Newsletter | Bishops' Orchard

APPLE NOTES '25

Producing the 2025 Crop

This year marks the 47th anniversary of our orchard. The 2024 harvest officially ended when we loaded out our final load of hard cider apples in early November. After a brief trip to the Hill Country of Texas, we settled in for the winter. Early winter saw us winterizing and repairing machinery. January was a busy month for us. In early January, we stumbled into the opportunity to acquire a continuous belt, production cider press for our hard cider operation; we have found it is much easier to ship juice than apples, and had been keeping our eyes open for such a press. Then, on January 20, neighbor Jon Olson brought over his 35 ton excavator to pull the trees we started with in 1978. These trees had been in serious decline ever since the big freeze in early October, 2009. As Jon commented, using the excavator to pull trees is like pulling carrots. Jon was assisted by his older brother, Andy. Andy was our very first, paid employee - he worked for us when he was in high school in the early to mid-80's, and he helped us train the very trees we pulled out.

Until the second week in February, we had experienced mild, wintertime temperatures. We were reluctant to begin pruning while basking in mild winter days because experience had taught us over and over again that a mild winter can come to an abrupt halt with a severe, Arctic blast, typically in February but sometimes in early March. When this happens, any freshly pruned trees can be vulnerable to damage, including limb die-back from pruning cuts. Well, sure enough, on February 10-13th, our thoughts of a mild ending to winter were thrashed by below-zero temperatures. The night of February 13th was the coldest, with the temperature in the orchard dropping to -15° for most of the night. While we patted ourselves on the back for avoiding any freeze damage, as soon as the weather stabilized, we really had to scramble to get the pruning done while the trees were still dormant.

We ran the wind machines to prevent frost damage on five different nights between April 13 and May 5. The effort was largely successful.

Our beekeeper delivered 48 hives of honey bees to the orchard just before the trees began to bloom. The bees were ready and waiting for the first pear blossoms that opened on April 23. The pears were closely followed by apple blooms a few days later. Full bloom occurred on May 15, which is about right for our orchard.

Summer came on hot and dry. Our two summer workers reported for work on June 2. Initially, we focused on getting the irrigation up and running, and weed control (mowing and weed whacking). Then we turned to cleaning up the trees that were pulled in January. This operation took us into mid-July, somewhat longer than we had expected, thanks to cantankerous chainsaws. We then returned to more mowing and weed whacking. Because it was so dry and the weeds ran out of water, we wrapped up this task quickly and our focus then shifted to cider press repairs, cleaning out the large cider shed, moving bins into the orchard, thinning apples, etc. The resulting apple and pear crops look very good as of late August; we will even have Empire apples this year!

Opening day

We expect to open for picking on September 6. The Summer Reds will be the first apples ready, followed quickly by the Wealthy. Next in line after Wealthy will be McIntosh and others. Pears should come on about the same time as the McIntosh. Please see the “Harvest Schedule” page for more precise information regarding the harvest schedule.

Hours

Our hours for the 2025 harvest will be:

Thursday, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., picking only

Friday, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., picking only

Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., picking and cider

Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., picking and cider

All other days and times we will be closed to allow us time to complete our day-to-day orchard chores, and to pick apples for the cider operation. PLEASE NOTE, THE CIDER PRESSES ARE AVAILABLE BY RESERVATION ONLY, AND ONLY ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. We are not open on school holidays or week days other than Thursday and Friday. If you look up our orchard hours on any internet site other than our website or our Facebook page, you may not receive the correct hours or days we are open. We will not be able to accommodate anyone coming to the orchard other than the hours specified above for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Cider making

We will begin taking reservations for cider making on September 9. We expect the first day of cider making will be September 13. Cider making will be available on Saturdays and Sundays only, and will run until we are out of cider apples sometime in late October. To request a reservation, email your request to bishopsorchard@completebbs.com. We cannot accept reservation requests by telephone because of the difficulty in keeping track of telephonic requests. All requests must include all of the following information:

The number of anticipated cider-makers in your group;
The number of gallons you anticipate making;
Your preference for a date and time; and
If you would like to be contacted in case there are any last minute scheduling changes on our part due to breakdowns, apple shortages or other calamities, we will need a phone number so we can head you off (this has never happened, but it could).

This information allows us to schedule enough time for you to make your cider. If your request for a reservation does not include all of the information requested, we may not be able to schedule you in, and we may not have time to contact you for the missing information. There is a two gallon minimum. If you find you have enough time to continue making cider after completing the gallons you estimated in your request for a reservation, you are welcome to continue making cider until your allotted time is up. Please try to be on time for your scheduled time slot. If you arrive late, we probably won’t be able to adjust your allotted time.

