Check out this Granny Smith!

Wow! We have seen big apples before...but never THIS BIG! This is a Granny Smith apple off of one of our trees in the front orchard. We were curious as to just how much it weighed...so out came our postal scale! 14.2 ounces! Just 1.8 ounces shy of a whole pound! There is probably an apple on that tree that weighs a pound but we will save it for one of our valued customers to pick!

We have Pawpaws!

When I think of pawpaws, I start singing, "Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch!" And now I think of pawpaw as another fruit we can offer you - fresh and local! We were surprised to discover that our pawpaws have yielded a nice quantity of fruit that should be ready for harvest mid month!

What is a pawpaw? It is a genus of eight or nine species of small trees with large leaves and large fruit - a large edible berry with a flavor somewhat similar to both banana and mango and with more protein than most other fruit. It is native to eastern North America and includes the largest edible fruit indigenous to the continent! They are typically understory trees found in deep fertile bottomland and hilly upland habitat. And did you know that the Common Pawpaw is the only larval host of the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly!

Pawpaw pulp is used primarily in baked dessert recipes - pies, cheesecakes & breads, as well as for brewing pawpaw beer. Pawpaw can be used in place of bananas in many recipes! Check out these sites for some fantastic recipes:
http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/pawpaw/recipes.htm
http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/pawpaw/cooking.htm
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/pawpaw.asp

We will be harvesting the pawpaws soon and will sell them out of our Trading Post shop during our open hours. Because the fresh fruit is so rare and very difficult to get, we will be taking pawpaw "reservations"! Simply email WagonWheelMail@aol.com with your name, phone number and quantity of pawpaws desired. They are $3 per pound (approximately 3 fruit per pound). We will fill the reservations in the order in which they are received. If your reservation is unable to be filled, we will call you to let you know!

We will be CLOSED Sunday 08/30 & Monday 09/01!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out today and picked our Liberty apples! They are one of our favorites! So many of you enjoyed your Saturday afternoon with us and picked our Liberty apples clean! Therefore, we will not be open on Sunday or Monday as there are no other varieties ready for harvesting this weekend.

We have so many apples and peaches that are getting ready and you all will be able to enjoy a bountiful harvest in the coming weeks! Thank you so much for your understanding and support! Happy Labor Day!

LABOR DAY WEEKEND CHANGE IN HOURS!

After evaluating our crop tonight, only Liberty apples are ready for harvesting this weekend. As a result, we have had to make changes to our hours for the holiday weekend. Thank you for understanding and for your patience as Mother Nature continues to prepare the rest of our crop.

Our late fall varieties including Fuji, Granny Smith, Stayman Winesap, Golden Delicious, Arkansas Black & more all look fantastic and bountiful and should be at their peak for picking from late September through October (depending on the variety).

Remember to check our picking report to the right for an up-to-the-minute status of our availability!

In case of rain...

Happy weekend to you all! We were blessed with some good rain this morning and there is more forecast for this weekend! So here is the scoop...in case of rain...

*We will be open - rain or shine!

*We will still have our famous peach slushies and cherry cider slushies and Prairie Fire BBQ!

*If it is actively raining, the hay-rack will not be running for safety reasons! Wet wood is very slippery. The hay-rack ride will resume when the rain has stopped and the wood has dried out.

*It is only a 7-10 minute walk to the back orchard. If you have children, you may want to bring an all-terrain wagon!

*Bring your umbrella or rain gear!

*Be prepared to get muddy! It is not that wet this morning but the potential is there for it to get muddy in the low spots! We are not envisioning walking through mud up to your knees, just getting your shoes and the hem of your jeans muddy a bit! So dress accordingly!

*Have some fun with singing in the rain!

We have discovered that fruit picks the same in the sunshine and in the rain. You still twist & lift and the fruit still tastes yummy! We have also discovered that with an umbrella, you don't really get wet while picking your fruit! And we know that if you are coming for the experience of having some good old-fashioned fun with your family and enjoy some fresh, home-grown fruit, you will find it here at Wagon Wheel Orchard, rain or shine!

Half-Price Peach Seconds on Sunday!

WOW! We just got back from vacation to find the peaches in overdrive! Last week was good for the peaches with the hot hot hot humid weather and the 3 inches of rain! We have SO many huge peaches that our limbs are going to break if they aren't picked soon!

We will be open as scheduled from 1:00pm-6:00pm on Saturday, August 9! So brave the heat, pick your peaches, and let the warm juices run down your chin as you chow down on your pickings all the way home!

And we have decided to go ahead and extend our hours this weekend and open from 4:00pm-6:00pm on Sunday, August 10 (we were originally scheduled to be closed that day). If you are a peach-canner or baker and would like to pick up pre-picked seconds for half price, Sunday is your day! First come, first served! When they are gone, well...they are gone! You can still come out and pick your own, too, but we will not be running the slushie machine or heating up the grill! Sunday is for the folks who just want the fruit! See you this weekend! Till then, it is fair week! Watch the posts for information on our entries!

Our first visitors!

We were so thrilled to welcome the Dwyer family of Gardner, KS as our very first visitors on opening day! They were here a few minutes early and got to watch our grand opening "ceremony"! They also got to pick the very first peaches! Thank you for sharing our special day with us! We know how long you have been waiting for that fresh fruit!