News and blog
Tomorrow December 19
Last Day of the market for 2015
Come out and wish Oliver well!
Oliver will be at St Luke's Episcopal Church from 8 - 1 pm.
These are some of the items that we will have tomorrow at the market stands.
Fruit
apples - Gala
apples - Fuji
apples - Cameo
apples- Granny Smith
apples - Pink Lady
apples - Gold Rush
Apple cider
Vegetables
Sweet onions
red and white potatoes
Swiss chard
cabbage
spaghetti squash
butternut squash
delicate squash
kiri winter squash
broccoli
cauliflower
Brussels Sprouts
Meat - our own home grown
beef - WE HAVE STEAKS! Filets, NY strips, Rib steaks, sirloin, fat iron
pork - We have chops and ham steak, bacon, breakfast links and 7 inch grillers
Bakery
Raised Breads - Honey Oatmeal and cinnamon bread and herb bread
cinnamon rolls
Sweet breads - pumpkin, bananai, and apple
cookies
Homemade pies - strawberry rhubarby pies
apple pies
Home grown eggs
Homemade jellies and jams
HONEY
Shagbark Hickory Syrup
Cheese from Whispering Brook Cheese Haus
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at the stand!
Gregg, Louise, Oliver Keckler - Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm
National Geographic Society - Tuesday, December 15 from 9-2pm in the courtyard.
We will have jellies, honey, Shagbark hickory syrup
Fruit
Fuji apples
Cameo apples
Apple cider
Nittany apples
Gold Rush apples
Pink Lady apples
Vegetables
Swiss chard
sweet candy onions
cabbage
spaghetti squash
broccoli
butternut squash
kiri winter squash
delicate winter squash
cauliflower
Brussels sprouts
Diakon radishes
Turnips
HERBS
parsley
mint tea
Meat - our own home grown
beef - we have steaks!
pork - we have chops!
Bakery
Raised Breads - dinner rolls, Honey oatmeal, and Cinnamon
Sweet breads
cookies Peanut blossoms, chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin!!!
apple pies
strawberry rhubarb pies
Home grown eggs
Homemade jellies and jams
HONEY
Shagbark Hickory Syrup
Cheese from Whispering Brook Cheese Haus
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at the stand!
Gregg, Louise, Oliver Keckler - Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm
Tomorrow December 12
Oliver will be at St Luke's Episcopal Church from 8 - 1 pm.
These are some of the items that we will have tomorrow at the market stands.
Fruit
apples - Gala
apples - Fuji
apples - Cameo
apples- Granny Smith
apples - Pink Lady
apples - Gold Rush
Apple cider
Vegetables
Sweet onions
red and white potatoes
Swiss chard
cabbage
spaghetti squash
butternut squash
delicate squash
kiri winter squash
broccoli
cauliflower
Brussels Sprouts
Meat - our own home grown
beef - WE HAVE STEAKS! Filets, NY strips, Rib steaks, sirloin, fat iron
pork - We have chops and ham steak, bacon, breakfast links and 7 inch grillers
Bakery
Raised Breads - Honey Oatmeal and cinnamon bread and herb bread
cinnamon rolls
Sweet breads - pumpkin, bananai, and apple
cookies
Homemade pies - strawberry rhubarby pies
apple pies
Home grown eggs
Homemade jellies and jams
HONEY
Shagbark Hickory Syrup
Cheese from Whispering Brook Cheese Haus
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at the stand!
Gregg, Louise, Oliver Keckler - Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm
National Geographic Society - Tuesday, December 8 from 9-2pm in the courtyard.
We will have jellies, honey, Shagbark hickory syrup
Fruit
Gala apples
Fuji apples
Cameo apples
Apple cider
Nittany apples
yellow Delicious apples
Gold Rush apples
Pink Lady apples
Vegetables
Kale
Swiss chard
sweet candy onions
cabbage
spaghetti squash
broccoli
butternut squash
kiri winter squash
delicate winter squash
cheesecake squash
cauliflower
Brussels sprouts
Diakon radishes
Turnips
HERBS
parsley
mint tea
Meat - our own home grown
beef - we have steaks!
pork - we have chops!
Bakery
Raised Breads - dinner rolls, Honey oatmeal, and Cinnamon
Sweet breads
cookies
apple pies
strawberry rhubarb pies
Home grown eggs
Homemade jellies and jams
HONEY
Shagbark Hickory Syrup
Cheese from Whispering Brook Cheese Haus
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at the stand!
Gregg, Louise, Oliver Keckler - Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm
Tomorrow December 5
Oliver will be at St Luke's Episcopal Church from 8 - 1 pm.
These are some of the items that we will have tomorrow at the market stands.