The reservation system has worked fairly well the last three years. However, we still have folks who email and ask “what times are available on such and such day,” or “how does the schedule look for such and such day.” If we don’t know what your time preferences are, it is pretty hard to answer those questions and we may not respond.

Due to the demands on our time, it sometimes takes one or two days for us to respond to reservation requests. If it happens that you request a reservation, then don’t hear from us after two days, please don’t hesitate to email or call (509-635-1276) and leave a message; we will then look into the matter. We never intentionally ignore anyone (after all, we are in the business of selling what we grow) but, please remember, we are a one horse operation and, like anyone, can get overwhelmed when suddenly everyone wants to make cider on the same day at the same time. This is especially so when folks make a same day or late night request for the next day - in such cases, we often don’t see the request until its too late. Also, if you schedule a reservation, but then discover you can’t make it, please let us know as soon as you can. Otherwise, you will go to the bottom of the pile for future requests for a reservation unless you have a pretty good reason for not letting us know.

Cider making safety

You must bring your own jugs and containers for the cider - we don’t have any spare jugs. Jugs and containers should be clean. Like any natural fruit juice, cider can become contaminated by harmful bacteria. Using good food preparation habits while handling cider is a must to minimize the risk of bacterial contamination. The biggest risk of contamination comes from those handling the cider, an important but not the only vector being unwashed hands. To reduce risk of contamination, ALWAYS wash your hands before you begin making cider, and keep them clean until you are done and the cider is in the jug. You will be responsible to assure that your cider is free of bad bacteria. The only practical method that we know of to completely eliminate the risk of bacterial contamination is pasteurization and we absolutely recommend you pasteurize your cider. Pasteurization is a relatively simple process; it involves heating the raw cider to approximately 160° F, then quickly cooling and storing it in good, clean containers. By no means should you boil the cider - boiling destroys the unique flavor of cider. Once pasteurized, the cider should be refrigerated and treated with the same care as any other food.

Our beekeepers

Honey bees are critical partners to our orchard operation. Apples and pears must be pollinated to bear fruit. Without pollination, there would be no apples or pears. Wild bees (including bumble bees) are important pollinators, but honey bees do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to pollination. When we first established the orchard 47 years ago, honey bees just showed up each spring on their own to pollinate our blossoms.... we didn’t know where they came from and, frankly, we didn’t spend much time thinking about it. Then, one warm, spring day, as we gazed upon our endless expanse of dandelions in full bloom, we suddenly realized, hey, wait, where are the honey bees? We scrambled to contact area beekeepers for help, and were directed a beekeeper in Deer Park. He suggested we contact Steve Shepard in the Entomology Department at WSU; he related that Dr. Shepard had been looking for sites to place bees in the area in conjunction with a research project he was involved in. Well, we quickly contacted Dr. Shepard and offered our orchard as a site for as many hives as he needed to place. Thus began a carefree decade of not worrying about bees. We knew from the start that one day the research project would come to an end and the college bees would leave. With tutoring from Dr. Shepard and his research assistants, we too entered the world of beekeeping. It was a sad day when the college bees finally left but, by then, we were reasonably confident we could carry on with our own bees. Then an unfortunate reaction to multiple bee sings occurred when one of us attempted to reallocate honey amongst the hives for winter without first fully suiting up with protective gear; on doctor’s orders, that ended our foray into the world of beekeeping.

We offered our hives to Dave Tysz, a part-time beekeeper we were acquainted with from Tekoa, in exchange for his agreement to supply us with whatever bees he could provide in future years. We have over the years since sold his honey during harvest; his honey is packed under the label “Grandpa’s Bees.” We also contacted Mike Durst, a friend and commercial beekeeper whose base of operations is west of Spokane. Mike also agreed to provide honey bees to us during bloom. Mike is a fourth generation beekeeper. His operation, Mark T. Durst & Sons, was originally established by his grandfather in 1935. We also sell Mike’s honey, which includes honey from our orchard, under the Mark T. Durst & Sons label.

Needless to say, we are quite grateful for the bees Dave and Mike bring to the orchard each spring. Mike provides the majority of the bees we need, while Dave supplies us with what he can.

