buffaloridgeorchard

Buffalo Ridge Orchard grows vegetables, apples, and pears for local co-ops and farmer's markets. We have over 25 different types of new and classic apple varieties. In 2011 we installed our first moveable hoop house which allows us to grow greens and root vegetables in the winter and get an early start on tomatoes and extend the season for other vegetable crops.

There is still time to sign-up for our CSA

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We have just five weeks before we deliver our first CSA share of fresh veggies and apples! So, if you haven't signed up yet, what are you waiting for? Sign-up is available online (click to CSA Information in the side menu). Or, if you prefer, you can print the sign-up form and send it to us via mail - we love getting mail from our customers!

Emma's Reasons to Sign-up

Why sign-up for our CSA? The number one reason we find that our customers sign-up for our CSA is to encourage healthy eating while supporting a local business. We also try to offer our best variety of vegetables and apples to our CSA customers at a discount compared with our market retail prices. We feel that if you are willing to make the commitment to 12 weeks of produce, we can give you a price break. Another reason you should sign-up with Buffalo Ridge Orchard is that you are able to chose your selection of apples and veggies each week at pick up. This means if you don't like broccoli, rather than let it deteriorate in your refrigerator, you can choose to pick-up more of certain items as a replacement. Likewise, you are able to pick your mix of apples each week. If you love Honeycrisp while they are in season, you can just get Honeycrisp. Also, it helps us to reduce overall waste. We know exactly how much produce to bring each week for our CSA shares, without the excess that may not sell at our weekly market locations.

Lots of Options this Year!

This year we are offering lots of options for share size and pick-up locations for both our Apple share and Apple-Veggie CSA shares. Every year we make a goal to expand our CSA shares and this year is no exception. We are now offering an Apple share at Abbe Hills Farm outside of Mount Vernon. We will also have two drop locations in Cedar Rapids to help make pick-up more convenient. We will also continue to have pick-ups available at the Dubuque and Iowa City Farmer's Markets.

Hope to see you soon at market or at our CSA pick-up!

Emma

Seasonal Positions Available!

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DSC_3802_4x6We are currently looking for two part-time seasonal workers from late August to mid-October.  Workers will be harvesting and packing apples and other produce.  Workers must be motivated, have attention to detail, be able to lift 50 lbs, and available to work week days.  Expected work schedule will be 15-25 hours per week, typically on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.  The position will be compensated at $8.50  to $10/hour.  If interested, please email your prior work experience and references to BuffaloRidgeOrchard@gmail.com.

Mint is on the March to Market!

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Marcus showcases Mojito Mint plants.
Marcus showcases Mojito Mint plants.  It doesn’t seem to mind the rain or the cool weather.

Farmer’s market season officially started last Saturday.  We had lots of herb plants available, including an assortment of different mints.  Mint is one of those herbs that will take over the garden if you don’t keep it restrained in a container, but boy does supply the best iced tea of the summer!  It’s also great to spruce up any summer salad or tabbouleh recipe.  Of course, we also sell lots mint ahead of the Kentucky Derby to those that would like to enjoy a Mint Julep (or two) before the race.

After the markets on Saturday we had a busy Mother’s Day Sunday moving the hoophouse ahead of the predicted rain and wind this week.  We will now be able to plant our cucumbers and cherry tomatoes in the shelter of the hoophouse during this dreary weather.

A few weeks ago we had a string of cool, rainy days.  It certainly slowed the progress of some of the crops, but we were still able to plant tomatoes in the warmth of hoophouse.  Also the rainy week forced Marcus to dust off his rain suit and show us how he should get a second job as an outerwear model. 😛

We are often asked what we do on rainy days.  For the most part we spend most rainy days catching up on office work, but this time of year we find ourselves in the hoophouse weeding, or in the produce shed cleaning.  Or we are recovering from the push to plant, till, haul, or harvest ahead of the rain.  If we are lucky we are able to take the day off and can relax and enjoy some Orange Mint tea (or Pineapple Mint lemonade)!

The rainy week gave Emma time to wash tubs and prepare the washing station for the 2016 season.
The rainy week gave Emma time to wash tubs and prepare the washing station for the 2016 season.
Mary plants the tomato seedling in the hoophouse.
Mary plants a tomato seedling in the hoophouse.  It is cool outside, but the tomatoes are enjoying the warmth of the hoophouse!

 

Vern cultivates the carrots ahead of moving the hoophouse for the cucumbers.
Vern cultivates the carrots ahead of moving the hoophouse into its summer position.

2016 CSA Sign-Up Now Available

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Once again the days are getting brighter, and longer, and we’re starting to think of warmth and sun and vegetables and apples!  Marcus and Emma have already finished pruning the pear trees and have made good progress in the apple orchard.  Vern has been busy planting the movable high tunnels and Mary is busy in the greenhouse.  We all are still enjoying the last of our apples and root crops.  This is the perfect time to sign up for one our 2016 CSA shares.  This year, in addition to our Veggie-Apple combination share, we are also offering an Apple-only share – both of which you can sign-up for online.

