PEAR HARVESTING & AN INTERESTING USE FOR OUR APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

We finished the main peach harvest last week and this week saw the final deliveries of product to our clients. At the same time pears are being harvested and now we have Beurre Hardy and Bon Rouge pears to offer. Beurre Hardy originated in France as a chance seedling and was imported into SA towards the end of the 19th century. The skin is olive green to light brown which turns yellow-brown when ripe. the flesh is creamy-white with a melting, slightly coarse texture. The flavour is slightly aromatic, but not strong.
 Bon Rouge originated in SA and is a mutation of Bon Chretian. Unlike Bon Chretian which has a green background colour, Bon Rouge is almost covered red-brown. The flesh is creamy-white and the texture is soft. It has a pleaseant sweet taste.

We produce many bottled goods on the farm one of which is certified organic apple cider vinegar. We are aware of the many medicinal properties, although not scientifically proven, but we would like to include a story that we recently received from one of our happy clients.
" I suffered from intermittent skin rashes for 15 years - I had periods of a few weeks when this did not happen, but it was always there. Over years I saw doctors, dermatologists, naturopaths and homeopaths which were to no avail. Over years I spent a lot of money trying to heal myself.
During the past two years I suspected the problem was in my gut and not an allergy.In one of my particular bad bouts my husband went onto the internet and by sheer chance read of a woman in the US of A who had cured herself of urticaria claiming she had done so entirely through natural medication. We ordered the booklet and printed out all 20 pages which I perused carefully. The secret of her success resided in one tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar taken twice a day- once in the morning and the other at night. I decided to try it and ordered six bottles of Mike's organic apple cider vinegar which I have taken regularly ever since. My skin condition has improved significantly, so much so that when I do get an itch - say on my foot- it lasts no more than a few minutes and in no way as fierce as it used to be. The periods of  'itch free days" is getting longer and longer.
I thank God for leading Max (my husband) to the woman and this simple and efficacious remedy to something that has plagued me for so many years. Thank you also to Mike for his jolly good apple cider vinegar that has helped me so much. Dawn Braun - Somerset West"
If you wish you can e-mail Dawn at maxbraun@iafrica.com

Have a great week

The peach harvest for 2011

We have been harvesting Professor Black peaches almost every day and probably this week will see the end. The fruit generally speaking has been good but the degrade much higher following the recent excessive heat.
What Gay and I have done with this fruit is to prepare pulp for our jam  and freeze for the short term whilst we concentrate on making peach slices poached in apple juice and a limited amount of peach halves. This process also continues each day until all has been done.
Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 January we have our annual organic and Global Gap inspection. Our inspector flies down from Pretoria, we then go to Valley Packers to audit the packing, cold storage and shipment processes and then come to the farm. He inspects all our stores and processes and then we spend the rest of the time in the offices going through all that we have done in the last 12months and what we envisage to do in the coming 12 months. Prior to the visit all our paperwork and numerous support documents have to be collated and put in order. A rather laborious but necessary task for you to have the assurance that we have done what we say we have done.

A Very Happy New Year to all our friends and customers who have supported Gay and I over the past year's purchasing our organic products.
The new fruit season of 2011 has started with us harvesting our first Professor Black cling peaches yesterday and today. With the hot and windy weather predicted for the next few days will mean that the ripening process will  accelerate and we will pick, pack and coldstore in earnest. This year we have decided to present our peaches to you in punnets which we think will overcome bruising and general damage in transportation. We will also be preparing fruit for bottling our peach slices in apple juice and peach jam. We will keep you advised when these products are available.
With regard to pears, the crop is progressing normally and from early predictions we could be harvesting our Bon Rouge and Beurre Hardy in the first week of February. Thereafter they will be followed with Packham's Triumph.
A week or two later we will start with the first apples being Royal Gala followed by Golden Delicious.
The time of actual harvesting by orchard is determined by taking and sending fruit samples to a special laboratory in Elgin where fruit size, ripeness of seeds, conversion of starch to sugar, pressure and other parameters are determined and together with this information and that of the industry the researchers are able to provide us with a window of  pre-optimum, optimum and post-optimum  harvesting dates. We always endeavour to pick a variety during it's optimum period to ensure superb eating quality.
This blog is the beginning of information which we hope to post on a weekly basis to keep you up to date on what is happening on the farm

Happy Holidays

Lorraine Farm is closed for the holidays. Visit us in the new year for updates on farm activity.