A Note from Annette and Randy:

As of March 1, 2008 The season at Fruit Acres Farm Market & U-Pick is just starting. Annette has been doing paperwork and taxes. Randy has fixed all the equipment and is building another U-Pick trailer. The Apple trees are almost all trimmed for the winter, next is Sweet Cherry trees to trim before spring comes. That has to allow some vacation time though. We have been scuba diving in Bonaire and Cozumel this winter. We had a wonderful time like usual. We have been scuba diving since 1991, diving and warm weather are the reason for any vacation. We love it!!!

We will re-open Fruit Acres Farm Market in June 2008 with Fresh Local Strawberries. Fruit Acres U-Pick will open with Sweet Cherries in late June or early July (depending on the weather this spring). Right now Fruit Acres Farms has a adequate amount of rain and temperatures to produce a wonderful crop of fruit for 2008. We will let you know if anything changes in the winter or spring.

Annette heard something on Montel I feel I need to correct. Montel said that everyone should wash all their produce with soap as soon as they get home. This is wrong!!! Do not wash your produce until ready to use for most items because there is a protective coating on the produce to help keep it from rotting and if you wash it the produce will rot quicker or it will turn to mush after a few hours. A perfect example of that is raspberries or lettuce. As far as soap, I wash all my produce with water to get any dirt or anything off it. I do not want soap on my produce unless it is specifically made for produce. I really do not want to eat soap. That is my personal opinion.

Finally, I have some bad news about a very dear employee at Fruit Acres U-Pick. Bill Beilman passed away February 13, 2008. Bill had to take a medical leave from his job in August 2007 because of a heart condition. His heart was finally the end of him. To all that talked to him (he liked to talk alot!), he was a very dear older gentleman with alot of knowledge of farming and the area. Bill will be dearly missed. If you want to see his obituary, Click here.

Gas in Michigan is currently $3.15 gallon.

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Fruit Acres Farm Market & U-Pick will let you know when your favorite crops are getting close to ripening. This newsletter will let you know when the perfect cherry, peach or apple will be ready for you to pick it yourself off the tree, in a beautiful country setting in southwest Michigan on a perfect summer or fall day! Fruit Acres Newsletter will let you know what is happening at the Fruit Acres Farm Market too!!

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Check Harvest Times for 2006 ripening schedule

A Large Assortment of Pumpkins at Fruit Acres Farm Market

Since the first Thanksgiving, Americans have decorated with Pumpkins for their fall displays and celebrations. Whole Pumpkins keep the longest but Carving Pumpkins is so much fun for the whole family to do together. If you have a lot of spare time you can even make homemade pumpkin pie, cookies or bread. But the best part is picking out the best pumpkin there is for that Very Special Person. We have pumpkins from little gourd size, small pie pumpkins to small, medium and large Jack-o'-lantern sizes.

FREE WAGON RIDES

In August, September and October everyone parks in a central parking area with FREE Picnic Area and playground . Parking is just 1 mile south of I-94 and Fruit Acres Farm Market. Then everyone takes a FREE wagon ride to the U-Pick orchard. Cars are not allowed in the orchard.

• We use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which means we only spray for insects according to their life cycle and if that insect has been spotted by scouting orchards every few days.
• We use pheromone when possible to eliminate or greatly reduce the use of chemicals for certain insects such as Oriental Fruit Moth, Codling Moth and Peach tree Borer. We participate in studies with Michigan State University for peach and apple to reduce chemical use as low as possible depending on the weather conditions that particular year.
• Michigan unfortunately has too much natural insect pressure to farm organically on a commercial scale. The western states with their dry desert weather conditions are better suited for that possibility. If we could save a lot of money and time by not spraying and grow a sellable fruit we definitely would.
• We do not grow genetically altered peach trees. The new Stellar peach varieties are hand cross-pollinated on a mother tree to get the new varieties the same way breeders have been doing it for hundreds of years. There is no genetic manipulation in a laboratory.

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