Fruits

At Blue Haze Farm in Metchosin we offer farm gate fruit sales. The menu on the left displays which fruits are currently available.   This site was updated on April 28, 2013. We have only apple juice available now until August 2013. 

 

We specialize in many varieties of fruit, some of which never normally reach stores. None of our apples are stored, so they are only available in the growing season. They are not waxed or otherwise treated. No pesticides are applied to the fruit. Apple varieties which were or will be available are: yellow transparent, summer red, gravenstein, wealthy, spartan, MacIntosh, yellow delicious, red delicious, jonagold, melrose, mutsu, coxes, king, gala, northern spy, winter banana, fuji, elstar, bramleys (an English cooking apple). We have two varieties of crabapples (dolgo & hyslop) which make great jelly. Also, we have quince (which  look like a yellow pear),which also make a great jelly. And in May, we have rhubarb and later, off and on, we have blueberries, blackberries, plums and figs. We have over 400 fruit trees but some years some varieties refuse to co-operate and we get very few of them. One year in the past, and this year, we lost almost every fig (to starlings) just before ripening. Now most of the fig trees are caged.

We have frozen, ultra-violet (cold) pasteurized apple, crabapple and quince juices, and some unpasteurized quince juice.  We suggest keeping bottles  in the fridge and mixing them to suit your taste.  The fruit is  processed by Phil’s Farm who may be able to process your apples if you call him at 250-652-2264.

 

We now offer 5 litre juice boxes as an alternative to the frozen juice. It is flash pasteurized.  The advantage of the juice boxes is that they do not use up your freezer space and do not have to be thawed before use.   Store them on a shelf until opened, then refrigerate.  The box comes equipped with a small  tap to fill your glass.  Keep a box in your refrigerator for immediate use.  For punch makers, mixing  the juices creates a new flavor, less sweet than plain apple juice.   Quince juice is excellent for that. 

For apples and other fruit if it is convenient, please bring a bag or box for pick-up. We do have some bags available. The current trend doing away with grocery bags will mean we will have fewer donations from customers who have in the past dropped off their bags for us, something much appreciated.

SHIPPING: We rarely ship fruit, … it is farm-gate or pick-up-at-the farm only. Fruit weighs heavily and is expensive to pack and ship. We have some of the standard apple varieties like McIntosh and spartan but we specialize in odd or old varieties than never make it to the supermarket … this is an opportunity to try some of them.

If you would like to be advised when a particular variety is available, contact us or check back on this website.