Growing With Tuttles.

Best Cider in Indiana Award

2012-01-30T15:43:00.000-06:00

Adding a new award to the Tuttle's wall today...
BEST CIDER IN INDIANA for 2012.

We won this award during the Indiana Horticulture Congress this year where they judge cider from all the orchards all over the state of Indiana.

Here are some short video clips from the last time we made cider.

Tuttle's Version of the CSA: The Tuttle's Tote Program

2012-01-30T13:35:00.000-06:00

For a while now people have been asking here about whether we would think about doing a CSA (for those who don't know a CSA is short for Community Supported Agriculture: generally a family would sign up for a "share" of the farm in the early spring as a way of investing the farm. Then they would get a share of the produce all summer long). We've mulled it over this idea of this type program about a year, and begun to think about what that might look like for us here at Tuttles. We knew that ours would be a bit different then what the traditional CSA might look like. First, because people have told us they would like us to incorporate some of the items we have in our store that we don't grow. Secondly, because we wanted to explore ways of doing the program all year eventually.
So...after much thought we have put together a trial program for this summer called the Tuttle's Tote Program. We really like the idea...and we hope our customers do too. We have also decided to start small for this summer (only 25 families) so we can be sure to offer a really great program and to work on ways of perfecting it for the future. The goal is to be able to offer a winter tote program starting in November that would include apples, cider, lettuce, winter squash, etc. We have begun to grow winter veggies in our high tunnels this year in anticipation of the winter tote program.

You can find an overview of the tote program on our website as well as a list of what might be included in the totes each week.

You can sign up for the tote program in our online store or by visiting the farm store. As of today's writing we have about 13 spots left for this summer.

Adventures in Backyard Fruit Production

2010-01-20T14:19:00.002-06:00

Many of you call us from time to time to ask about growing your own apple trees. Purdue Extension Hancock County is sponsoring a series of workshops on home fruit tree care. March 4, 11, 18, 25, and April1. For more information you can click here for the brochure.

Buying Local

2009-11-03T11:53:00.002-06:00

Check out this video about buying local...developed by the Hancock Harvest Council. You can learn more about them www.hancockharvestcouncil.com. Tuttle's will be participating in their winter farmers market this year at the Greenfield Fairgrounds the first and third Saturday of the month from 10AM-1PM. Come and visit us.

Caramel Apple Festvial

2009-09-15T11:09:00.004-05:00

We had a great turnout for our Caramel Apple Festival on Saturday. Here are some pictures...

The apple pie contest was a big success. Below is winner: Suzie Wallach with her Crumbly Caramel Apple Pie. Burt Jones, Hancock County Extension Educator was our judge. The winning pie was a Crumbly Caramel Apple Pie
Pie Crust:
3 C. white flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 C. vegetable oil
7 1/2 tsp. Tbs. ICE water

Sift flour and salt. Mix ice water and oil with a fork until milky in color. Add flour to mixture. Stir. Cut in half. Wrap in two sheets of plastic wrap and refrigerate while making apple mixture.

Apple Mixture:
1/4 C. sugar
1/4 C. white flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
6 thinly sliced Paula Red Apples (Tuttles)

Mix dry ingredients together then add to apples until coated.

Roll out pie dough between two sheets of waxed paper. Flip rolled out dough into pie plate.

Add apple mixture to pie plate.

Crumble:
1/2 C. Butter, melted
1/2 C. Old Fashioned Oats
1 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C. flour
Mix together with fork until the mixture is crumbly.

Add to top of pie mixture.

Sprinkle 1/2 C. chopped walnuts on top of crumble. Drizzle with 15 melted caramels plus 1 Tbsp milk that have been melted in microwave. Bake this way or add a second top crust.

Bake at 375 degrees with aluminum foil covered edges for 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for another 30 minutes or until browned on top. Serve warm with ice crea.

Salsa Anyone?

2009-09-05T00:09:00.001-05:00

Labor Day weekend is a great time for making salsa and canning tomatoes. Our half bushels of canning tomatoes are only $10 right now. Here's a look at them picking tomatoes in the field...

Fall is Here!

2009-09-05T00:01:00.002-05:00

Fall is officially here at the orchard. The air has turned somewhat cooler...the sounds of children in the orchard picking apples...the smell of caramel in the store from the fresh caramel apples. All these are signs of fall here at Tuttles.

With fall comes apples...right now we have the following apples available:

In the store: Cortland, Gala, Early Blaze, Ozark Gold, and Paula Red
For u-pick: Early Blaze, Gala, and Cortland

Here's a bit about each of these apples...

Cortland: Cortland is a cross of McIntosh and Ben Davis. It is sweet with a hint of tartness, juicy, and have tender, snow white flesh. Excellent for eating, salads, sauce, pies and baking. Good for freezing. Cortland apples are wonderful for kabobs, fruit plates and garnishes because they don't turn brown quickly when cut.

The Cortland apple was developed by the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in 1898.

Early Blaze: A cross between Jonathan and Grimes Golden, these semi-tart apples are crisp with just the right mixture of sweetness and zip for fresh off the tree eating. Smooth striped skin is cherry red and very attractive. It is an early apple, as its name implies, and is said to make the very best pies.

Gala: This is a favorite apple of kids and those with gourmet taste because of its good looks and sweet taste. It is a strikingly attractive apple. The bright yellow skin is finely stippled with red, as if airbrushed, and the result is a near-neon intensity. From across a room you'd think you were looking at a peach. Gala was developed in New Zealand by J. H. Kidd, crossing Golden Delicious and his own Kidd's Orange Red. The work was done in the 1920s, but the apple wasn't named and introduced until the 1960s. Gala is distinguished by a fine, firm and crisp texture combined with a sweet, very juicy and spicy rich taste. Gala is good for all purposes, including raw in salads. Tom Vorbeck of Applesource says that a typical first comment of people biting into one is "Best apple I ever had in my life." When cooked, Gala strikes some people as bland, but it can be dried with good results. Gala is also used in cider blends.

Ozark Gold:Very similar to Golden Delicious, but ripening three weeks earlier, this grandchild of Golden Delicious has a smooth, attractive, often blushed finish. It’s flavor is mild and juicy with some tartness at the beginning of the season. When properly matured, flavor improves greatly.

Paula Red: A red apple that matures in summer, Paulared has beautiful solid red blush color far ahead of other apples. Flavor is tart, light to creamy flesh and is equally food for eating, sauces, juice or pies.