Fruit
apples - Gala
apples - Cox orange Pippins
apples - York
apples - Fuji
apples - Cameo
apples- Granny Smith
apples - Pink Lady
Golden Delicious apples
apples - Gold Rush
Apple cider
Vegetables
Sweet onions
Kale
red and white potatoes
Swiss chard
cabbage
spaghetti squash
butternut squash
delicate squash
kiri winter squash
neck pumpkins
cheesecake winter squash
Fairy Tales
broccoli
cauliflower
Brussels Sprouts
Meat - our own home grown
beef - WE HAVE STEAKS! Filets, NY strips, Rib steaks, sirloin, fat iron
pork - We have chops and ham steak, bacon, breakfast links and 7 inch grillers
Bakery
Raised Breads - Honey Oatmeal and cinnamon bread and herb bread
cinnamon rolls
Sweet breads - pumpkin, bananai, and apple
cookies
Homemade pies - strawberry rhubarby pies
apple pies
Home grown eggs
Homemade jellies and jams
HONEY
Shagbark Hickory Syrup
Cheese from Whispering Brook Cheese Haus
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at the stand!
Gregg, Louise, Oliver Keckler - Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm
National Geographic Society - Tuesday, December 1 from 9-2pm in the courtyard.
We will have jellies, honey, Shagbark hickory syrup
Fruit
Gala apples
York apples
Fuji apples
Cameo apples
Apple cider
Nittany apples
yellow Delicious apples
Gold Rush apples
lady apples
Pink Lady apples
Vegetables
Kale
Swiss chard
sweet candy onions
red potatoes
cabbage
spaghetti squash
broccoli
butternut squash
kiri winter squash
delicate winter squash
cheesecake squash
cauliflower
Brussels sprouts
Diakon radishes
Turnips
Jicamas
HERBS
parsley
mint tea
Meat - our own home grown
beef - we have steaks!
pork - we have chops!
Bakery
Raised Breads - dinner rolls
Sweet breads
cookies
apple pies
strawberry rhubarb pies
Home grown eggs
Homemade jellies and jams
HONEY
Shagbark Hickory Syrup
Cheese from Whispering Brook Cheese Haus
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at the stand!
Gregg, Louise, Oliver Keckler - Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm
National Geographic Society - Tuesday, November 24 from 9-2pm in the courtyard.
We will have jellies, honey, Shagbark hickory syrup
Fruit
Gala apples
Cortland apples
York apples
Fuji apples
Cameo apples
Apple cider
Nittany apples
yellow Delicious apples
Gold Rush apples
lady apples
Pink Lady apples
Vegetables
Kale
lettuce
Swiss chard
sweet candy onions
red potatoes
cherry tomatoes
cabbage
spaghetti squash
broccoli
butternut squash
kiri winter squash
delicate winter squash
cheesecake squash
cauliflower
Brussels sprouts
Diakon radishes
Turnips
Jicamas
HERBS
parsley
Meat - our own home grown
beef - we have steaks!
pork - we have chops!
Bakery
Raised Breads - honey oatmeal, cinnamon bread, dinner rolls
Sweet breads
cookies
apple pies
strawberry rhubarb pies
Home grown eggs
Homemade jellies and jams
HONEY
Shagbark Hickory Syrup
Cheese from Whispering Brook Cheese Haus
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at the stand!
Gregg, Louise, Oliver Keckler - Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm
Thanks so much for being part of our farm this year. Many of you were CSA members; lots of you were market buyers, others were investors, bulk buyers, and just farm friends - no matter which you have helped us to keep the local family farm alive and well.
Our season is winding down with only two markets still going until Christmas, St. Luke's in Alexandria and NGS .
We are now processing the last couple of turkeys, moving chickens around to get ready of chicks, cleaning out fields, plowing, laying plastic for next year, and cleaning up the books.
Clean Up:
Gregg, Oliver and Juan are working at cleaning up Oliver's new farm buildings for the winter. We had the turkeys up there for the last several weeks. Oliver is looking forward to working on his house during the winter months. He and Juan will also be plowing up two new fields for next year. One field was full of weeds and the other was an ancient hay field.
They will also be converting an old chicken shed on our property to a chick brooder house. We would like to begin raising our layers from chicks starting in December and we would like to have about 500 layers instead of 100 layers for next season. By raising our own chicks we can have more choice on the types of layers we have.
Repairs
Oliver and Juan have been working on major repairs to our old barn. These are almost completed. They will be starting on Oliver's barn - replacing glass, creating a shelter for the 500 layers to mature, and tearing down an old implement shed.
