Updates From The Farm
Notes from the Field: Week of September 16
A bosc pear and an Elstar apple.This week we’ll be scavenging what rest of the grapes we can before the rains come in earnest this coming weekend/next week, and harvesting lots of apples and pears! Noting looking back at our records from previous years how this year...
Notes from the Field: Week of September 9
Sampling apples and pears to check for ripeness before creating our harvest lists. This week we’re starting with harvests on pears and grapes with large apple picks like Honeycrisp just around the corner. Harvest takes most of our time these days, but other activities...
Buy Two Fruit Trees, Get a Third Free
Fall is a wonderful time to plant fruit trees, and we've got our best selection in years at the nursery! Our highly anticipated "buy 2 get a 3rd free" fruit tree sale starts Thursday, Sept 12. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, and nut trees are all included. In...
Notes from the Field: Week of September 2
Honeycrisp apples ripening up (probably ~1 week to first harvest)This week we’re all systems go on summer and fall fruit. With delays across the board in ripening fruit this year due to cooler temps, we’ve now reached a point where we have peaches overlapping with...
Featured Fruit: Orcas Pears
Orcas Pear is a Bartlett-style pear that was discovered as a seedling on Orcas Island in the San Juans. It became commercially available in 1986 and is prized for its productivity, large fruit, and resistance to pear scab. The fruit is smooth skinned with a yellow to...
Notes from the Field: Week of August 26
Nearly ripe Akane applesThis week we’re picking peaches, apples, pears and eagerly monitoring Lynden Blue grapes for ripeness. We'll also be prepping our apple line for the first big apple washing of the season, cleaning up apple drops to reduce pest pressure and...
Notes from the Field: Week of August 19
The most beautiful peach plum you ever did see.This week feels like we’re entering our more full-on harvest season – peach, plum, apple and pear varieties are ready for picking, and we’re ~2 weeks out on our first grape varieties. This cooling down of temperatures...
Featured Fruit: Methley Plums
Here at Cloud Mountain, we grow more than 150 varieties of certified organic fruit at the base of Sumas Mountain in Everson, WA. One of our team’s favorite early-ripening fruits is the Methley Plum. They’re a wonderful choice for both eating and growing! The Methley’s...
Notes from the Field: Week of August 5th
Nets on our Pond Orchard apple block.This week we’re harvesting, continuing to manage weeds, and keeping an ever-closer eye on apples and pears as they begin to ripen. Last week we were able to deploy netting over most of our apple blocks, and while it’s too late to...
Notes from the Field: Week of July 29
Red Gravenstein beginning to ripen.This week we’re getting a welcome break from dry weather to start the week. While rain can bring unwanted fungal disease pressure during summer months, it also provides a more even watering for the trees than drip can provide and...
Notes from the Field: Week of July 22
Methley plums ready for picking.This week we’re feeling grateful for a slight cool off in temperatures as we try to regain our footing with canopy management, summer pruning, and weed management amongst a sea of other field tasks. We’re harvesting plums and finishing...
Notes from the Field: Week of July 15
Aronia berry beginning to ripenThis week we’re continuing Ribes harvest, summer pruning, weeding and troubleshooting dreaded midsummer irrigation pump issues (which will hopefully be followed by ample watering of all orchard zones). Fruit/Bud/Tree Development We're...