Barnard's Orchard

05/29/2026

Good morning ! It is a very nice sunny one ! I know the rain last weekend was a problem for many Memorial Day Activities, but we did need that type of a rain. In my gauge I meaxured, between Tuesday May 19th and memorial day, a total of five and three quarters of an inch of rain. In my mind it was a rainfall that had time to soak in since it was spread over many days and was not a downpour; at least not here. It is nice that we now have days where the soil can dry to the point that Sweet Corn and other crops can be planted so we don't have gaps in the harvest availability of vegetables in the summer. My second part of this message to say that our store is still open today, Friday and tomorrow Saturday 5/ 29 and 05/30 and we will be open this coming Monday, June 1 . Then ,as usual the store will be closed until shortly after the 4 th of July. We have some plants, perennials that are shade liking or partial shade plants that are on special sales price if you have that type of environment at your property. Enjoy this nice day, thank you for your support ! Lewis Barnard.

05/16/2026

Hello to you this evening. I have been noticing as I travel on U.S. 1 by pass, heading South from Route 82, that the Black Locust, or some type of Locust trees, are still in bloom. The Locust Tree in bloom provides Honeybees and I suppose other native pollinator bees a great source of nectar. I was talking to a neighbor of mine today, he keeps some colonies of Honeybees , and he said that the Nectar flow from the Locusts has been good this year and his bees are filling the Honey comb in his hives rapidly. I would think that our cool temperatures have helped to prolong the bloom period . The trees are tall and are loaded with clusters of white flowers hanging down like clusters of grapes. If you are driving the car, be careful, if you are a passenger, you will be able to easily see these trees. Next week it is supposed to get hot. The hot temperatures will make the Locust bloom period end quickly The Honey that bees make from Locust nectar is very light in color and has a pungent but pleasant taste. Many years ago we had honey for sale in our store from a local beekeeper who's bee hives were located in an are with Black Locust trees and that was one of the main nectar sources for the honey that their bees produced. A customer brought a jar back to return it saying that it tasted like manure. I was amused, gave them back their money, took the honey to the house to sample and thought it was a pretty nice flavored Honey. To me it was amusing but, there are some things you think of asking and realize it is better not to. Did they really taste manure ? On my return trip heading north on Route 1, I noticed that Tulip Poplar trees are coming into bloom. The flowers are creamy tan/yellow in color and shaped like tulip. The tree has dar green foliage the flowers are not large but, they stand out because of the dark foliage. They say that Tulip poplar trees are also a good source of nectar for bees. During our fruit tree bloom it is amazing how many diffeerent tyes of bees are at work pollinating the blossoms. I am told that being located in an area with many trees and plants offering nectar sources for bees, allows many types of pollinator bees to be present. It is getting late. Just briefly I will mention that the 90 plus degree temperatures in mid April followed a week later by a night that had low temperatures around 25 degrees F. has caused damage to many of the Trees Fruits here in Southeasteern Pa. and throughout a large surrounding area. Alan Hodge at Highland Orchards posted a very good summary of the situation and I suggest you may want to go to their face book page and readd it. As the season progresses, I will discuss what we are seeing as we are in harvest seasons. I just had a dish of North Carolina strawberries with Vanilla ice cream. Not quite as good as Chester County berries but pretty darn good ! Stpp in if you are i the area, we are open 9 til 6, Monday through Saturday, closed Sundays. Thank you your support ! Lewis Barnard

05/02/2026

Good Evening. What a nice day we have had today. The recent rains that we have had have been very welcome. For us here they totaled roughly one inch total. I do believe that we are still in a rainfall deficit but personally ,I would like to allow the soil have a few days to dry the surface so that I can work the soil and make my first panting of Sweet Corn for the season. The soil temperatures are still somewhat cool, typically that means that my first Sweet Corn planted in early May will take about 2 weeks to germinate and emerge through the soil surface. Typically the following plantings will take about one week to germinate and break through the soil surface. I usually wait until a planting has emerged through the surface of the soil before I make the next planting. By making successive plantings as I see the prior planting emerge through the soil, at its maturity, allows about the right amount of time to harvest the planting, about a week , before it becomes old and past its prime quality. I usually make a succession of plantings through about mid July. Right now we are harvesting a bumper crop of fresh red and green leaf Lettuce that we had planted in our greenhouse many weeks ago. Many heads have matured at the same time so we are lowering the price for the next few days to encourage quicker sales. From nearby Lancaster County we have some nice green onions or scallions. and Carrots with the top greens still on. It is still a little early to plant Tomatoes out in the field however, we have 300 plants growing in the greenhouse to harvest by sometime early in July. If you are planting a flower be or need some vegetable plants, we have several types for sale. Apple Cider is still made fresh weekly and Fuji, Pink Lady , Evercrisp and Goldrush Apples are still great for eating . Stop by if you are in the neighborhood. Thank you for your support ! Lewis Barnard.

