Stop by during our normal Taproom hours for a chance to snag limited pints and quarts of cherries. We grow 5+ varieties of tart cherries and 15+ varieties of sweet cherries on a staggered ripening schedule, though many varieties were compeltely wiped out this May. Our team is picking at optimal ripeness so we can’t guarantee availability on any particular day.
You may have heard or read that many Hudson Valley and New England fruit farms were hit with a deep freeze on May 18th. Early that morning, our on-site weather station recorded a low temperature of 28.7 F, along with temps at or below 32 F for about 2.5 hours. During any weather event, the damages often seem worse than they turn out to be so we held our breath and hoped for the best. However, after two weeks of observation, the prognosis is still grim.
Some orchards had minimal damage but others lost everything. This season, we have minimal strawberries and cherries, almost no plums and no peaches whatsoever (thanks to February temperamental weather). Blueberries and apples seem 50/50.
What does this mean for Pick-Your-Own (PYO) fruit? Sadly, we will not be able to open strawberries or cherries for PYO this 2023 season. The limited viable fruit is ripening in a staggered fashion, making the harvest difficult, even for our team. We will instead pull in what we can to use in our fermentation projects, offer pints and quarts in the Taproom and limited quantities to a couple of restaurant clients. We hope we can efficiently utilize and share every last bit of fruit.
We have our fingers crossed we will be able to open blueberries and apples for PYO. To learn more about our fruit varieties and ripening dates, consult our Fruit Schedule.
This 2023 season, we’ve planned a range of food and grower pop-ups, special events, Featured Ferments, farm dinners, to enjoy during strawberry season. Peruse our events calendar for details!
The Taproom is open 3-8pm Thursday & Friday, 12-8pm on Saturday, 12-7pm on Sunday and 4-8pm on Monday (our new Industry Night!). The Farm is open for orchard walks on weekends 11am-dusk.
Be sure to tag us celebrating all your cherry stained smiles!