Indiana State Fair Masters

2009-08-20T21:18:00.002-05:00

Tuttles was recognized today at the Indiana State Fair as one of the 2009 Indiana State Fair Masters. Every year two groups who have made longtime commitment to the Indiana State Fair and the promotion of traditional arts in Indiana are recognized. Here's a photo from the award ceremony today. You can see the display on the second floor of the Home and Family Arts building at the Indiana State Fair.

Historical Societies Milk Can Dinner

2009-08-03T10:20:00.004-05:00

Many of you joined the Hancock County Historical Society's Milk Can Dinner on Saturday afternoon. It was a big success!! Here are some photos of the evening:

Cutting Out the Agrimaze

2009-07-23T15:29:00.004-05:00

How do you make a corn maze anyways? Well, there are many different ways to make a maze...some farms use GPS systems on their tractors to plant the corn in just the right place. Here at Tuttle's we do ours by hand. You can read about how they plant the maze here. Then, yesterday, we spent the day cutting out the maze. What does that entail? First, Helen, our resident maze expert draws up the maze on graph paper. She goes out and counts the rows of corn to see exactly how big the area is where the corn is planted for the maze, and then designs a maze that fits into that space. Next, they go out into the maze and count off the rows and begin to cut the path for the maze. They use tiller with a special implement to cut each path for the maze. Here are some pictures of the corn maze cutting...

Summertime in the Field

2009-07-20T12:10:00.005-05:00

The blackberries are growing...they should be ready by Mid-August.

Lots of green beans to pick.

Apples are growing quite nicely. We have been so blessed this year with weather that has been very good for apples. It looks like we will have a really nice crop for the first time in several years.
Mike in the cantaloupe patch...another two weeks and they should be ripe.

Green peppers are starting to ripen.

Summertime in the Field

2009-07-20T11:31:00.002-05:00

Fresh Signs of Summer...in the store.

2009-07-15T15:12:00.007-05:00

Farm Tour Fun

2009-06-30T08:10:00.005-05:00

Despite the intense heat, we had a great day at the farm tour on Saturday. Lots of people came out to see the veggies growing and have a local burger. Here are some snapshots from the tour.

Vote for Your Favorite Farmers Market

2009-06-23T21:53:00.002-05:00

Those of you who visit us at the Binford Farmers Market...you can vote for your favorite farmers market and help the market make some money. Check it out here...

Action in the Fields

2009-06-23T13:54:00.002-05:00

We'll despite all the rain and the heat, lots of good veggies are starting to find their way from the fields to the store. This morning I ventured out to the vegetable fields in hopes of seeing some action...and there's lots of be seen:

Buy Fresh Buy Local Farm Tour

2009-06-23T13:52:00.002-05:00

We're getting really excited for the farm tour this weekend. We hope lots of you will come and take the tour of the vegetable growing areas. You'll get to ride back and see the high tunnel tomato houses where the tomatoes are grown, as well as, see the sweet corn and how we control pests. The kids' will love checking out the bug traps. You will also be able to see the baby cucumbers and zucchinis forming on the vines. The tours will run every 30 minutes from 11AM-4PM. You'll also be able to enjoy a local burger lunch...including a fresh slice of fresh picked tomato! The lunch will include an Anvil Angus burger, vegetable chips, and an old fashioned soda...all for $5. At 12:00 and 2:00, your family can also participate in the family farm games...who knows you might get to win a prize in the tomato toss or other fun games! There will also be lots of local food sampling and recipes in the store.

Fresh Picked...

2009-06-19T11:46:00.002-05:00

New things are coming into the store every day. Fresh picked broccoli, fresh picked summer squash and zucchini, South Carolina peaches...all arrived this week. Next week we hope to have our own tomatoes, Indiana blueberries.

More Photos in the Fields...

2009-06-16T12:27:00.002-05:00

In the fields...

2009-06-15T20:35:00.002-05:00

Broccoli

2009-06-15T13:24:00.002-05:00

Tuttle's Broccoli was picked fresh for the first time this morning. The heads are nice and large! It's only $1.50 a pound. Great for making broccoli salad, soup, or for winter freezing.

Growing Veggies

2009-06-09T16:05:00.007-05:00

I took a walk through the vegetable fields and this is some of what's growing.

Onions
Broccoli: Should be ready the end of the month.

Cabbage: Baby heads are about 3 inches across.
Watermelon Plants
Field Tomatoes: we're growing some heirlooms this year including Mr Stripey, Green Zebra, and Purple Cherokee. We're also trying some Tomatillos.

Sweet Corn Planting #1: Hopefully it will all be ripe by the 10th of July.
Zucchini plants in bloom.

Growing Apples

2009-06-09T15:25:00.003-05:00

Ever since the bees were done pollinating the apple trees, we've been watching the baby apples grow on the trees.

Baby apples growing.

2 weeks later...the apples are getting bigger and have some color on them.

The pick your own orchards.

Planting the Agrimaze

2009-06-09T14:46:00.004-05:00

Today was the day to plant the Agrimaze, our fall corn maze. Many of you may have visited our corn maze in the fall. We begin thinking about the maze each year the first part of June. First, we must select a good field to use for the maze. It's important to rotate the crops since corn takes a lot of nitrogen out of the soil...so we try to alternate between corn and pumpkins each year in the fields. Before they plant, the ground must be worked a couple times to makes sure it's good and ready to be planted. As with most things in farming, weather is a big factor in when the ground can be worked. We have been lucky to have a few dry days early this week to be able to work the ground. Monday, there was a fear of rain and we had three guys out in the field working the ground as fast as possible so that they could plant all the soy beans, as well as, the corn maze while the ground was the still dry enough to get in the field. Luckily, it didn't rain afterall.

Working the ground.

Doing the maintenance on the planter to get it working before going out to the field.
The corn maze is planted with seed corn...it's different then the kind of corn you eat in the summer. We use this type of corn because it gets taller and is very durable. After we are finished with the maze in the fall, the corn can be harvested and sold as well. Why is the corn seed pink? The seeds are coated with a special chemical to prevent them from rotting before they germinate.
The seed goes into the buckets on the planter. It can plant several rows at a time. Some larger corn mazes use a gps positioning system to plant the corn exactly where they want it. We use a different method here at Tuttles as we do not have that sophisticated a planter. We use a John Deere planter and plant one set of rows going one direction in the field. The rows are carefully measuered to make sure they are the same distance apart. Then they go back through the field and plant another set of rows of corn perpindicular to the first set. This makes the corn grow in a X pattern.

When the corn is about knee high we go out into the field and cut the stalks out where we want the maze to be. Each section of corn planting is counted so we are able to count of the exact number of rows that we need to cut out to make the pattern that will become the corn maze.