Pest control

Our primary tool to combat codling moth is mating disruption. Codling moth are the iconic worm in the apple, although by the time of harvest, the baby codling moths have all grown up and left the apple. Male and female moths must mate to have offspring. Males are attracted to females by a pheromone given off by female moths. If we saturate the orchard with the codling moth pheromone, it is difficult for the male moths to locate the females for mating purposes; hence the term “mating disruption.” We apply the pheromones in early summer, the exact timing of which is determined by a codling moth development model, based upon accumulated degree days. We began using mating disruption in the early 90's when the developers first received government approval for codling moth control. Until then, our only reasonable tool to combat codling moth was the use of toxic, organophosphate insecticides. While these chemicals worked well to control codling moth, they were dangerous and inhibited populations of beneficial insects wildlife. The development of mating disruption programs came on the heels of intense scientific research spanning many years; it is nontoxic and has vastly improved our lines and the orchard environment. Until recently, mating disruption helped keep our orchard relatively free of codling moth. However, for the past two years, we have noticed a slight uptick in codling moth strikes in the orchard. This coincides with the warmer and longer summers we have been experiencing. While we don’t actually know what the cause of this uptick is, we have a growing suspicion that one factor may be climate change out pacing pheromone dispenser technology. The pheromones are released from dispensers placed in the orchard. The dispensers are designed to give off the pheromones within a specified temperature range over a period of roughly 90 days. With the long, hot summers we have experienced the last couple of years, we wonder if the dispensers run out of pheromones before the moths’ urge to procreate; the moth strikes we have observed seem to be late season strikes. While the problem may be insignificant when compared to the overall moth control we are achieving, we are keeping our ears close to the ground for any changes in mating disruption technology.

Last year, we reported an infestation of oyster shell scale in some areas of the orchard. Scale is a tiny insect that attaches itself to limbs and, sometimes apples. Once attached, the scale builds a protective covering to protect it against harm. The protective cover looks like a tiny oyster shell, hence the name. Scale are usually easy to control with timely applications in early spring of highly refined mineral oil. For whatever reason, last year was a bad scale year for us. This year, the insect was largely controlled with a timely application of dormant oil. However, there are still small, isolated areas affected by scale. A sure-fire way of dealing with a scale problem is to mix dormant oil with an organophosphate insecticide labeled for scale control. However, for the time being, we are choosing to stick with the old fashioned remedy of oil without organophosphate; we have not used any organophosphate compounds in our orchard since the advent of codling moth mating disruption practices nearly 35 years ago, and we feel the orchard is better because of this. Scale in small numbers on apples can be readily flicked or rubbed off, or can be easily removed by washing the fruit.

Apple scab has been a problem for us in past years. Apple scab is a fungus that causes black, scabby lesions on apples. While the fruit is edible, the lesions can be off-putting. Apple scab is driven by moisture, temperature and time. Because of the super dry spring and summer, apple scab has not been an issue for us this year (so far, that is).

Apples for hard cider

If you are interested in pressing apples to make hard cider from some of our hard cider-specific apples, please contact us ahead of time so we can advise what varieties are offered, and when they may be available. The hard cider apples that may be available include Michelin, Golden Russett, Roxbury Russett, Dabinett and Browns.

With our new, commercial production cider press, it may be that we will have a surplus of hard cider juice for sale. If you are interested in purchasing juice for hard cider, please keep in touch with us. Our hard cider apples are typically pressed in late October or early November.

Tasting room

Our apples provide the basis for many of the hard ciders produced by Liberty Ciderworks in Spokane. These ciders are sold throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond, and have earned a solid reputation in the world of artisan ciders. We are quite proud of the contribution our humble apples make in the production of Liberty’s very excellent ciders. The climate and soil of the Palouse have the potential to yield world-class hard cider. We will continue to host Liberty’s seasonal tasting room at the orchard to showcase some of its ciders, which will provide an opportunity to experience another dimension to our apples.

Prices

AApples, pears and prunes will be $.75/lb. Cider apples (excluding English apples used for hard cider production) will be priced at $8.00 per gallon of juice pressed.

Some final thoughts

We encourage you to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy at one of our picnic tables or under the shade of an apple tree in a secluded corner of the orchard. You are welcome to wander around and explore the orchard, and you can sample the fruit - we won’t be asking you to step on the scales on your way out. We also invite you to rest your weary feet and sit on one of the benches scattered through the orchard. Please do not enter any outbuildings unless specifically authorized to do so.
Please don’t climb the trees; the limbs are very brittle, climbing breaks off fruiting spurs. Besides, falling from a tree is not cool and could result in serious injury.
The orchard floor has sticks and windfall apples - please watch your step to avoid falls.
Please remember not to park in front of the homes across the street from the orchard.
And finally, please have fun when visiting the orchard!