I should update that but it’s not too far off. Now I use Indar, Luna, Merivon, and Elevate in rotation. I only spray in May through early June (along with one delayed dormant spray in April) and I include two of the above in every tank. I think this year I did four sprays total on the peaches. The key in my mind is to hit them hard early, then you can mostly coast through the summer.
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Thanks. You don’t have any plums or nectarines that need it anymore?
All stone fruits get the same thing. Somehow I thought you were asking about peaches only since thats what others were talking about …
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For me it was flat peaches. When it rained the water would hang out around the stem causing all kinds of problems.
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I don’t see Methley in the plums in that topic, did you ever grow/try it ?
No. I’ve eaten many of them and there are better plums so I never grew it. It’s not a bad plum at all, quite tasty, but the skin is bitter. There are also lots of reports of bad black knot on it here.
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I grow methods but spray with indar amongst other things and also use surround for PC
So far so good but using the above
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Ok my mid-atlantic people, What is your favorite PYO orchard in the area and why?
Even though I live in VA I’ve never been to the big PYO group here: Chile’s Family Orchards
I’ve been to Butler’s Orchard in MD and Larriland Farm in MD. I liked them both for different things.
At Bulter’s you make a reservation and it is more of an event. It’s definitely more kid oriented with playground, etc. They have fewer PYO crops and a more “controlled” environment. I went to a birthday party there that was actually quite fun.
At Larriland I have picked peaches, raspberries, blackberries, and apples. You pay out in the field for a container. Their website sounds very strict - but probably because some people are uninformed or negligent and cause problems. The picking areas are very clearly marked. I have been there with little kids (who we supervised) but who did little kid things and it was fine. However, the entertainment there is the fruit picking.
I’d love to know if anyone has been to any of the Chile’s orchards or other ones that are closer to me.
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Weaver’s Orchard in Morgantown PA. We’ve picked peaches and apples in quantity for years and purchased plums, berries and other fruits from their stand. A well managed operation.
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I’m super close to butler’s but never been just because I hate all the traffic it generates. Larriland is also busy too, but I’ve been there. I did apples and pears.
I liked larriland but was on the expensive side. They do have a very huge variety of everything, they even have gooseberry and currants.
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I had never heard of Larriland, thanks! We always go to Homestead Farm. For a few years, we did blueberries, blackberries, apples and pumpkins. They have tart Cherry and peach as well. This year, I was trying to contact them to find out more specifics of what they grow since it’s very close to me and saw they have Jubileum cherries. No luck contacting them- they literally have no contact and the emails they send out don’t get checked if you respond to it. They have farm animals that the little kids like to see and hay bales in the fall that the bigger kids like to climb up and jump off (until someone gets really hurt…) and it’s generally fun. They’ve been around- I had a toddler birthday there myself ages ago, but they don’t do parties anymore. I’m not a huge fan of how they keep their animals, and we don’t really like to eat much of anything we pick, it’s really just the experience. I think things don’t taste great because they’re underripe- especially blueberries and blackberries. I doubt they’ve turned color for more than a day before you get them. Also, there will be thousands of apples on the ground under the trees going to waste and that drives me crazy…I wish they would connect with a food bank and donate them. There is so much waste.
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Larriland doesn’t respond either and their number is disconnected when I called. I wanted to find out about their currant and gooseberry varieties.
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I’ve heard that we may have a colder winter this year. Any thoughts on the potential of the next season, as the current one sets in?
Yeah, same train of thought here trying to find out what varieties homestead grows. And, I was thinking maybe I could go when they prune their thousands of trees or bushes and get some wood to graft or root. Bummer it’s impossible to find someone who manages. The people who work the registers during the season don’t have any info. I’m going to put more effort into it when we go for apples/pumpkins this fall. I’ve also been wondering lately if they sell commercial because they have (what appears to be) thousands of peach trees and have some questions about that.
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We made many trips to Larriland when our kids were little … fun kid activities plus fun fruit picking, what could be better? This was quite a few years ago but the place was very well-run and has many different things to pick. The only downside was the prices. The other place we went to a lot was Shaw’s Orchard which is right by the PA/MD border. Their prices used to be better and they also had good strawberries and cherries, I don’t think Larriland had those things back when we were going there.
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Wow Shaw looks great! Thanks for posting about them. I would love to take the kids for the plums and melons. We will have to set aside a day for this next year.
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I thought the blackberries and peaches from Larriland were excellent in flavor and ripeness. Much better than you could get at the grocery store - plus the entertainment value for the kids.
I don’t remember why we went the day we picked blackberries, but it wasn’t originally for the blackberries. Then, we tried one off the bush and ran to purchase a larger container and spent the rest of our time there picking those.
The ripe peach trees did have a lot of drops, but I don’t think people were throwing fruit on the ground. The day we went there was practically no one there. It was toward the end of the season and peach trees drop fruit- especially in wind or when jostled. It kept the little kids busy trying to find the drops that were in good shape.
There was another thread about PYO places sometime back and apparently some people are very rough with the trees and wasteful and I have been lucky not to see that.
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Our go to has been Solebury Orchards in New Hope Pa. The varieties on offer suit my family’s tastes. Their little playground is cute and the tractor ride is fun to do in the season. Ive watched kids and adults rip fruit buds off. But it seemed to be out of ignorance and apathy more than any maliciousness. Intentions aside it still has to do a lot of damage cumulatively.
In terms of waste, most of what i observed was people shaking a branch and not taking all of the drops. As a visitor not bad but as an owner i could see that being irritating.
Theres a pyo in south jersey that i think has a better setup for the kids but their varieties are boring and south jersey is depressingly flat.
Is anyone else going to the Snyder Research & Extension Farm Open House? There will be a taste test with over 50 varieties of tomatoes next week