Ecker’s Apple Farm tries to stay discreet and neutral when it comes to potentially politically charged topics but I find myself passionate about this project due to my love for this orchard and my home within the great Mississippi River Valley.  I am by no means an expert on this topic.  What I’ve comprised in this letter is simply the information I’ve gathered through my research.  I am always willing to hear the viewpoints of both proponents and opponents so if you have information or opinions to contribute, I would gladly listen.

Thank you,
Jessica Ecker

GRR Business Owners

New hours for the month of December will be:
Friday – 10am to 5pm
Saturday – 10am to 5pm
Sunday – 10am to 5pm

Our final day will be December 23rd.  Be sure to call in your Christmas pie orders as soon as possible!  The list fills up quickly!

It’s That Time of Year Again!

We had such a great time last year, we thought we’d try it again this year, our Quilted Christmas will be December 3rd!  Come and support your neighborhood artists as they display and sell their handcrafted wares.  And once again, the quilts will be spectacular!  Get your Christmas shopping done early or just come out to enjoy the quilt display and have one last piece of that Caramel Apple Pie!

This years vendors include:

Mary Kulas – country chic decor and gifts
Nancy Nastvold – North Star Visions, jewelry
Diane Ilstrup
Shelly Hart – select ground and cured meats, steak
Christian Ptacek – Little Bird Beads, jewelry, art
Wilber Family – hand crafted snowmen, decor, and gifts
Doris Jessessky – handmade cards
Linda Sue Eastman- hand crafted leather furniture and goods
Olive Juice Quilts – hand sewn bags, decor and gifts

Karen Lown and Quilting Circle – handmade quilts
Becky Gagnon – handmade quilt display

Minnesota Conservatory of the Arts Flute Choir   11am to 12pm

Elmaro and Cedar Creek Winery Wine Tastings – 10am to 5pm

Also available for purchase:

Mini Bacon Quiche Lorraine
Jumbo Muffins
Caramel Apple Pie

Featuring Fortunata’s Coffee – Fountain City, WI

And we still have some beautiful apples, including Honeycrisp!  We’d love to box up a gift box for you, complete with our specialty caramel, the perfect gift for anyone with taste buds!

]]> http://www.eckersapplefarm.com/2011/11/quilted-christmas/feed/ 0 http://www.eckersapplefarm.com/2011/11/quilted-christmas/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EckersAppleFarm/~3/Cz4mhD4eOmo/ http://www.eckersapplefarm.com/2011/11/new-hours-10am-to-5pm/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:05:41 +0000 Jess http://www.eckersapplefarm.com/?p=962 As we ‘fall back’ in time during apple season, our hours do as well.  Daylight savings hours are 10am to 5pm daily.

Ecker’s has borrowed an old-fashioned apple press for the weekend and invites you out to custom press your own cider!

Choose different apples to develop a unique recipe and start turning that crank!

Apple Eating Buck

We have Deer Apples!

Come and get them!  Only $4 for a 60 lb. bag, you can’t go wrong with that!  The only catch: you must pick them up yourself.  We cannot sell ‘drops’ or apples that have fallen from the tree, for human consumption; however, they are perfect for deer!  Bring your kids, bring your neighbor’s kids, bring any kid you can round up! We supply the bag, you supply the labor.  Hunting season is here, you want to bag that big buck don’t you!

That’s right!  The Honeycrisp are in!  They are ripening in the Pick-Your-Own orchard and will be ready to pick this weekend.

Bring yourself, bring your uncle, your whole family, all the apple-eaters you know!  These apples are flying off the proverbial shelf!

2011 Honeycrisp Prices

Honeycrisp No. 1         $2.50/lb.

Honeycrisp No. 2         $1.25/lb.

1/2 Bushel Basket        $40

Pick-Your-Own             $2.00/lb.

Pick-Your-Own
1/2 Bushel Basket        $35

]]> http://www.eckersapplefarm.com/2011/09/we-have-honeycrisp/feed/ 0 http://www.eckersapplefarm.com/2011/09/we-have-honeycrisp/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EckersAppleFarm/~3/OK2aST26MeE/ http://www.eckersapplefarm.com/2011/08/stink-bug-its-not-just-a-pet-name-anymore/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:41:01 +0000 Jess http://www.eckersapplefarm.com/?p=868 We did it!  We’ve been open a solid week with minimal casualties, the bin dump.  However, we’ve put the call into CJ Pellowski at Centerville Tool and Die and I have complete faith he will save the day, once again, and have us back up and running within 24 hours.  What would we do without our friends?

Already Mom has resigned herself to the 4am shift, somebody’s got to do it.  I’m just glad it’s not me… yet.  Yesterday she asked me, ‘so what time are you getting up in the morning?’  I said, ‘never.’  That’s just a little joke I like to play on the establishment.

The topic of the day was ‘Do we have a stink bug problem?’  We all decided the answer is ‘yes.’  Now what do we do about it?  According to our ‘Tru Earth’ protocol, we don’t have many options.  Our Honeycrisp pack outs are at stake.  I’d hate to think of jeopardizing 30 acres of apples for the sake of a protocol which provides the grower with no financial incentive to certify her crop.  I’m always amused by the people that write these protocols.  Often, they have never tried to grow anything, have no personal investment in the success of their own programs.  Funny.

Ok so for today’s irony, actually this was yesterday:
I’m at the farmer’s market in Winona, MN.  A woman approaches my booth to look at the apples.  She asks me if they’re organic.  I explain that no, they are not organic; however, they were grown in accordance with the Tru Earth protocol.  She tells me that she’s very wary of apples, ‘they’re on the dirty dozen you know.’
Typically, she only buys organic but she’s willing to try our fruit.  I smile and nod.  Her son picks out a beautiful apple with a tiny, brown spot up on the crown.  She tells him to put it back.  She doesn’t want  it, it’s damaged.  Ha, it never gets old.

According to various sources, which I’m about to make up…
Of the 90% of people who claim they want to eat only non-sprayed food, when presented with two apples –one that’s been conventionally sprayed, (it’s beautiful, has perfect shape, color, flawless skin), and one that’s never seen a single chemical application, (this thing is covered in spots, marks, blemishes, scars; it’s mis-shapen; it’s small; it’s ugly), so of those 90% of people, 99% of them will choose the beautiful apple 100% of the time.

C’est la vie.

Honeycrisp Hootenanny 2011

3rd Annual Honeycrisp Hootenanny

This year’s theme is ‘Una Manzana’ — One Apple, a gesture towards our relationship with the orchard and each other.  We’re going to be fiesta-ing ’til the proverbial cows come home.

Please join us!

Entertainment will start approximately around 12pm with music by ‘Some People’s Kids.’  Percussion instruments will be provided to any brave soul looking to participate in a ditty or two.

The La Crosse Twirlers will be square dancing up a storm, El Nino style, from 4pm to 6pm.

Finally, Matt Ray and those Damn Horses are riding in from Minneapolis to hang and play until 9pm.  At that point, we open it up to everyone for a communal jam session.  Bring an instrument, bring 5 instruments!  The more the merrier!

Free caramel apple given to anyone in a luchador mask.

We will be serving Mexican fare all day long as well as our Ecker’s Apple Farm favorites: caramel apples, caramel apple pies, turnovers, and Queen’s Apples.

Bring the whole family!  Kids dig the frisbee field and we’ll be taking train rides on the Honeycrisp Express hourly!

We’ll be running deals on Honeycrisp all day long.  Get your fix before winter gets here, only 77 days until Christmas amigos!