04/24/2026

Good Evening ! What a nice day we enjoyed today. The weather has recently had its ups and downs. One customer who is very involved with growing and selling plants at their garden center declared that we had 3 seasons, Summer, Winter , And Spring, all in one week! A big challenge to properly care for young plants ! Although the freeze of April 21 st is past and temperatures have warmed, I would still be cautious, still have a bucket or cardboard box to cover frost tender plants because we can potentially still get frosty mornings for the next two or three weeks. Having said that, it can add to the sport and excitement of gardening to plant early with a plan, of course, to cover the plants with perhaps some sort of ventilated plastic covering to accelerate the plants growth and give frost protection ; perhaps to achieve bragging rights of growing the earliest tomato in the neighborhood ! We did plant 300 tomato plants, in our greenhouses, during the middle of March to give us an earlier to Tomato harvest this Summer. In early January we planted Sugar Snap Peas in the greenhouse, they were direct seeded , and we are now harvesting them for sale in our store. They are very good. Also, from our greenhouse we are picking Red and Green Leaf Lettuce, Radishes, Snapdragon flower bunches, and fresh Kale. We still have some very good Apple Varieties in storage; Fuji, Pink Lady , and Evercrisp still taste great and have a crisp texture . If you are in the area, stop on in and try a free sample Apple to eat ! We are open 9 Am til 6 PM. Monday through Saturday. Closed Sundays unjtil September. Thank you very much for your support ! Lewis Barnard

04/04/2026

Here we are, it is the beginning of April and Spring is unfolding. I am glad that it is hapening at a moderate pace and not quickly. Although we have had warm days, almost hot, the cool interludes have slowed the progress of Spring slightly. A few Peach blossoms have begujn to open. I believe in this area mid April is about the , call it , normal time for the peak of Peach bloom , when most all of the flowers are blooming. We will see what happens but this season that mid -April timing may be about correct. We are still pruning the Peach trees . Remember we don't prune Peach on rainy or damp days like yesterday or today. Therefore today was an Apple tree pruning day. We hope to finish pruning the Peach trees in about a week. It is not good to prune Peach trees any later than the bloom stage However they must be pruned annually. So , some years we are forced to be a little late finishing. The Black berries are now pruned and progress is being made pruning the Blueberries. As Spring unfolds further I will try to give progress updates. We have had a good crop of cut flowers in the greenhouse . The Snapdragons are still cutting in abundance, We have a special price this week in our store. The Freesia crop has been good, however it is now the normal time for them to finish blooming for the season so this weekend will be the final time to get Freesia until next Winter starting about mid February. Thank you for tuning in, it is time to say GOOD NIGHT ! Happy Easter to you ! Lewis Barnard

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03/07/2026

Hello to you this evening ! As we are getting closer to Spring we are promised to have a warming trend this coming week . I am sure , as is normal in March, we will have cooler weather as well. The cold and snowy weeks this winter slowed our progress in getting the dormant season Apple pruning completed so we will be another 2 or 3 weeks getting that done. If you have an Apple tree or two to get prune, it will do no harm to do that even as late as when flower blooms start to open. Pears should be pruned during the cool of early Spring or during the true Winter cold. Peaches are left til last and growers who have finished Apple and Pear pruning have now begun to prune Peaches. If you have a Peach or other Stone Fruit (has a one large seed in the fruit ) to be pruned, never make any pruning cuts on a damp, drizzly, or rainy day. Disease can be spread from cut to cut. It is best to finish Peach tree pruning by bloom, so there is still time. Normal Peach flowering time is mid- April but, in the not to distant past, I can recall being in full Peach bloom during the last week in March . Apple bloom varies between the first week in May and mid April on the early years. It is interesting to watch and speculate when it will happen. Right now we a cutting a nice crop of Snapdragons and Freesia from our greenhouses. Freesia is especially a nice early Spring fragrant cut flower. As Spring happens, I will do some updates. Have a nice weekend ! Thank you for tuning in! Lewis Barnard.