It is very important that the corn be planted evenly in each row. Mike is walking behind the planter to make sure that each hopper has sufficient seed.

New Produce Cases

2009-06-09T14:20:00.007-05:00

The store at Tuttle's has a new look. We've got some new produce refrigerators in the store! The old refrigerators have served us well...we discovered they were first installed in the early 1970's. They finally have given up on life this past winter, and we were able to buy some used units from a grocery store that went out of business in Fort Wayne. So...here are some shots of the moving process. Come and see the new look.
Old cases after they were removed.
Empty space
Measuring.
Connecting them up.

Blue Angels Flying Over Tuttles

2009-06-04T14:59:00.002-05:00

The ground is shaking here today as the Blue Angels practice for the air show a few feet over our heads. Come on out and bring your lawn chairs Saturday to see the air show from a distance. We have lots of good Indiana strawberries in the store along with some fresh tomatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, and more!

Asparagus Quiche

2009-05-28T20:38:00.002-05:00

With all the great asparagus we've had lately, I've been looking for new recipes. Here's a great quiche:

Spring Quiche

Potato Crust:
3 cups uncooked hash brown potatoes, thawed
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Mix potatoes and oil and press into a 9in pie pan. Bake in preheated oven at 425 F for about 15 minutes or until just starts to brown.

Quiche:
1 1/2 cups asparagus
1 C swiss cheese, grated
1/2 cup bacon, fried and crumbled
1/4 cup green onions
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary
Mix together. Add the following:

3 eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Pour into pie crust. Sprinkle with a bit more Swiss cheese. Bake at preheated oven 425 F for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and bake until browned on top and set in the middle another 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving.

In the field...

2009-05-26T16:42:00.008-05:00

With the coming of dryer weather, Tuttle's fields have been a flurry of activity this week. We've planted lots and lots of summer vegetables including: sweet corn, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, squash, okra, and other crops. Here's a look at the melon planting day.

Tomatoes...3 weeks and counting...

2009-05-26T16:34:00.004-05:00

That's right! We hope to have our own tomatoes in about 3 weeks. Here's some pictures of the high tunnel houses where the tomatoes are growing. Right now we have some tomatoes in the store that are grown at a farm in Tennessee using the same high tunnel technique. They taste like real homegrown tomatoes!

Indiana Strawberries are Now Here!

2009-05-22T17:00:00.002-05:00

Indiana strawberries will be in the store today at 4pm just in time for Memorial Weekend. Currently, they are coming to us direct from a farm in southern Indiana. They are picked fresh and sent directly yo us so they are very fresh!! We hope to have some from strawberries from the Indianapolis are from a local strawberry farm the middle of next week. It's time for some good memorial weekend strawberry shortcake!

Asparagus

2009-05-18T11:17:00.002-05:00

We now have Indiana Asparagus in the store from Melon Acres Farm in southern Indiana. Want a new way to fix your asparagus this year? Ever tried broiling it. I've discovered this new way of cooking asparagus this year....thanks to one of our staff's suggestion. Just lay the asparagus on a broiler pan or cookie sheet and cover it with a little olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Put it on broil in the oven until it's just starting to turn brown. It's delicious! I'm told you can also try it on the grill....

Tomato Update

2009-05-09T16:12:00.004-05:00

Our high tunnel tomatoes are growing quite well. The first house has tomatoes about the size of a 1/2 dollar growing on most of the plants. We hope to be harvesting ripe tomatoes from that house by the beginning of June. This week they also planted the tomatoes in the other high tunnel house.

Mother's Day Weekend at Tuttles

2009-05-09T08:06:00.017-05:00

As always, there has been lots of activity this weekend at the orchard. The greenhouses are bustling with people picking out their mother's day gifts and their garden plants. Here's some snapshots of the fun!

Apple Crops: 2009 Looks Good So Far

2009-04-30T10:52:00.003-05:00

Several of you have asked about how the weather is effecting this year's apple crop. So far we have been very fortunate. No damage from frost or hail. The last few years have not been good for the apple crop...two years ago with a bad freeze during the spring blooming time leaving us with very few apples. Last year with lots of hail that came the day of the tornado in May, we had quite a few apples knocked off the tree and others that were very damaged. Here's a picture that Tom took last week of apples that were damaged by hail last season.
Thankfully so far this season it looks like it will be a good apple year. Yeah!!!!

Greenhouse Color

2009-04-30T10:38:00.009-05:00

I love working in the greenhouse this time of year...so many beautiful colors and flowers. Here are some pictures:

80th Anniversary Memories

2009-04-28T13:28:00.015-05:00

As many of you know in 2008, we celebrated the 80th Anniversary of Tuttle Orchards. We had a great turnout at lots of different events. Looking back on the great year, I wanted to share with you some of the best pictures from these events, as well as, the 1st Place Apple Pie from our Anniversary Apple Pie Contest.
Virginia Tuttle Roney enjoying the festivities.

80" of Apple Crisp.
The current Tuttle/Roney family.

Corn eating contest.
Tomato Toss
Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest

1st Place Apple Pie Recipe

Apple Praline Pie

3/4 C Granulated Suger
1/4 C Flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
dash salt
3 C sweet apples (peeled and thinly sliced)
3 C tart apples (peeled and thinly sliced)
2 T butter, cut up
milk (optional)
Granulated Sugar (optional)
1/4 C butter
1/2 C packed brown sugar
2 T half-n-half
1/2 C chopped pecans

1. Prepare pastry as indicated below. Line a 9" pie plate with a pastry circle.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Add apples and toss to coat. Transfer to pastry lined pie pan. Dot with 2 T butter. Roll out the nut pastry circle and place on top. Make slits in top, and crimp edges as desired.
3. If you'd like brush top with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar. To prevent browning cover edges with foil. Place pie in a 375 degree oven. Bake 40 minutes. Remove foil from pie. Back 20 more minutes or until bubbly.
4. After baking pie or 50 minutes, in a small saucepan melt 1/4 C butter. Gradually stir in brown sugar and 2 T of milk. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Spoon over baked pie and sprinkle with nuts. Return to oven; bake 2-3 minutes or until topping bubbles. Cool on wire rack.
Nut Pastry Recipe

2 1/4 C. flour
1/4 C ground pecans, toasted
3/4 tsp. salf
2/3 C shortening

In medium bowl, combine flour, ground pecans, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea size. Sprinkle 1 T water over part of flour mixture. Repeat moistening with 1 T. of water at a time (5-6 T total) until mixture is moistened. Divide pastry in half. Form balls. On floured surface, flatten pastry balls. Roll into a 12" circle. Repeat with remaining dough.