The Veggie-Apple CSA share will provide a great mix of fresh seasonal vegetables, such as peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, herbs, and fresh greens in August; kale, cabbage, chard, garlic, tomatoes, herbs, winter squash, peppers, and potatoes in September; and fall greens, herbs, winter squash, pie pumpkins, and potatoes in October.  All of these great veggies will be paired with a number of apple varieties as they ripen throughout the fall season.  Click the button below to sign-up for either share, or click here for more information.

CSA Contact Form & Wait List   

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We found this box last year – need we say more?

Our new Apple share is an easy way to get your weekly supply of apples, or as an add-on to one of our Veggie-Apple shares (for families wanting more apples each week).  Just like our Veggie-Apple share, the apple varieties will change throughout the season as they’re harvested ripe out of the orchard.  Click the button above to sign-up, or click here for more information.

 

Summer Apples and Veggies Official Kick-off

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DSC_3644_4x6It is that time of year when we truly appreciate growing, selling, and more importantly eating locally produced food.  Tomatoes are always more delicious than we remembered and cucumbers are a cool and refreshing contrast to the heat of late July.  In contrast eggplant, zucchini, new potatoes, and beets give us comfort and satisfaction.  We take delight in the sweet and sprightly early apple as we eat our first Pristine apple.  Not far behind we start enjoying Redfree and Dandee Red apples which provide a hint of the beloved fall Jonathan and McIntosh, while still reigning over summer with their straighforward flavor.

Pristine apples are an apple that always initially knocks us off our feet with its juiciness.  It requires much care in harvest and packing to prevent bruising and of course it has a tendency to drop off the tree at a concerning rate making us cringe whenever there is a breezy day on the farm.  However this extra care is rewarded with an apple that packs a powerful sweet tart punch.

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Redfree apple is preview of the future fall Jonathan apple and the name references it’s red color and somewhat disease resistance.  A much better name for this apple is early-Jon because it truly is a crunchy tart apple with a hint of sweetness.

Dandee Red is such a great early apple with its firm dense texture and tart flavor.  We often compare the flavor of the Dandee Red to a McIntosh but without the snap – this description grossly underestimates how wonderful this apple is on the tastebuds.  The firm dense finely grained texture has a creaminess missing from the fall McIntosh.

BRO Weather Station

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Last week our friend Jessica Rilling stopped by and took some really happy bright pictures around the farm on what was otherwise a grey and dreary day.

It has been a busy couple of weeks out at the farm.  The orchard is nearing the end of bloom and we started selling our spring greens and herb plants at farmers markets on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

After several late nights and early mornings waiting for calmer, rain free weather in order to spray blossom protectant on the apple and pear orchard, we are pretty exhausted.  However, we are thankful that we decided this year to invest in a new weather station which allows us to keep track of weather forecast and run models for orchard diseases and pest pressure online.  Basically, we are able to make more accurate decisions on when the orchard needs to be sprayed and justify having a smart phone.

Customers often ask if we use organic practices in our orchard.  It is hard to answer this question with a yes or no answer.  We do use several organic practices such as keeping the understory clean to reduce scab innoculum from overwintering.  We use traps to monitor pest pressure and spray only when it is necessary.   We consistently prune the orchard in order to improve airflow and reduce diseases.  And we plant habitat that encourages beneficial insects.  Still even with all of these methods we still find that we need to use conventional sprays to manage our biggest problem, Apple Scab, which thrives in our wet, humid weather in Iowa.  Our primary goal in the orchard is to reduce our use of any spray (conventional or organic) by using an arsenal of tools; one of which is accurate weather information!  If we have to spray, we are spraying more accurately during the most critical times, which in most cases means we are having to spray less often.  If you are curious what the weather is doing out at the orchard, check out the link below:

Buffalo Ridge Orchard Weather Station Page

Local Food Champions

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A small assortment of apples available in September at Buffalo Ridge Orchard. Photo taken by Jessica Rilling.
Just a small assortment of the apples available in September at Buffalo Ridge Orchard, including Liberty, Blondee, Crimson Gold, Arlet, and Honeycrisp. Photo by Jessica Rilling.

We’re really fortunate to work with some super great folks here in Eastern Iowa.  And while we like to think of all of our customers as champions of local food, it’s tough for all of them to get credit for supporting our local farming community.  Last month the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture posted profiles of nine local food champions in coordination with the Regional Food Systems Working Group, including two of our wholesale customers that have regularly purchased apples and vegetables from us over the past couple of years now.  All of the profiles can be reviewed here, but we’re especially happy to note the profiles of Pam Oldham & Andy Deutmeyer at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids and Miles Breed & Steve Neese at Clarke University in Dubuque.

