Thursday, March 3, 2011

The trees are loving the warm weather!

It was so warm this morning, that I could not resist getting out my camera and taking a walk.  Our fruit and nut trees are blooming or getting ready to bloom and they look beautiful!  Below are some the pictures I took of the highlights from my walk!  Enjoy and get ready for the summer and delicious fruit!
Flavorosa Pluots in bloom
 Pluots are in bloom.  They bloom very heavy, but don't set heavy.  When I say "set" I mean each bloom doesn't take to pollination and eventually drop off of the tree.They are very finicky trees!

Newly planted trees leafing out
 These are our newest trees that we planted about a month ago.  Remember this post...in the fog?!
Pluots going crazy!
Here is a great shot of one variety of pluots that are in full bloom.

 
Not quite ready to enter the world
This variety of pluots are not quite ready to enter the world, but they will be here before you know it!
Blooms on their way out...fruit on their way in!
These Rose Diamond Nectarines are in the post blooming stage.  They have been pollinated and set to produce fruit for the summer.  This is an early variety and they will begin to ripen around the end of May, beginning of June.

 
Almonds blooming

Bees working hard

Walnut catkins getting ready to do their job

Nectaplums with their beautiful red leaves
These Nectaplums look beautiful!  Their leaves are red/green all summer long.  I can't wait until the leaves are all out to take a more dramatic picture!  Keep your eyes open for more photos!
Persimmon participating in the bloom
We hope you are as excited as us.  We love the Spring season.  It's just so great to see nature takes it course and help us produce bountiful fruit for you to enjoy!  We are anxiously awaiting for our fruit to get here, so we can get the Farmer's Markets hopping!  See you soon!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Busy as a Bee...

Spring has arrived...well not officially, but the trees wait no more!
Just wanted to share some pictures I took today...I would post all of them, but I don't think I have that much room!

Our first variety is blooming...it only gets more delicious from here.


First variety in bloom - Snow Brite White Peach

Bees working hard to pass the pollen around.

Didn't get stung once, but it was close a few times.


The blooms were so amazing, even the moon stayed out to look!
We are so excited that Spring is quickly approaching.  We enjoy this time of year because we cherish watching what nature is capable of creating!  Dream about juicy, sweet fruit tonight!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Planting in the fog...

We planted our new trees a few days ago.  As you can see, it was quite foggy that early morning.  We have some new peach, apricot, plum, nectarine, pear, apple and cherry varieties that we can't wait to try.  We also have some new interspecific varieties: chums (cherry plum cross) and pubs (plum, peach, nectarine cross).
If you look closely, they are planting!


Gator #1 filled with some patiently waiting trees.

Jim making decisions on where all these trees are going!


Gator #2 filled with load #2 of new trees
We can't wait till these trees get ripe, so we can start doing some taste testing.  All of our trees come from Dave Wilson Nursery.  Most of our trees, including the new varieties that have been planted are created by Zaiger Genetics located in Modesto.  The Zaiger Family has a great history of achieving global prominence for their robust fruit and rootstock breeding program.

Friday, January 21, 2011

From our family to yours...

Our motto is "From our family to yours".  We have our children and grandchildren eating the fruits and vegetables we grow, so it's important to make sure it's ready to eat, right out of the orchard or field.  Since we sell at Farmers Markets, we make sure our product is ready to eat.


A common question we get asked, is if we spray our trees, so it's important to educate our consumer.  We live, near, and eat from, the same trees from which we sell to you.  We do spray, and embrace performance-based metrics: The best outcomes will come only when the best practices are adopted.  This land has sustained five generations of our family.  We are careful to treat it gently and care for it like a member of our family.  We love our trees!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

We are movin' & shakin' in 2011!

Shasky Farms has jumped into 2011 and making waves...of progress, that is!  We have so many things to share with you!

We have started pruning our fruit trees this week.  Even though it's cold, some of the trees have started to push out leaf buds.  It's been a weird winter, but we will take any cold we can get for the trees health.

Pruning like crazy!
We have a ton of citrus ready for our customers at the Farmers Markets.  We are currently addicted...yes addicted...to our Satsuma Mandarins.  You really have to try them, but then you would become addicted and we just don't know if we can share them!  Just kidding...we would love to share them with anyone!

Just a small portion of our citrus trees

Satsuma Mandarin...a Shasky Farms favorite!
We have also planted more red walnuts.  They have become one of our popular items for our customers.  If you like walnuts, but don't like the acidity, then these are the walnuts for you!  They are very tasty and less acidic then regular walnuts.  You can read about them in our last post.

We have also ordered some new cherry varieties to increase the length of the season, a few more varieties of apples, pears and a donut white nectarine (more to come later on that variety and others we grow!) 

Friday, December 17, 2010

Winter has arrived...

Winter season has arrived. Shasky Farms has been gearing up for the holiday season with our candied nuts and dried fruit. We are also waiting patiently for our citrus crops to arrive. We will be featuring Murcotts and Satsuma Mandarins, Mandarinquats, Tangors, and a variety of Navel Oranges at the Merced Certified Farmers Market on Saturday from 8 am to Noon.

We have been filling holiday orders like crazy. During the holiday season we feature a special packaged round that is filled with three varieties of either candied nuts or we also have a natural nut round that has natural almonds, walnuts and our red walnuts. What are red walnuts you ask? Well, lets venture down that path and learn more about them!

Red walnuts are a newer variety of walnuts propagated by UC Davis. They have red skin versus the regular walnut you eat have yellow skin. They are low in acid, so people that have allergies to walnuts seems to have less or no allergic reaction to the red walnuts. We planted the Livermore Red Walnuts in 2003 with the thought of them becoming more popular with customers due to their health benefits and low acidity. If you google Red Walnuts, they pop up every where. More and more people are using them in every food dish imaginable!

We are sad to see another year coming to a close, but we are excited to get started in 2011. We have many new fruit trees we are planting and bringing you new and exciting fruits....have you heard of a peacotum, a pub or a chum? Stay tuned for more blogs and we will entice you with our delicious fruit and nuts!

Happy holidays from our family to yours!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Boy! How time goes bye. Here we are just about to finish with the plums, pluots, and white peaches for the year. But I see that the mandarins are starting to color up. We are in the middle of walnut harvest. The quality of the nuts look very good. Nice plump meats with good color. We are in full swing with our candied almonds. We have a great array of gift packs ready for the holidays. You can pick and choose from all the different flavors. We also have a non sugar pack of natural nuts. The red walnuts have been in great demand this year. We are cracking the new crop as I write. Wouldn't the red walnuts look great in a gift pack or a holiday salad! At our markets we are offering a big variety of holiday decorative gourds and winter squash. All you need to set your table off during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Check out the website checkerouters: shaskyfarms.com for all the latest products. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!! JIM