Congratulations to Kristin Richie who had the award winning pie!

Gerbera Daisies

2009-04-28T11:19:00.000-05:00

We have planted over 700 gerbera daisies in the greenhouse. These are always popular in the spring for planting in pots or Mother's Day gifts. We do get a lot of questions about growing them. These are some of Mike's tips for Gerberas:

They like filtered light more than direct sunlight. Under a tree or something that provides so sort of cover from direct sunlight. They do need sunlight though so don't plant them in the shade.
You want to fertilize them every 2 weeks with a water soluble fertilizer that has a low middle number (like 15-7-15 or 12-2-12). This will help the blooming and not the leaf growth.
Gerberas' will not bloom continuously. They bloom, then take about a two week break to refuel and the bloom again.
Some people say it's best to plant them by themselves. Don't mix them with other plants.
When you water, you want to get them wet...then let the soil dry out before watering again. They like to be dry-wet-dry-wet. If the flowers start to droop it is typically from too much water not too little.

Caring for Hanging Baskets

2009-04-27T16:20:00.009-05:00

A lot of people have been picking out their petunia and million bell combination hanging baskets this spring. We have lots of different combinations and choices. Here are Mike's tips on how to keep them looking nice all summer:

Water your baskets once a day or on especially hot days twice a day. You'll know you need to water them if they start to wilt or look droopy.
Fertilize them every 2 weeks with a water soluble fertilizer. You want to use a compound with a lot middle number (like 15-7-15 or 12-2-12) so that it promotes flowering and not more leaves. (The exception to this is Geraniums and New Guinea Impatiens...these do NOT want any fertilizer.)
As the baskets get longer you can "give them a haircut." Cut back some of the longer parts to allow light to get to the center of the basket and keep it healthy.
If your basket contains verbena, you can deadhead the verbena to keep it looking nice. Any Million Bells or Petunias will NOT need to be deadheaded. We use only self-cleaning petunias in our baskets.

Cabbage, Onions, & Broccol in the Ground

2009-04-23T15:54:00.003-05:00

Cabbage, Onions, and Broccoli went in the ground on Saturday.

First Sweet Corn Planting

2009-04-23T15:52:00.002-05:00

Norman was preparing the planter today for the first planting of sweet corn for this year. Mike always tries to plant it as early as possible so that we can have corn in the store by the 10th of July.

Bees for the Trees

2009-04-23T15:30:00.004-05:00

The bee hives arrived today to pollinate the apple blossoms.
We rent bees from Clover Blossom Honey. They have hundreds of hives all over the state of Indiana, and move the bees from place to place as things come in bloom. After they smoke the bees to keep them calm, they use the bobcat to move the hives into place. The hives will be moved around on the farm as other things come into bloom like vegetable crops, tomatoes, and then pumpkins. We carry Clover Blossom's Honey in our store.

The apple trees are almost ready to bloom. You can see the pink and white through the buds. By this weekend the orchard will smell and look beautiful. We also put hives back by the high tunnel tomatoes to help with pollination in that area. The tomato plants are growing quite large. Hopefully we'll have a picture update in the next few days.

Phlox Arrives

2009-04-20T09:57:00.002-05:00

We have six colors of perennial phlox that is now available.

Double Knock Out and Knock Out Roses Arrive

2009-04-20T09:36:00.003-05:00

Knock Out Roses have become quite popular in the last few years. They are great at blooming all summer and require a lot less care then the old fashioned rose bushes.
Our Knock Out Roses have arrived. We have the following colors this year:
Blushing Knock Out
Radrazz Knock Out
Pink Knock Out
Rainbow Knock Out

We also have some Red Double Knock Out Roses. To read more about Knock Out Roses you can check out their website.
With the popularity of the Knock Out Roses in recent years... our supplier has stopped carrying the Hybrid T roses. So, unfortunately we will not be carrying any of the traditional rose bushes this year.

Tropicals Arrive

2009-04-20T09:25:00.005-05:00

The greenhouse now smells even better with the arrival of the gardenia trees and bushes along with lots of other tropical mandavilla vines (red, white, pink, and a new cherry color), hibiscus trees (both braided trunk and straight trunk), and Durante showers trees.

Binford Road Farmers Market

2009-04-16T16:52:00.004-05:00

Here's some photos from the winter Binford Farmers Market. Tuttle's was there one week with apples & cider. We will be participating in the Binford Market again this summer. The first Saturday is the day before Mother's Day so come and see some flowers and hanging baskets. There are lots of other great vendors too. You can see who they are at the Binford Markets' Website. We will also be at the Geist Farmers Market again as well. It is held Thursdays beginning in May from 2:30-6:30pm at Holy Cross Luthren Church.

Home Fruit Tree Care Publication

2009-04-11T09:53:00.003-05:00

We had a great turnout for our home fruit tree pruning class today.

Here is a link to the publication about managing pests in home fruit trees that is available from Purdue.
Managing Pests in Home Fruit Trees

Some other publications that you might also find helpful are:
Apple Scab on Tree Fruit in the Home Orchard
Fire Blight on Fruit Trees in the Home Orchard
Disease Susceptibility of Common Apple Varieties
Apple Cultivars for Indiana

This is the publication Roy was talking about from Kentucky State on Varieties:
Home Fruit Tree Variety Recommendations

Cabbage and Broccoli Plants Are Available Now

2009-04-09T16:29:00.003-05:00

Tomato Varieties for 2009

2009-04-09T15:35:00.008-05:00

All the baby plants have found their home in new pots in the greenhouse. This pile of empty pots made me smile on Tuesday. This may not mean anything to you when you see it, but to us each one of these empty trays represents hundreds of baby plants we have translated this spring. Tomato Transplanting Time...the tomatoes plants that will be for sale for you to plant in your garden were transplanted this week.

Here's rundown of the varieties we have for 2009:

Early Girl (an early tomato)
Beefmaster (very large tomatoes)
Celebrity (what we grow in our high tunnel houses)
Rutgers (an old fashion favorite)
Roma (good for canning)
Indy (one of Dick Crum's favorites)
Better Boy (an improved Big Boy...more disease resistance)
Jet Star (one of our favorite here at the orchard)
Supersonic (we grow a lot of these in our fields too)
Big Beef (another big one)
Sweet Chelsea (a sweet cherry tomato)
Purple Cherokee (a purple heirloom)
Mr Stripey (a yellow and red stripe heirloom/some call these zebra tomatoes)
Green Zebra (small green heirloom...very nice flavor)
Moutain Gold (orange tomatoes)
Lemon Boy (yellow tomatoes)
Micro Tom (cherry tomato for container gardening)
Sugar Plum (grape tomato)

When can we plant our tomatoes outside? I get asked that question every day. It is best to wait until Mother's Day. The nightly temperatures are still too cold for tomatoes to live outside unprotected.

