Sweet Acres Orchard

06/01/2026

How I started farming!

Raise a glass...of milk, and celebrate the contributions of our legen-dairy farmers to the U.S. and the world! Happy National Dairy Month 🐮🥛

05/11/2026

Bees are buzzin!

05/03/2026

We took a little trip out to pick our trees up on Saturday. It’s an Amish nursery, the blocks of ice in the barn keep the trees “asleep” until they are picked up. Once they arrive home we store them in the basement for a week or so until they are planted.

Simon and I marked out the new rows this afternoon. Next I’ll spray a line with herbicide to kill grass and weeds where the new trees will be planted. After that we’ll dig the holes and plant!

As of now it looks like we have lost 50% of the apple buds. Cornell University states that 10% bud survival is required for a full crop. Yes, it does seem like a low number but we will have to see what happens in the coming months. We would like to thank all of you that prayed and wished us well a few weeks ago, it certainly means a lot.

We are also looking for someone to bring bees to help pollinate the orchard. Usually we have 3 or 4 hives brought in for a week or so. If someone is interested please reach out via PM for details.

05/03/2026

New business on the road!

Hello everyone! I’m Gabrielle Sirko, owner of Sirko Flower Farm.💐💕With a deep love for flowers and a passion for growing beautiful, sustainable seasonal blooms. I’ve taken a leap of faith this year to pursue this dream full force, with the help of my husband and family. Thank you for being here! Follow along for updates as the season unfolds and everything begins to bloom!🌸🤍

04/21/2026

We prayed and set fires, that’s all we could do. Time will tell if the buds survived the cold. Thank you everyone for the prayers and well wishes.

03/28/2026

Although the temperatures do not feel it today, spring is in the air. Garlic shoots are popping out. Photos from our garlic lady Megan Sirko 🧄

03/26/2026

Found this today, first time I’ve found a tree with graffiti on it lol.

03/24/2026

03/13/2026

What a difference a couple days makes 🌡️

02/22/2026

Orchard update time! Pruning continues…Pruning has been a little slow the last few weeks. First with extreme cold and now rain on and off the last week. However progress is still being made.

Next the cider press. Most of the heavy work was done last year. This year we’ll tackle some smaller (hopefully) jobs. The oil pumps that fill the cylinder are in need of some new gaskets. They are pretty straight forward so again “hopefully” it will be an easy fix. Next is trying to get the old continental stationary motor running. So far the magneto and carb have been rebuilt and new spark plugs and wires added. We’ll clean up the fuel tank and change the oil and see if she’ll run!

New Plantings. This year in celebration of America’s 250th Birthday we have decided on Liberty and Triumph apple trees. Liberty apples are a crisp and sweet apple that stores well. Triumph apples are a Liberty & Honeycrisp cross. Taste is similar to Honeycrisp and stores well. We will be be planting 60 of each. The next variety will be Pound Sweet. When I was a kid on my parents farm way up on the hill there was a Pound Sweet tree. It’s still there to this day. Using cuttings from this tree we will graft our own Pound Sweet trees to plant. The goal is 60 of these as well.

That’s all for now everyone. Remember springs around the corner!