and again on Saturday and Sunday during the same hours.

They will also be available during these same hours, while the peaches last, for sale to walk-in customers in quantities from a single peach up to a 10-lb bag.

Because the orchards suffered major crop damage in the recent hurricane, they have had to raise their prices to us by about 8%; therefore we will need to do the same. However, the peaches remain a very good value, especially considering the very high quality they have always represented.

Please check this site, or call the farm information line (207-583-4698), beginning Friday evening, to confirm that things have gone to plan.

Thanks for your support: I look forward to seeing you at the farm soon.

PEACHES 2020

UPDATED AUGUST 12, 2020  — PLEASE NOTE CHANGES

WE ARE NO LONGER OPEN REGULARLY AT THE FARM FOR THE 2020 SEASON 
       
HOWEVER

IT NOW APPEARS THAT WE WILL HAVE CT PEACHES AGAIN THIS SUMMER

THE PEACHES ARE SCHEDULED TO BE AVAILABLE BEGINNING FRIDAY, AUGUST 21 AND 
WILL PROBABLY BE AVAILABLE FOR 3 OR 4 DAYS 
YOU MAY WALK IN AND PURCHASE UP TO TO 10 LBS
OR
YOU MAY ORDER A 24 LB BOX FOR APPROXIMATELY $41, PAYABLE ON PICKUP
PURCHASE OF A WHOLE BOX IS LIMITED BY TRUCK CAPACITY AND ORCHARD SUPPLY 

TO ORDER, PLEASE SEND EMAIL TO maplespringsfarm@yahoo.com

PLEASE WATCH THIS BLOG FOR CONFIRMATION OF THEIR ARRIVAL, OR ANY CHANGES 
IN THE SCHEDULE

2020 Plans III — The Nitty Gritty

WE HAVE NOW BEGUN TO ATEND THE PORTLAND FARMERS MARKET. PLEASE SEE

WE ARE ALSO OPEN FOR SALES AT THE FARM UNDER THE FOLLOWING POLICIES.  

I. ENSURING OUR MUTUAL SAFETY AND YOUR SATISFACTION

•  I Will Be Wearing A Face Shield Or Mask And Request You Do The Same
•  Please Observe A Safe Distance of 6-8 Feet
•  You Will Select Your Plants: Please Shop First With Your Eyes So You Only Handle The Ones You Take
• Personal Service:I want to give you what you really want;  therefore variety lists for most popular plant types will be posted on our website one week before availability and listed on clipboards in the Sales area. Please do not handle the clipboards.
• Pre-orders Are Not Possible At This Time. But check our Available Now page to help with your planning. Please study plant lists to be prepared for our conversations. 
• Please Bring Enough Boxes/Bags To Transport Your Choices.

 II. HOW WE WILL DO THINGS

• At the Farm in Harrison: We will be open SUN 10-3; MON 12-4; Thurs 12-4.
•  Plants Only Available Outdoors: Do Not Enter the Greenhouses
•  I’ll be Available To Answer Questions 
• You Will Place Your Chosen Plants In Your Containers
• Payment Methods: Check, Credit/Debit Card, PAYPAL,  Cash.  (Please Pay Close Enough To Be Satisfied Because No Change Can Be Given).

THANKS VERY MUCH FOR SHOPPING AT OUR FARM AND FOR YOUR COOPERATION.

2020 Plans — Part II

Our Crops this Season As It Appears Now 

1. Already growing in our greenhouse are all the following types of plants, as well as smaller numbers of others:

Flowers: flowering geraniums, miniature petunias for hanging pots and window boxes, edible marigolds, edible nasturtiums, aromatic/culinary geraniums.

Herbs: Basil (7 types), Bay Laurel, chives. perennial scallions, lavender (2 types), mints (5 types), rosemary (2types), sage, French tarragon, Creeping Thyme (3 types);

Cole crops : Broccoli (4 varieties), cabbage (4 varieties), Kale (1 heirloom variety);

Cucumbers: multiple varieties including slicers, salad/pickling, white, and “seedless;”

Lettuce: 5 varieties/3 types of modern and heirloom lettuces;

Fruiting Vegetables:

Eggplant: Italian (2 types), miniature, Oriental (2 varieties)

Peppers: 15 varieties of sweet and 13 varieties of hot (varying heat)

Squash: multiple varieties of both summer and winter types

Tomatoes: about 60 varieties, including cherry, plum, slicers; each type includes both heirloom and flavorful modern varieties

2. We have made commitments to continue our long-standing relationships with three groups of customers:

• We plan to attend the Portland Farmers Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays until about the third week in June — as long as neither weather nor public health concerns shorten the season.
• If you also wish to patronize other local folks who help sustain a vibrant local economy, you will be able to find our plants at the list of local businesses in my preceding post or on the Our Partners page of this blog. Purchasing from these partners multiplies the effects of each dollar by recirculating it multiple times to other local businesses and households . Our wholesale customers will, of course, do their best to ensure safe, healthy and convenient access to our plants and those of other local suppliers.

3. In my next post I will sketch the ideas we are currently considering to make our crops easily and safely available to customers at the Portland Farmers Markets and at the farm.

 

 

 

2020 Plans — Part I

The General Shape of Our Season As It Appears Now

I. We have an extremely small crew available and must select every commitment for the season in light of that basic limit.

• We must very carefully choose crops, quantities, venues and hours of operation, as well as length of our season;
• Then, too, there are purely personal dimensions such as my increasing age and decreasing energy, as well as new grandsons to get to know.

II. We have made commitments to continue our long-standing relationships with three distinct groups of customers.

• Customers at the Portland Farmers Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We plan to attend these markets through the young-plant season — approximately until the third week of June — pending no huge weather or further public health disruptions.
• Wholesale customers who sell our plants through their own storefront businesses: Hayes Hardware (Bridgton), Paris Farmers Union (Bridgton), Paris Farmers Union (Conway, NH) and Paris Farmers Union (Portland).
• Individual customers who purchase directly from us at the farm.

III. The current public health issues have further implications for all these, of course: they directly affect basic matters such as how to interact with customers at the Market and at the farm. We want to continue to give great personalized recommendations and service, and yet still preserve sanitary conditions for people, plants and produce, facilities and methods of payment.

In my next post I will sketch the crops we are already growing to sell as plants: vegetables, herbs and edible flowers, houseplants and heirloom perennials.

Please Watch this Space

April 7, 2020

I know the farm has not posted anything in quite a while, but we are still here, still planning for the upcoming season, and already working in the greenhouses and High Tunnel.

And now I am starting to work on giving you a picture of our plans for the upcoming 2020 season. Clearly this is going to be a challenge for us and for you. But my intention is to figure out, with you, how to survive it together.

In the next couple of days I will have enough information posted here for you to begin to see a picture emerging. And then you’ll be able to see what we’re confident we can do and I’ll invite your feedback for how best to shape our efforts for your benefit.

Vegetable seedlings, interesting young perennial plants, herbs, flowering plants, succulents and other house plants are already on site. And we are beginning to harvest edible crops such as pea shoots, beet greens and baby chard, with radishes following soon.

Our next decisions involve which other edible crops you would like to get from us and that we will be able to grow, and for what length of season.

Thanks for visiting. Please come back soon.

And take care.