Demystifying the Tomato Tag

When you do go to buy your tomatoes, you encounter those tomato plant tags. What in the world do all those things on the tag mean anyways? Let's look at a plant tag together. Generally, at the top of the tag it will have the variety name. For example, the tag I have in front of me says "Mountain Gold." After the name there are letters: V, F, F. Those letters tell you that this variety is resistant to certain diseases or problems that effect tomatoes. Any variety that has letters like this is a hybrid variety which mean it has been created by mixing different varieties, etc. Every tag is a bit different, but generally if the tag lists the letters they stand for the following:
V= verticllium wilt
F= fusarium wilt
N= nematodes
T= tobacco mosaic virus
A = alternaria
Are these important to look at? It depends. If you know that you have trouble with one of these problems, then growing a variety of tomatoes that is resistant to these things can help. In general, some of these varieties are a good choice for new gardeners as they tend to be heartier plants in general than heirloom varieties.

That brings us to another thing. What does the term heirloom mean? Heirloom varieties are those that are not hybrids. They have not been bred or crossed with other varieties. This means these are older varieties and are often grown for their distinctive characteristics or taste. You can also save the seeds of an heirloom tomato and grow them again the next year.

Tomato tags also list a number of days. This is the time it takes for you to get a tomato after you plant the seedling outside in the ground. The earliest tomatoes are about 62 days; the latest varieties are around 85 days. If you are planting several tomato plants, you can choose different lengths so that your tomatoes will be ready at different times.

The last terms that you may see on a tomato tag are determinate variety or indeterminate variety. What is the difference? Determinate varieties will grow to a certain height and produce tomatoes. They don't keep growing. Indeterminate varieties are those that keep producing new leaf growth. They grow up and up and the tomatoes get progressively higher on the vine. These are the varieties that sometimes you see grown on a string. Most of the varieties that you will grow in your garden will be determinate varieties.

Tuttle Orchards on Flickr

2009-04-03T12:54:00.000-05:00

Tuttle's is now on flickr. Here's some of our spring photos.

www.flickr.com

Early Season Tomato Planting

2009-04-02T11:22:00.012-05:00

Take a look at the tomato planting in our high tunnel greenhouses yesterday and today.
These are the high tunnel houses (some call them hoop houses) that we use to grow tomatoes in the early spring and late fall. They are just like a greenhouse except that there is no floor; you plant right in the soil. This allows the tomatoes to still have good flavor because they are able to take in all the vitamins and minerals that are available in the soil as opposed to what you might see as hydroponic tomatoes which are typically grown in water and not soil.

This is the greenhouse a week ago before any tilling or planting.
Tilling the soil.
Spreading fertilizer to augment the soil.
Pest control cards help identify any unwanted guests in the greenhouse.
Laying the weed barier and red plastic which helps to keep the soil warmer. It's a special plastic that allows the plant's roots to breath without allowing weeds to grow.
It's time to plant.
Watering the plants.
Putting in the cages and posts with string for extra support. The black tube you see is drip irrigation that waters each plant individually. This prevents water from getting on the leaves and prevents potential fungi from developing due to dampness of the foliage.

Hanging baskets being taken back to the greenhouse to hang above the tomatoes.
Testing the irrigation tubes that will water each hanging basket.
Hanging the baskets.

All finished. The tomatoes and baskets are all set to grow nice and large. There's a heater in the greenhouse so if it gets a bit too cold at night they will be protected. Hopefully we'll have good homegrown tomatoes to eat the first part of June!

Potato Planting Tips

2009-03-31T16:38:00.003-05:00

I asked Thomas, an award winning 4-H gardener to share with me his tips for planting potatoes. Here's what he said:

You want to make sure to mound up the soil into ridges.
Put straw down on top of your ridge of soil.
Cut your seed potatoes so you have at least 3 eyes on each part of the potato.
Lay your cut seed potatoes about 6-8in apart on top of the straw.
Cover the potatoes with straw.
Mound more soil on top of the straw.
Wait for the potatoes plants to grow. The straw will help you have lots cleaner potatoes when you harvest them and should help to keep them from rotting.

Vegetable Gardening: Cool Season Crops

2009-03-31T16:30:00.003-05:00

It's officially April 1st and time to plant those cool season crops in the garden. The onion plants arrived today. We have quite variety this year...5 varieties. What can you plant right now?

Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes
Onions
Radish
Kohlrabi
Beets
Turnips
Parsnips
Cabbage
Broccoli
Peas
Cauliflower
Carrots

Proven Winners Certified Garden Center

2009-03-30T09:42:00.003-05:00

Tuttle's is now an official proven winners certified garden center meaning our staff has completed the Proven Winners training to learn all about the different plants that Proven Winners grows. What is Proven Winners? Proven Winners is an international marketing cooperative comprised of some of the world's best
propagators. As a group, they are dedicated to developing new hybrid color varieties that will perform well for both the grower and consumer. In our experience, Proven Winners plants always seem to perform very well and require less care than other plants. They also have a great website with container ideas: www.provenwinners.com

Frozen Cider

2009-03-27T09:25:00.006-05:00

Do you still have apple cider? That's a common question we get asked this time of year. The answer is yes. We have cider available all year round. How is that possible? We continue to make cider into the winter and spring months from the apples we have here in storage. You can read about how we store the apples. We made the last batch of fresh cider for this year on Wednesday. We've also been making lots of extra cider that we send to a nearby freezer facility until we are ready to sell it this summer. Here's a batch that went out this morning. Freezing the cider preserves it without changing the taste. You can also freeze cider at home if you have some extra. Just be sure to take a little out of the top of the jug to prevent it from expanding and leaking in your freezer.

Victory Gardening

2009-03-24T08:18:00.004-05:00

Purdue Extension in Hancock County has launched a Victory Garden program this year to assist new gardeners. There is a wealth of information on their website to aid you whether you are a new or experienced gardener. They offer garden plans, planting tips, free gardening classes, etc.

Discover

2009-03-21T14:29:00.002-05:00

In response to customer requests, you can know use your Discover card at Tuttles.