We are so glad to be working with these folks, as well as our other dedicated customers!  To all of the local food champions out there seeking high-quality, locally-grown produce; we thoroughly appreciate your interest in providing an outlet for our efforts.  Here’s to striving even further in 2015 to build a strong community of local food champions throughout Iowa and beyond!

Welcome to 2015!

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Tie Tuesday Legends
BRO team representing for Tie Tuesday at ITZEN Architects Inc., DTSA, CA

 

During the winter we tend to get a lot of questions like, “What do you do all winter long?  This must be a pretty slow time of year for you, right?”  Well the answer is, Yes, things do slow up for us some after we harvest our last apples in October until we dive into full-scale pruning in March, but we’ve still got plenty of projects that keep us busy.  We’re not spending much of our time building snowmen and sipping hot tea by the fire.

There’s plenty of bookkeeping, maintenance work, and farm cleanup to catch up on that we just haven’t gotten to during our pruning, planting, harvesting, and marketing seasons.  We also take this time to update our plans for the future and order our seeds and plants for next year.  We’re updating our facilities to provide us with better service into the coming years.  We also plan to attend the Practical Farmers of Iowa and Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association conferences later in January (practicalfarmers.org & www.ifvga.org).  Mary and Vern already got to attend the Great Lakes Expo up in Grand Rapids, Michigan in December (www.glexpo.com).  These are great opportunities to meet and network with other regional farmers that have crazy notions like we do of trying to expand the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables here in Iowa and across the Midwest.  We try to learn what we can and put it to practical good use in the upcoming seasons.  We often learn about new fruit and vegetable varieties, tips and tricks for improved production, and new tools and products that help us grow higher quality produce more efficiently for our markets.

However, that being said, we do get more time to spend with family and friends (both near and far) over the Holidays and winter months.  Emma and Marcus just got back from a trip to Southern California where they visited Emma’s sister Carrie and brother Ben, as well as other friends in the area.  It was quite a shock to get back to snow and sub-zero temperatures (and even lower wind-chills), but made for some much-needed R&R over Christmas.  They helped boost morale at the ITZEN  office one afternoon by stopping by for Tie Tuesday and donning the appropriate accessories.  (*shameless plug that if you’re looking for architecture services in Southern California you should get in contact with them: www.itzen.com)  We obviously have a little fun here and there over the winter as well.

So a warm and sincere “Happy Holidays!” from our family to yours!  May 2015 bring many glad tidings and a wonderful world of produce to your table!

Monday morning on the Orchard

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Our morning assessment of five different varieties for ripeness. From left to right we are looking at Fortune, Smoothee, Liberty, Empire, and Crimson Gold.

During apple picking season at the beginning of each week we end up spending the early hours of the morning tasting the upcoming apple varieties in order to establish our pick schedule for the rest of the week.  We start by first cutting each apple in half and looking at the seeds.  Dark brown seeds are one indication that the apple is close to ripe.  Then we taste the apple to see if the texture and taste is ripe.  An unripe apple can have somewhat of a chalky texture.  A few varieties actually have a spongy texture when they are under ripe and then firm up when they are ripe.  Of course flavor plays a huge part on whether we think the apple is ready for picking.

This week we will finish picking the last few Sweet Sixteen and start picking Snowsweet, Smoothee, and Chieftain.  We will also continue to pick Jonagold and Valstar.   Smoothee is our first late season golden that we will be picking and it has all the great attributes of a good golden apple including its honeyed pear flavor.

How do we harvest 3,200 apple trees?

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Emma harvesting Sweet Sixteen
Emma harvesting Sweet Sixteen

…By hand.  As Emma is showing in the picture above, each apple is picked, one by one and placed in our pick baskets.  Once our baskets are full, we take them by wagon to our washing station.  Then we wash, sort, and pack the apples into tubs so that they can be stacked and stored in our walk-in cooler.

So, assuming an average apple might weigh a half pound (which might be considered a bit of an understatement by anyone who’s seen our Zestar!, Honeycrisp, or Candycrisp), that ends up being somewhere between 70 to 80,000 individual apples each carefully picked, packed, and stacked to bring to our customers at markets in Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Iowa City, and Marion.

This week we’re just reaching the peak of our apple harvest for this year.  We’ve been busy picking Honeycrisp, Sweet Sixteen, Gala, Fuji, Cortland, Jonagold, Jonafree, Senshu, Arlet (aka Swiss Gourmet), Valstar, and Crimson Crisp.  We’ll harvest more than 40 varieties of apples before frost sets in by late October.  With so many to choose from, it can be hard to pick a favorite.  But we’ve each got our own, hopefully we’ve got at least one that can be your favorite too!