Thank you for creating fall season memories with us at Fair Oaks Farms. As the last of our apples are picked we can’t help but be grateful. Grateful for all of the families and friends that visited our Orchard Store. Those of you who ventured out to our 4-acre corn maze and to the field of bright orange pumpkins. The apples that you picked and gathered to take home with you and for the happiness shared along the way.
What was your favorite apple from our orchard? There were so many delicious choices. Zestar, Gala, Honeycrisp, Pixie Crunch, Crimson Crisp, Jonagold, Cameo or Gold Rush. Whichever apple was your favorite, we hope you enjoyed your kitchen creations and treats as much as we enjoyed seeing the pictures you shared of your apple masterpieces!
Now that the chilly temperatures are rolling in. The orchard staff will start preparing the apple trees to keep them protected through the colder season. Here on our farm, we use windmills to bring the warmer air down across our field. How does this work? The windmill acts like an airplane. When the propellers are on, it sucks the warm air out of the inversion layer and brings it back down to the ground. The most important time to have our windmills on will be during late fall and early spring when the temperatures are below 32 degrees.
You might be wondering why the fall and spring but not the winter. The reason behind this is during the wintertime the trees are in dormancy. Dormancy is similar to hibernation, you will see the first signs of this when the leaves start changing color. Once the trees bloom in the spring it is very important to have our windmills on to ensure the freezing temperatures won’t harm the bud and potential for fruit. It is equally important in the late fall to have them on. We don’t want the apples to freeze as the quality of the fruit will decline and won’t be good to eat.
Thank you for sharing all of your contagious smiles and laughs with us. And for creating fall season memories along the way. -The Orchard at Fair Oaks Farms, see ya next year!