New plans
Gregg will begin to make jam and applesauce as soon as the holidays are over. Gregg will also be starting new sweet potato plants from snips and also renovating pig housing. We are hoping to have a successful pig production this winter, so that we can start out the year with a lot of good, home raised pork. I will be working on getting the new CSA season up and running so that folks can sign up for the new 2016 season beginning on January 1, 2016.
We had great success with many crops this year. The eggplant was prolific, the cucumbers, jicama, winter squash, cabbage, zucchini and summer squash were great! We also had a good year with blueberries and peaches. The apples were so-so -not the best and not the worst year for production. We had a complete crop failure with garlic, but we have already bought and planted new sets for next year.
We are planning new crops, old favorites, great fruits, chicken, eggs, pork, beef, and jams for next year. We hope that you will keep us in mind as you plan for next year's fruit and vegetables.
Gift Certificates
We also have gift certificates available for holiday giving. You can purchase gift certificates or CSA subscription for friends and family on the online store. Consider it a gift of great food, grown locally - supporting a local farmer and a unique gift!
Family News
We keep growing and also loosing
We had one daughter get married this year - which was a loss. Sarah married Billy Reynolds. They did not move to far. They bought a farm just one and half miles down the road. Sarah and Billy are the owners of the Twirly Top just down the road.
We also gained almost two grandchildren this year. I say almost because Tamara is due any day now. Tamara and Stuart (our oldest son) are expecting number 4 child before the end of November. Lydia (our daughter) and Mark Wooten had child number 3 in September. Sawyer came 9 weeks early, but he is doing fine now.
I know that next year will be a very busy one for us. Virigina will be getting married in April to Dan Shedd and Oliver will be getting married in October to Elizabeth Brown. So we will finally be empty-nesters! I cannot say about grandchildren for next year! We had seven children and it took 11 years (even with a set of twins in there.) But we have 8 grandchildren in less than 5 years! Wow! was that ever easier!
Have a great Thanksgiving and remember to truly give thanks. It has been a great year.
Tthank you for being part of it.
Gregg, Louise and Oliver Keckler
Orchard Country Produce AND Fruit Farm, Inc
We Will be there rain or shine!
These are some of the items that we will have tomorrow at the market.
Fruit
apples -Mutzu Crispin
apples- Gala
Apples- Cortland
apples - Red Delicious
apples - Cameo
Apples - Cox Orange Pippins
apples - granny smith
apples - York
apples - golden Delicious
apples - Pink lady
Apples - Fuji
apples - gold Rush
Vegetables
Kale
lettuce
Swiss chard
sweet onions
cabbage
butternut squash
spaghetti squash
delicate squash
kiri winter squash
Long neck pumpkins
cheesecake winter squash
fairy tale pumpkins
cauliflower
broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Meat - our own home grown
beef - We have beef bologna!
Kielbasa
smoked sausage
Bakery
Raised Breads - honey oatmeal bread and cinnamon bread
Sweet breads -pumpkin, and apple,banana
cookies
Homemade pies - strawberry rhubarb pies
apple pies
Home grown eggs
Homemade jellies and jams
HONEY
Shagbark Hickory Syrup
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at the stand!
Gregg, Louise, Oliver Keckler - Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm
Tomorrow November 21
Rain or shine We will be there to bring you vegetables and great apples !
Oliver will be at St Luke's Episcopal Church from 8 - 1 pm.
These are some of the items that we will have tomorrow at the market stands.
Fruit
apples - Gala
apples - Cox orange Pippins
apples - Cortland
apples - York
apples - Fuji
apples - Cameo
apples- Granny Smith
apples - Mutzu Crispin
apples - Pink Lady
Golden Delicious apples
apples - Gold Rush
Apple cider
Vegetables
Sweet onions
Kale
lettuce
red and white potatoes
Swiss chard
cabbage
spaghetti squash
butternut squash
delicate squash
kiri winter squash
neck pumpkins
cheesecake winter squash
Fairy Tales
broccoli
cauliflower
Brussels Sprouts
Meat - our own home grown
beef - WE HAVE STEAKS! Filets, NY strips, Rib steaks, sirloin, fat iron
pork - We have chops and ham steak, bacon, breakfast links and 7 inch grillers
Pick up your Thanksgiving Turkey NOW!
Bakery
Raised Breads - Honey Oatmeal and cinnamon bread and herb bread
cinnamon rolls
Sweet breads - pumpkin, bananai, and apple
cookies
Homemade pies - strawberry rhubarby pies
apple pies
Home grown eggs
Homemade jellies and jams
HONEY
Shagbark Hickory Syrup
Cheese from Whispering Brook Cheese Haus
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at the stand!
Gregg, Louise, Oliver Keckler - Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm