Kauffman Orchards in Fowl-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, seems super-sweet Saturn donut peaches, shiny Ruby Queen plums, and crisp Ginger Gold apples yearly. However Orchard Supervisor Clair Kauffman is a pear man at coronary heart.
Clair Kauffman
The Household Farm’s Greatest-Saved Secrets and techniques
“I actually take pleasure in pears, and I believe they’re a generally misunderstood fruit, particularly within the grocery retailer,” Clair advised The FruitGuys in late July. “… They only haven’t been ripened correctly. Usually folks attempt to eat them earlier than they get that clean, juicy, creamy texture. In our pear orchard, now we have about 10 forms of pears, and I believe a few of them are the best-kept secrets and techniques right here.”
Pear season has already arrived at Kauffman Orchards, and a few of Clair’s favourite varieties are on the horizon. Squat, sugary Seckel pears will seem round September 1, and Clair’s beloved Magness pears (a hard-to-find heirloom selection candy sufficient for dessert) will ripen instantly after that. However when The FruitGuys referred to as Clair in July, his household farm was swimming in summer time peaches.
Stars Align for Pennsylvania Peaches
The Kauffman household has grown fruit on the identical land in Fowl-In-Hand since 1911, when Clair’s great-grandparents, Amos “A.L.” and Sue Kauffman, planted their first orchard. Right now, Clair oversees about 80 acres of apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, berries, pawpaws, and—beginning this fall—hazelnuts. The peach orchard is among the largest on the household farm, filling 25 of its 80 acres with 30 forms of peaches.
“This 12 months I’ve been pleased with nearly each peach popping out of our orchard, as a result of when it’s so dry we get a lot better taste,” Clair mentioned. “When you’ve numerous rain it type of dilutes the sugars and the flavors. The recent and dry climate enhances them.”
That robust harvest was a nice shock. After the nice and cozy winter, Clair anxious that spring chilly spells would shock his early-blooming bushes and maintain them from setting fruit.
“We did have just a few frosts, however our crops set properly regardless, and I’m actually completely satisfied for that,” he mentioned.
The peaches additionally survived an sudden hail storm. The fruits have been solely in regards to the dimension of golf balls when the dangerous climate hit, and the hailstones bounced proper off “with out lacerating the pores and skin or making a dent.” In line with Clair, springy, fuzzy younger peaches can stand as much as hail higher than apples, which take extra injury to their clean, effective pores and skin.
Saturn, John Boy II, Flamin’ Fury, and Extra
This 12 months’s robust stone fruit harvest at Kauffman Orchards was excellent news for purchasers of The FruitGuys. Within the spring, we added Clair’s cherries to our East Coast mixes, and to date this summer time we’ve delivered a number of forms of his white and yellow peaches—together with the Saturn donut peach, a saucer-shaped, white-fleshed selection that’s good for snacking.
“It’s just a bit bite-sized peach that you would be able to simply eat with out the juice working down your arm, though it’s actually juicy, due to its form and the actually small pit in the course of the peach,” Clair mentioned.
The Saturn donut ripens in July and heralds the arrival of different mid- and late-season peaches with creamy textures and sophisticated flavors, together with July stars just like the Flamin’ Fury® and John Boy II® and August favorites just like the Coral Star, Sunhigh, and Loring.
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Clair had no drawback itemizing off these peaches and extra from reminiscence, together with after they ripen and precisely how they style. Maybe that’s no shock contemplating he grew up on the household farm, and his love of the land runs deep.
Preserving a Century-Previous Household Farm
A.L. and Sue Kauffman’s unique homestead nonetheless stands in the course of Kauffman Orchards. Clair grew up there, then took over the home 20 years later when his father’s cousin moved out. Now, he and his spouse are elevating their 4 kids in the identical household dwelling.
Clair and Anna Kauffman with their household
“I’ve labored full-time elsewhere for under about 4 years of my life,” he mentioned. “… One of many issues I like about being a farmer at this place mainly all my life is that I really feel fairly related to this spot, this land. I really feel like I’ve a very good pulse on all the residing components of this little ecosystem proper right here round our farm.”
Ken and Sam Kauffman, former house owners of Kauffman Orchards
Because the orchard supervisor, that’s mainly Clair’s job. He oversees a staff of 13-15 employees and runs practically each facet of the orchard, from pruning and tree coaching in winter, to planting within the spring and harvesting within the fall. He additionally retains the farm comparatively pest-free utilizing eco-friendly built-in pest administration (IPM) principals.
Managing Bugs, Voles, and Extra
“Our main curiosity is in cultivating actually wholesome vegetation and soil as a result of we discover that the more healthy the plant and the soil, the extra they’ll naturally fend off illness and bug stress. It’s attention-grabbing what number of occasions we’ll discover {that a} sicker tree will get a illness or a tree that’s not thriving would be the first one to get the insect stress when the bugs come alongside,” Clair mentioned.
Kauffman Orchards isn’t licensed natural, however practically all the fertilizers it makes use of are. The staff additionally practices correct pruning to keep up good airflow via the bushes and takes steps to guard pollinators and different useful bugs. They keep away from spraying for bugs whereas their bushes are blooming and supply year-round habitat for bees and butterflies with pollinator hedgerows and a half-acre wildflower meadow.
Even the farm’s rodent management has pure parts. Barn owls and kestrels assist seek out voles on the farm, and in 2010, The FruitGuys donated an owl field to Kauffman Orchards (then referred to as Kauffman’s Fruit Farm) to assist assist their inhabitants.
“We’ve numerous voles that actually like apple bushes, and a household of barn owls with, say, 5 younger ones like we had this 12 months can eat 20 voles in a single night time,” Clair mentioned.
By working with the land as an alternative of in opposition to it, Clair and his household have managed to protect their household farm for 5 generations. Hopefully, there can be many extra years (and peaches) to return!
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