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02/21/2026

Good evening ! I heard that recently that we are in somewhat of a drought . We had a nice rain last night and it sounds like we may have some type of a storm this coming Sunday. Rain and snow may be an inconvenience, but I try to think of them as a welcome inconvenience. It is obviously necessary to re-charge our ground water supply. We have had some very cold temperatures this Winter. With the temperatures remaining consistently cold without intermittent warming periods, trees in general including Fruit trees, have remained dormant. Large temperature fluctuations can put the flower buds at risk to be injured by low temperatures . Peaches are more at risk than Apples and so far, growers that I have talked to , feel that there has been little flower bud loss. It certainly has been a challenge to heat the greenhouses this Winter ! As the hours of day light increase the flower production has also. From our greenhouses we are cutting bouquet's of colorful SNAPDRAGONS for sale in our store. Also, a seasonal favorite that is nicely fragrant , and offers a pre-view of Spring , are the FREESIA which my Uncle Sam and Aunt Doris grew for many years , and we still continue to grow. The FREESIA bloom more heavily following a sunny day . The weather pattern now is providng cloudy days , but we will have some for sale tomorrow but may run out before the end of the day. Stop in early if you want Freesia. We have a good supply of Apples Cider and Veggies. The store will be open from 9 AM. til 6 PM. Thank you ! Lewis Barnard

02/13/2026

Well...... it is not as cold as it has been but is still chilly at 29 degrees F. on my thermometer. In spite of the lengthy cold spell we have had, we will have Snapdragons and flower bouquets for sale for Valentines Day. Saturday is Valentines and we are cutting our own Snapdragons from our greenhouses . Freesia are not quite yet ready but I will give you a heads up when they are cropping heavily. . Sundays we are closed but our store is open Monday through Saturday 9 AM til 6 PM. . Going to say good night now, thank you for your support ! Lewis Barnard

01/17/2026

Good Evening ! I have, on my porch outside about 6 pots of last seasons mini-daffodills and notice yesterday that they are breaking through the soil and starting to grow. The days we have had near and into the 50s are warm enough to cause them to come out of dirmancy. The reason they do that so early is because they have a low chilling requirement. Not to worry though because although they are showing growth they have great tolerance to the freezing temperatures that are surely still to come this Winter, Apple trees have a higher chilling requirement of about 1000 hours below about 40 or 45 degrees F, and the Peach varieties that grow here in the Mid-Atlantic region need about 800 hours below 40 or 45 degrees F. Although I am not sure if the accumulated chilling is recorded, it always seems that until we get into early and certainly by mid February, warm temperatures of in the 50's can allow the buds to break dormancy and start to enlarge because they have had their chilling hours . Warmth in December and January will not cause them to break dormancy. Warmth at that time will , however, lessen the flower buds tolerance of the return of colder temperatures Many years ago I was in Florida and driving down a road I saw what I thought were young Peach trees and I told the person driving to turn around and go back. Sure enough they were Peach trees and a pretty good size planting. The Peaches they grow that far South have to require less Winter chilling hours than grown in the Carolinas and up here through the Mid-Atlantic States. Our Peach varieties would not be suitable since they would not accumulated enough chilling hours. Within recent years the warmer Winters in the Carolinas and Georgia caused problems with their crop because of a shortage of Chiliing hours. I believe they grow some of the same varieties in parts of the Carolinas and Georgia as we do. And are perhaps transitioning to some that require less chilling. Wow ,I had better Go. If you think that there are not good tasting crisp Apples this time of year, you are wrong. Sop by and we can make some recommendations. Our store is open Monday through Saturday, 9 AM til 6 PM. We are closed Sundays until the Fall Apple harvest time. Thank you ! Lew Barnard

01/10/2026

Good Evening ! Wow, I guess this must be what they used to call the January Thaw . 51 degrees is what I see on the thermometer at 10:45 . The inch of rain they predict for toorrow is a good thing and with no frost in the ground, if the rain comes gently, it should help our ground water recharge. Fortunately, Winter temperatures are predicted to return. Our store is open during the Winter Monday through Saturday from 9 AM. til 6PM. . Both the Florida and the California Citrus has been of very good quality and I just want to mention that just today we got in WHITE FLORIDA GRAPEFRUIT . I know a few of you like them and they are not available on a regular basis. I ate a half after supper and, yes, they are very juicy, perhaps more juicy than Red Grapefruit and have a nice tart sweet flavor. We still have a good supply of Apples and locally grown Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, and Lettuce. In the orchard , this nice weather given us good opportunity to make progress on the dormant season Apple Tree pruning. Apple trees should be pruned annually to allow for ample sunlight in the trees during the summer growing season . Ample sunlight allows the fruit to color well and promotes good flavor and sweetness. Removing some of the new branches is done mainly during the dormant season although summer pruning to remove excess new branches is done at times as well. We will not finish the Apple pruning til late in March. Peaches are best pruned from March into early April. Good night , thank you for tuning in ! Lewis Barnard.