Many of our customers ask, what do we do all winter? We aren't planting or harvesting anything at this time of year, and we only have one farmers market to attend. Although we do get to take advantage of some much deserved relaxation time over the winter, there is still plenty to do! The outside crew is pruning all of our fruit trees, grape vines and blueberry bushes to ensure that they are healthy and producing high quality fruit. They also work on servicing and repairs of all of our tractors, trucks and equipment so they are ready to go when Spring breaks, along with plowing and shoveling snow whenever we have some wintry weather. The packinghouse crew is packing up apples for market and wholesale orders, and loading apples on trucks for other growers who store their apples in our two cold storages. The office staff is preparing and reviewing year-end financial statements, applying for farmers markets, ordering supplies, seeds and trees for the upcoming year and completing our application to the H2A guestworker visa program for our seasonal harvest workers. Many of our staff attend workshops and conferences over the winter to learn about the newest innovations, regulations and trends in our industry. And we are all involved with the most important winter task - planning and preparing for the 2022 growing and harvest season!