Tractor Repair Day

2009-03-21T14:15:00.002-05:00

I was beginning to wonder today if we were going to have room in the parking lot for cars as the spring weather brought all the tractors out for repairs. What a gorgeous day it was. Gets us all in the mood for spring planting...

First Day of Spring Greenhouse Tours

2009-03-20T10:50:00.005-05:00

On the first day of spring we thought you might want to take a peek into spring in our greenhouses today.

This is the small greenhouse above.

This is the larger greenhouse.

This is the sun greenhouse.

Basket Moving

2009-03-19T16:18:00.006-05:00

We've finished planting the hanging baskets...over 12,000 in all. To help keep heating costs low, we've had most of the baskets growing in the smaller greenhouses, but today we turned on the heat in the large greenhouse and moved lots and lots of baskets into the house. As Norman said, "No need to go to the gym when you work at Tuttles." You put 13 hanging baskets on a cart that have just been watered, and it can be pretty heavy lifting. But, they are now all in their correct spot...plenty of sunlight and space to grow.

Apple Genes

2009-03-16T08:44:00.003-05:00

This weekend at a conference I learned all about a curriculum that's been developed by Purdue called the Apple Genomics Project. It's designed to help high school students understand the genes of a species like an apple trees and see how they use that genetics in breading and hybridizing varieties that can have stronger disease resistance, etc. They have some great animations showing how they come up with new apple varieties. Even if you're not an educator, you might find this interesting in understanding more about how our food is grown and developed in today's world. So check it out Apple Genomics Project.

Potunias

2009-03-12T16:40:00.002-05:00

We're growing a new type of petunia this year. POTunias. Potunias are a more compact, rounded variety that are bred specifically for growing in pots. They are self-cleaning varieties so no deadheading is required. The idea is to have a petunia that stays more compact and doesn't get leggy. You can read all about them at www.potunia.com.

Geraniums Galore

2009-03-12T16:35:00.002-05:00

The geraniums have all been moved to their new homes in 4 1/2 in, 5 1/2 in pots and hanging baskets. Why the different sizes? Well, geraniums are one of the few plants that the pot size determines the size of the blooms. So, want big flowers on your geraniums...put them in bigger pots.

Tomato Transplants

2009-03-12T16:19:00.006-05:00

The tomatoes for the high tunnel were transplanted this week. They are now out from under the grow lights and in the greenhouse. Another couple weeks and we will be planting them into our high tunnels in the back so that the tomatoes will be ready to sell by the first of June. To learn more about this click here. Here's a picture of our high tunnels from last year. Tomatoes on the bottom; flowers on the top.

2,500 Geraniums

2009-03-10T16:17:00.004-05:00

2,500 geranium plants found there way into the Tuttle's greenhouse today via Fed Ex express. They seem to be really healthy nice plants. It looks like we'll be planting about 200 vineing geranium baskets, and then lots and lots of 4" and 5" pots of the traditional geraniums. The boys were busy filling pots with soil to put all these geraniums in using our special pot filler.

Vegetable Gardening Timeline

2009-03-09T12:18:00.005-05:00

The seed potatoes and onion sets arrived today, and I was reminded that it's time to think about home vegetable gardening again. Here's a time line for central Indiana for planting your vegetables:

April 1st

Potatoes
Onions
Broccoli
Cabbage
Califlower
Radishes
Lettuce
Other cold crops

May 1st

Sweet Corn

May 15th

Tomatoes
Eggplant
Peppers
Green Beans
Squash
Melons
Other summer crops

Thinking about vegetable gardening this year for the first time? You're not alone. Experts are predicting that lots of new gardens will spring up all over the US this year because of our current economy. Here are some good resources for vegetable gardening:
Indiana Vegetable Planting Calendar
Vegetable Gardening Information

(this article has excellent information, keep in mind that the dates are for Kentucky. You will plant things later in central Indiana because of frost potential).

Also, you can check out the Hancock County Extension Office's Victory Garden initiative. They are offering doing lots of special programs, classes, and will be glad to help you on your gardening journey. The next event is:

FREE Victory Gardens Lunch and Learn program; 12pm - 1pm; Extension Office, 802 N. Apple St., Greenfield (just north of the fairgrounds); Please bring a brown bag lunch if you like and enjoy these topics: Soils and fertilizers...assessing soil fertility; Preparing the garden site; Contact Information: Extension Office, (317) 462-1113

Greenhouse Happenings

2009-03-06T16:33:00.004-06:00

Baby plants are sprouting...more each day.

Today we planted lots of perennials...including some new Dahlia bulbs that we are trying this year.

Baskets Galore

2009-03-06T15:56:00.006-06:00

We've been busy the last few days planting over 800 hanging baskets for this season. We've been working on the 12" combination baskets, and the 10" begonia baskets are next on the list. Here are three of my favorites combinations for this year:

Glory Days
Bermuda Sky
Head Over Heels

How much soil does it take to plant so many baskets?
Lots and lots...so far we've used four of these giant bags of soil.

Fruit Tree Pruning Class

2009-03-03T15:33:00.000-06:00

Have some fruit trees of your own to prune? We will be offering a free fruit tree pruning class here April 11 from 9-11am. It's sponsored by the Hancock County Purdue Extension. Tom will be teaching about how to take care of your home fruit trees focusing mostly on pruning, but he'll also be happy to answer any other questions that you have.

Tree Trimming Time

2009-03-03T15:23:00.000-06:00

The apple trees have been getting a trimming over the last few months here at the orchard. It takes us a long time to get to around to all of the 30 acres of trees so we start early in the winter. If it's not absolutely freezing outside the guys are out working to get the trees in shape for the next season. They bundle up for the weather, get the hydraulic trimmers attached to the tractor and head out to the orchards. This winter we have three guys that are working on the trimming: Victor, Manual, and David. Mike, Tom, and Thomas help from time to time. What are they thinking about when they are pruning the trees? They are trying to shape the tree in such a way that lots of light can get down into the center of the tree. They also try to distribute the branches evenly so that they will be able to handle the weight of lots of fruit. What do they hate most about pruning? "Watersprouts!" These are the volunteer branches that sprout out around the base of the tree or at random places on the trunk and big limbs. They have to be cut off because they are unnecessary. Red Delicious seem to have the most watersprouts. Here some photos of them working:

6,784 baby plants

2009-03-03T15:12:00.000-06:00

6,784 baby plants arrived on a truck today. In the greenhouse world these are called plugs. Because many of the flowers that you buy today are grown from patented cutting varieties, it is sometimes not possible to grow these flowers from seed. So we buy baby plants...they come to use from greenhouses that only grow baby plants. This is our first shipment for the season. Most of these plants will go into the over 700 hanging baskets that we will plant in the next few days. We plant them early so they will be nice and full when you want to buy them in May. We are so excited to finally begin planting...it feels like spring inside the greenhouses with the smell of dirt, the warmer temperatures, and the baby flowers and plant leaves. A lot of these flowers we use in baskets are the Proven Winners brand. If you have some spring fever as well check out their website. www.provenwinners.com It has lots and lots of fun planting ideas. You can start picking out your flowers while we start growing them.

