Week of September 20, 2020

This week ends our stay at TAProots farm and the Keuka Lakehouse, with the two day road trip back to our Florida Home.  Looking back over the summer, it is useful to review the farm’s productivity.  This started with the COVID-19 lockdown, preventing the February, April, and May visits, so the usual pruning and fertilizing did not occur.  A major setback was a hard frost and snow in midMay which eliminated the primary grape buds, all set fruit on the plum trees, and most of the peaches.  Then came a hot and dry June and July, with only about an inch of rain per month, and only twice that in August.  This reduced the raspberry and blackberry crops greatly.  It also played havoc with our new current plantings.  Such is the plight of the farmer.  Despite these challenges, a nice crop of black currents produced about 50 pounds of berries and 15 bottles of KEUCASSIS.  The blueberry crop was the best ever with many batches of pancakes, toppings on cereal and ice cream, and three batches of jam (one freezer jam).  The second year Riesling grapes put on great growth.  The blackberries did perk up with August rains and allowed a batch of jam, as did the second crop of peaches.  A bushel of apples and pears made the trip south.  The joys of TAProots Farm continued with many visits by children and grandchildren.  We look forward to next year already.