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Closed for the Season

Posted by :Julia Prince On : December 19, 2016
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The end of the season is upon us!

Apple Affected by Hail

Apples affected by hail don’t look as pretty, but are safe to eat!

We’ve had quite the year at Carter Mountain. From Easter Egg Hunts and visits with the Easter Bunny himself, to our Moonlight Movie Series, to a visit from Buzzfeed, you’d never know that this season’s harvest was affected by poor weather. Luckily, we still had plenty of still-delicious apples, cider, donuts, and ice cream to go around and feed record numbers.

If you’re wondering what happens at the orchard during the winter, check this article out. We can’t wait to welcome you back in 2017. Thanks for a wonderful year and have a happy holiday, from our family to yours!

Closed for the Season

Posted by :Franziska Matiuk On : November 21, 2016
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It’s that time again…Chiles Peach Orchard is officially closed for the season. It’s not all sad, though! Winter is a necessary part of the growing season.

It’s been a great year at Chiles. We opened a Bold Rock Tasting Room and hosted many fun events such as the Pancake 5k Race.

We can’t wait to welcome you back next spring for strawberry season. Thanks for a wonderful year and have a happy holiday, from our family to yours.

Behind the Scenes at Chiles Peach Orchard

Posted by :Franziska Matiuk On : April 5, 2016
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Springtime Frost Affects Strawberry Plants and Peach Trees

For our peach ice cream, apple cider slushies, and strawberry frozen yogurt, fruit and icy cold are a winning combination. When freezing temperatures threaten the crops before harvest time, however, we’re not so fond of freezing fruit.

To protect our crops from the cold, we have a few warming methods up our sleeves. For peach trees, wind machines are used to circulate air through the orchard and prevent frost from settling on the fruit. Strawberries are protected with overhead sprinklers that water the strawberries, freezing the plants before the frost can touch them. The ice on the plant creates a barrier between the bud and the frost and helps to seal the heat in like an igloo, known as the “igloo effect”. We also protect the strawberry plants by laying canvas covers (check out our video on Facebook) over the strawberry patch—you could call that the “blanket effect”!

Spring may have come early this year but that doesn’t mean Old Man Winter is done with us yet; we will continue to closely monitor the forecast for frost until May.

How the Orchards Prepare for Frost

View the original Albemarle Co. Orchard Preps for Spring Freezes article on NBC29.com

View another clip Fruit Farmers Concerned with Cool Temperatures article on NBC29.com

Strawberries Are Going to Be Early This Year!

Listen to Cynthia Chiles talk with Les Sinclair about strawberry season, expected to begin in mid- to late-April.

Listen to the original podcast posting on wina.com

What do you do when it’s so cold outside?

Posted by :Cynthia Chiles On : February 15, 2016
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We get a lot of questions about how winter weather affects our crops. We typically like the cold weather – our fruit trees require a certain amount of “chilling hours” in the winter for dormancy so that they can produce the volume and quality of fruit we need. However, the temperatures over the weekend, in the single digits, were much colder than is good for our trees and other crops. Mature trees can typically handle the cold temperatures, but the younger trees, as well as our berries, don’t fare quite as well. We double-covered our strawberry plants to protect the tender vegetation so that we can produce a crop this year. It takes a lot of manual labor to pull these covers and secure them. Our temperatures got down to 7 degrees Sunday morning……brrr.

Covered strawberry plants

Keeping the strawberry plants warm!

Once the weather warms back up, we will uncover the plants so that they can take advantage of sunshine so they can continue to grow.

As far as snow – we love snow! When the weather is cold enough for snow, it helps us get our required chilling hours. The snow also is wonderful for restoring ground water for the spring and summer (when it is often dry). A long winter is good for our crops. It will be spring before we know it!

Chiles Peach Orchard Closed for Season

Posted by :Julia Prince On : November 23, 2015
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With winter on its way, Chiles Peach Orchard is officially closed for the season. It was a wonderful year at the Orchard, with many visitors from all over the country and successful events (don’t worry, pancake breakfasts will be back next year!).

From our family to yours, we look forward to welcoming you to the Orchard next spring for strawberry season. Thank you for a wonderful year!

Cold Snowy Winter

Posted by :Franziska Matiuk On : February 1, 2010
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Snowy winter at Carter MountainWe get lots of questions this time of year about how the winter weather affects our crops. We appreciate our customer’s concerns! This winter, we’ve had more precipitation than the past several winters, both in the form of snow (about 32 inches so far this year) and rain (we had flooding here just last week!). This is good, as the ground water is being replenished, and we’ll appreciate that especially this summer, when things heat up! The cold temperatures are good right now as well. Both apple and peach trees require a certain number of “chill hours” each winter, in order to produce fruit. Some winters, when it’s especially warm, it’s a struggle to meet the requirements (this sounds like WE can control this, and we can’t!). Dormancy is a part of the life cycle of the trees, and is very important. So, while this weather may not delight everyone, it’s certainly been a good thing for the orchards so far.

Now, when spring comes, the story will change! And we’ll be sure to let you know.

In the meantime, stay warm, dry, safe, and enjoy the beauty of winter . Spring will be here before you know it!

Snowy winter at Carter Mountain

 

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P.O. Box 229
Batesville, VA 22924
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