Before

After

Eager Anticipation...

2009-03-03T14:58:00.000-06:00

Lots of work happening around the greenhouses today in eager anticipation of the baby plants that will arrive later today to begin our first plantings for this year. Here's a bit of what's been happening.

Laying stone around the sides of the greenhouses. This helps to insulate and keep things nice and warm inside.

Putting Plastic on the side of the greenhouses. Some of the sides of the greenhouses get new plastic coverings. These are attached by little zig zag wires that run the in grooves along the top and bottom. The secret to doing this is not to do it on a windy day. If wind gets under the plastic while you are trying to attach it...well it can be pretty hard to get it where you want it.

Preparing the pots to be sanitized. Any pot that is "recycled" we make sure to sanitize to be sure there are no leftover disease or insects that might affect the new plants we are going to plant. This is just one of the many things we do to reduce the risk of plants becoming unhealthy.
More trays for sanitizing.

Buy Fresh Buy Local Farm Tour

2009-03-02T08:50:00.000-06:00

Looking for a way to connect with your local farmer? Have an interest in learning where your food comes from? Coming this summer, The Buy Fresh Buy Local Farm Tour, will be a great opportunity to connect with several farms who are producing local farm products. This free self-guided driving tour will be Saturday, June 27 from 11AM-4PM. The event is sponsored by the Hancock Harvest Council, a producer group helping to provide ready access for Indiana consumers to high quality, locally grown farm products. The four east central Indiana farms featured are Piney Acres, Tuttle Orchards, Engleking's Country Beef Shop, and Vaughan Buffalo Farm. Over twenty other local farms will be represented at the different tour stops. Here at Tuttle's you will have the opportunity to tour our new high tunnel greenhouses that we use for growing tomatoes. Mike will share all about how we are able to have ripe, good tasting tomatoes the first of June.

The farm tour will include activities for the whole family. Tour participants will have the opportunity to interact with farm animals, enjoy local burgers, play family games, take a horse drawn carriage ride, tour greenhouses growing early season tomatoes, learn more about home gardening, see Christmas tree shearing demonstrations, sample local foods, shop from farm market vendors, and win local farm products. Directions and more information about activities at each site can be found at www.hancockharvestcouncil.com or by calling (317) 462-1113.

Bowl or Fridge?

2009-02-23T08:34:00.000-06:00

Today I thought I'd answer two questions I've been asked a lot in the store lately.

Where should I keep my apples?
The an age old question. Should I put my apples in a bowl to make that adorable centerpiece on my kitchen table or should they be relegated to the crisper in the refrigerator. From the number of glossy magazine covers picturing beautiful bowls of apples you would think that the bowl would be their favorite home. Apples are a bit less assuming. They prefer the refrigeration. Apples keep longest when held at 31-36 degrees Fahrenheit. So, you want to keep them in the coolest part of the refrigerator. Most home refrigerators don't get that cold because the rest of your food would freeze, but the colder the better.
Why the refrigerator? Actually its all about the chemistry of how apples ripen. Unlike some fruits, apples continue to ripen long after they are picked off the tree. This ripening (or over-ripening affects the texture not the taste of the fruit. (ie. They won't get sweeter just softer). This ripening is due in large to a a harmless, colorless gas that apples emit called ethylene. The emission of this gas is slowed by the cooler temperatures of a refrigerator causing the apples to last longer. Something else you should know: not all fruits and veggies are friends with ethylene gas. In fact it can cause some produce (mostly vegetables) to rot very quickly. So, it's good to separate your crisper drawers by ethylene loving and not loving foods.
But the big secret to keep your apples tasting crisp and fresh is this: water. That's right. Apples do best in an environment with 90% humidity. Did you know that your refrigerator is a natural dehydrator. Ever left apples (or other produce for that matter) in the crisper for a while only to slide open that drawer and find a very shriveled up piece of fruit. The good news is your refrigerator is functioning well...it works by taking all the water out of the air. The bad news...your produce will suffer. So, how to solve this problem: put a wet sponge or wet paper towel in the crisper. Or you can get a mini spray bottle and spray them with water every few days. This will really extend the life of your apples.
What if you just don't have space in your refrigerator for all those apples? You can keep them in a cellar or unheated garage. Just be sure to insulate against freezing (they should be between 30-40 degrees) and keep them wet.

How do you keep your apples so long after harvest?
We are able to keep apples fresh and have them for sale as late as March because we employ a lot of the above...just on a much larger scale. We have a giant cold storage unit (refrigerator) that we keep the apples in until they are sold. You can see it pictured to the left. It is held at 32-33 degrees. We use a hose to regularly wet the apples to maintain the high humidity in the air. We are also careful of what varieties we choose to keep until the spring. Not all varieties have the same shelf life. Generally, the apples that are harvested later in the season are denser and hold up well for a long period of time. That's why Gold Rush taste great right now, but Jonathan are often very soft and may begin rotting from the inside by March or April. Every variety has a different chemistry and thus ripens at a different rate. But, for varieties that keep well, it is reasonable to store them until March or April after the harvest.

This raises another question, how can I buy apples in the grocery store in July? There are several answers to this question. Some of them are grown in countries in the southern hemisphere that have a growing season opposite of ours. Large commercial orchards in the US use what's called Controlled Atmosphere Storage (CAS) to allow them to keep the apples until you are ready to eat them in July. What is CAS? The US Apple Assoication has a good description on their website.

"Remembering that apples take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide, in 1940 Dr. Robert Smock of Cornell University experimented with reducing oxygen and increasing carbon dioxide in storage facilities, resulting in the development of a new storage technology called controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. CA storage requires air-tight, refrigerated warehouse rooms that are sealed after the apples are placed inside. The oxygen content in the storeroom air is reduced from 21% to 2.5%, and the carbon dioxide level is increased from 0.25% to 2-5%, and high humidity is maintained."

