In only ten days our 2020 season will be over, and what a year it has been! There have been some challenging weeks, but the good has by far outweighed the bad. Many changes have been implemented and we have discovered a variety of new ways of doing business. Here is a quick recap of our season.
Early in the season we committed to growing our ground crops and nurturing our tree fruits as usual, to provide safe, healthy food for our community. In many ways our lives were not disrupted as much as many of yours were. Farming
continued on. The winter and early spring seasons were spent preparing our
preserves and the stock was rolling in for our gift shop. We continued to go to work
and do what we do. We opened in a limited capacity on May 1, and expanded our
“Made right Here” products to include some freezer meals to make cooking at home easier for you. Our preserve products, like salsas, jams, fruit butters, and old-fashioned caramel were well received, and we felt very supported by you, making our winter projects worth the work. Many people treated themselves by purchasing our homemade County Cream Fudge, and our new flavor this fall, “Chocolate Maple”, was very popular.
This week our field crew will wrap up the apple harvest by picking the last of the fruit at our Grandview location in Armstrong. We had a pretty good crop despite the two hail storms we experienced in June. Hundreds of bins of apples were harvested with our top 3 varieties being Honeycrisp followed by Ambrosia and Gala. The pears were a bit smaller this year due to the cool weather in June, but the quality and taste were fantastic! Tomatoes started off very slowly, again because of the cooler weather, but in the end we picked our best crop ever, harvesting right into early October. Personally, I was very busy in late August preserving tomatoes which I will enjoy this winter. I’m sure many of you did the same, based on the fact that we had many phone calls about jars and lids and the shortages in stores. The apricot, peach and cherry crops were small this year, mostly due to winter damage and rainy days at the cherry harvest, but the local fruit we did see was very tasty and appreciated by many.
We welcomed many new “first timers” to the farm this summer and fall from all over BC, as residents discovered different things to do in their own province. The fall weather in September and early October was magnificent, so more people than ever enjoyed picking their own apples or taking a ride out to the pumpkin patch. We were honored to supply pies to many families for their Thanksgiving dinners. Our bakers worked weeks ahead to organize everything, and late into the night to ensure we had a good supply. I am so proud of the whole food services team; they work very hard and efficiently to make an amazing array of products with our produce.
We found it necessary to close down the pumpkin patch and rides but the pumpkin supply in the yard is fabulous with lots of huge pumpkins to choose from. We are pressing apples to make fresh juice, so now is the time to stock up for the winter. Our new 2L Spiced Apple Cider is growing in popularity and is a great beverage to have in the freezer for the holiday season. All it takes for you to prepare is heating up and serving.
We are somewhat relieved to see the end of our season nearing as it has been more stressful than usual, but many times throughout the year we were encouraged by you, our faithful customers. We are grateful that we could remain open, the harvest went well, and we have a great team of dedicated staff to serve you. Please feel free to drop us a line and let us know how we can improve your farm experience or our newsletters for next year. We sincerely appreciate your feedback. We can be reached at Davisonfamily@davisonorchards.ca
Thank you for your support. It too is sincerely appreciated!
Tamra Davison
For the family
Learn to make Spiced Apple Cider Pudding with Tamra!
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province. The fall weather in September and early October was magnificent, so more people than ever enjoyed picking their own apples or taking a ride out to the pumpkin patch. We were honored to supply pies to many families for their Thanksgiving dinners. Our bakers worked weeks ahead to organize everything, and late into the night to ensure we had a good supply. I am so proud of the whole food services team; they work very hard and efficiently to make an amazing array of products with our produce.