"The CA process radically reduces the ripening process, thus allowing us to provide great-tasting U.S. apples year-round. Since CA storage is more costly per bushel, only the very best apples are put into this type of storage. CA storages are opened and converted to regular cold storage rooms usually after the first of the year, depending on demand and supply conditions." http://www.usapple.org/consumers/storage.cfm

Although CAS has become necessary in today's world to allow consumers to purchase apples all year, at Tuttles and most local orchards you will find only refrigeration and not Controlled Atmosphere Storage. It is very costly technology, and is used only at very large scale commerical orcahards.

At Tuttles, we enjoy appreciating what's fresh in the current season. So, in the summer when we don't have our own apples we can enjoy strawberries or peaches or other fruits.

Got Dirt?

2009-02-16T08:21:00.000-06:00

I can tell spring is getting very close because the soil truck arrived today. Once every spring a semi load of growing mix arrives at the orchard. It really is an impressive amount of dirt when you see it all together...18 giant bags each holding 70 cubic feet of soil mix. This growing mix is prepared specially for the type of plants that will be grown with it. They mix the combination of growing mediums, fertilizers, and nutrients to get the exact ph that will help the plants to grow the best. So, here it is...the dirt.

Tractor Central

2009-02-14T16:42:00.000-06:00

One of the busiest places here at the orchard on cold days in the winter is what's fondly referred to here at the orchard as "the shop". You might call it the tractor repair station. Right now Mike and Thomas are working on a new 1956 Farmall 200 they just purchased to use for cultivating the sweet corn this summer. This tractor has a wider rear axel span allowing them to cultivate two rows at once. They are hoping it will save some time this summer.
Other projects Tom, Mike, Thomas, and Norman have going in "the shop" include:
Restoring a 1920's wooden tank apple tree sprayer with a hit and miss engine.
Restoring a Farmall 04.
There's also the annual maintence of the tractors...cleaning, painting, oil changing...getting ready for a new season. Needless to say there's plenty to keep the boys busy until spring comes along.

Tomato Update

2009-02-12T09:18:00.000-06:00

The tomato plants have sprouted, and are growing bigger every day. Why are we growing tomatoes in February? See January Post: Tomato Time>. Here are some photos of them growing under the grow lights Mike has set up.
They need to be watered very tenderly so we set them in a tub of water, and they can soak up the water from underneath. This keeps from damaging the baby plants.
The yellow card is our way of checking for any baby pests that might be after the plants...it's sticky so any insects will be attracted to the yellow and become stuck. This allows us to see any potential problems...no matter how small before they become a big problem.

Buffalo in Indiana?

2009-02-06T12:15:00.000-06:00

Interested in buying your food locally. The Hancock Harvest Council (a producer group we are a part of a Tuttles) launched a new website that gives great info about lots of the farms located in east central Indiana...everything from buffalo meat to honey to heirloom tomatoes. A great resource if you don't know where to find the farmers locally. www.hancockharvestcouncil.com

Facebook Anyone?

2009-02-05T15:55:00.000-06:00

We're growing in the world of technology at the orchard too. Now you can check us out on Facebook®. Click on the link at the left to see our page.

Tuttle Cultivar

2009-02-05T15:47:00.000-06:00

We got our catalog from Starks Brothers Nursery today (the century old nursery we buy our apple trees from and Roy Tuttle worked for selling apple trees 100 years ago). Glancing through it I saw that the official Tuttle's patented apple is still listed. You may not have known that the most Winesap apples that are grown today in the USA are from the Tuttle's strain of Winesap apples that were patented right here on our farm. Want to know the whole story about how Roy watched his apple tree branch for years suspecting it was better...check it out http://www.tuttleorchards.com/cultivar.htm. If you are a lover of apple varieties you may also want to check out the new Stark's catalog...lots of great varieties.

Local Sustainable Food Confrence

2009-02-05T15:40:00.000-06:00

Interested in local food...you can hear Mike speak about Growing High Value Crops and Extending the Growing Season at the upcoming conference The Journey to Local Sustainable Food. The conference is being hosted by Food and Growers Association of Laughery Valley & Environs. More information can be found at www.foodandgrowers.org.

Parsnip Power

2009-02-05T15:32:00.000-06:00

Parsnips are one of those winter vegetables that we aren't even sure we could identify in the grocery store if we needed to. As we have parsnips in the store right now, I've been experimenting with these white carrot like veggies. Last night I made a recipe that called for parsnips to be mashed with potatoes and smothered in cheddar cheese. Not bad.

1lb. white potatoes, cut in pieces
1 lb. peeled parsnips, cut in piece
3 Tbs. butter
1 cup cream or half and half
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 lb. grated cheddar cheese

Boil the potato and parsnip pieces until soft (about 20 minutes). Mash with a potato masher and whip in cream and butter and spices. Butter an 8 by 8 in. pan and pour 1/2 of the potato mixture on the bottom. Top with half the cheese and repeat layers. Dot with butter on top. Cook uncovered about 20 minutes or until warm.

Enjoy your parsnips.

The #'s

2009-01-30T16:23:00.000-06:00

So in less than a month our greenhouses will be warm and the baby plants will be arriving by plane, truck, and mail. In preparation, we're ordering our pots. So today I did the #'s. Here's my shopping list.

1941 Gallon Pots
708 6" Pots
828 12" Hanging Baskets
438 10" Hanging Baskets
15,117 4" Pots
860 Flats

Looks like we're going to be busy transplanting!

Winter Beauty

2009-01-30T16:19:00.001-06:00

A few photos of the apple trees during the recent winter storm...

Tomato Time

2009-01-30T16:04:00.001-06:00

Today was tomato planting time here at Tuttle's. It may seem really early to be thinking about growing anything for summer consumption...but we have a special plan. We're growing them inside in our special seed germination station so that in March we can transplant them into our high tunnel houses. By doing this we can have real Indiana tomatoes by June 15th. Here are some pictures of Mike planting...

Three years ago, Mike began working with high tunnel houses here at the orchard to extend our growing season. What's a high tunnel? It's basically a greenhouse canopy that is constructed above the soil so that it can protect early (and sometimes late fall) crops from frost. There's also a heater inside in case its needed. These tunnels are a new trend in horticulture...helping us have local produce for a longer season.

We're always growing...and not just plants.

2009-01-26T12:55:00.000-06:00

We're always growing things at Tuttle Orchards. From Gold Rush apples in the orchard to spring asters in the greenhouse. From new fun activities for families on the farm to more local products in our store. Now, we're growing in a new way...we've entered the world of blogging in order to give you a closer glimps into what's growing on a day to day basis on the farm. So look for a new update every week to see what's happening this week at the orchard.