Lasseter Orchards

12/11/2016

Since I can't seem to figure out the FB page thing, I'll just go ahead and share this here. Those of you who came to pick blueberries in our beautiful orchards may not all know that, in the winter season, I was re-purposing wool and cashmere sweaters into bags, scarves, and other cozy, useful things. I've got a few of the 100% cashmere (what I call "affordable cashmere"), upcycled, hand-stitched infinity scarves. I use yarn that's either fully soy or alpaca or baby alpaca or bamboo. Translation: as soft as the cashmere.

This is my fifth season of making these scarves. I've got more cashmere to work with on the horizon, but these are what I have between now and Christmas. :-)

Everyone should wrap herself in cashmere from time to time -- or all the time. The softest of soft and lightest of light to keep you warm all winter.

These luxurious infinity scarves are upcycled from cashmere sweaters, mostly found at the thrift store. They are five, six or seven inches wide and vary in length to wrap comfortably once or twice (and sometimes thrice). All panels are 100% cashmere, and seams are hand-stitched with luscious, equally soft and high quality yarns.

I'm not taking mine off until April.

03/28/2015

Dear friends,

It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that we have sold the farm. But it is with joy that I share that the family we've sold to is so very excited about this next chapter in their lives. They will live there full time and seem anxious to give this beautiful piece of land the love and care it deserves.

I don't believe they will run a u-pick during blueberry season. We'll all need to hang on to the lovely memories we have of our peaceful moments of solitude and receiving nature's myriad gifts, the great conversations with friends and strangers in the orchards, and, of course, the amazing bounty of the world's best blueberries in our minds and hearts forever. I know I will.

In love and gratitude,
Elizabeth

01/14/2015

Dear friends,

After nine years of owning the farm while still maintaining our Birmingham home and lives, we are having to surrender to some realities before us and let it go. Not quite ready to list the property with a realtor, we thought we'd put the word out to those of you who have gotten to know the farm (and us) through your summer visits. For it was by way of a forwarded email that we originally learned of and eventually bought the farm in 2006.

The basics on the farm are as follows:
357 Mountain Drive; Remlap, AL 35133
27 acres -- $260,000
40 minutes from downtown Birmingham; an easy drive north on Highway 79
HOUSE: 3 bedroom/3 bath; full basement; great room; sunroom; separate garage
ORCHARDS: 2 30-year old blueberry orchards (approx. 220 mature bushes); never treated with synthetic pesticides or fertilizer
PASTURE: fenced pasture; pond; well and drip irrigation
BARNYARD: barn and multiple out buildings

Please be in touch if you are interested in looking at this beautiful piece of property and home. Please share this status.

Thank you,
Elizabeth
205-746-3077

08/13/2014

We are so thrilled to have been a part of this!

Since opening in May of 2012, Steel City Pops has become a BIrmingham favorite with more stores popping up across the south. Their popsicles are made in small batches…

07/27/2014

One of my favorite things to do throughout and at the end of the blueberry season is add up the gallons picked. Stay tuned for our overall total in a couple weeks after the final berries have ripened and made their way to Steel City Pops, but in the meantime... drum roll please... TOTAL GALLONS picked by the many wonderful friends who have made their way out for u-pick = 120!!! That's roughly 600 pounds!

07/25/2014

OPEN! OPEN! OPEN!
SATURDAY, JULY 26
7am - noon

Come enjoy our final u-pick day of the year!

We will pick until noon unless the orchards are picked clean before that. I'll update here and on the voicemail greeting (205-746-3077) if we have to close earlier than noon.

07/23/2014

This will be more than most people want to read but for those of you following along with the blueberry season and curious about all the stopping and starting, I'd like to attempt an explanation. There are a few factors, some that we can anticipate and some that we can't.

What we know:
-- We have three varieties in our orchards. Typically, Climax and Premier fruit mid- to late-June and Tiff Blue follows in July. I try to open the u-pick as we're moving into the Tiffs because roughly two-thirds of our 240 bushes are Tiffs.

-- Our u-pick business has become very successful and we are so happy to have a steady stream of visitors on the days we're open. This means that I need to know there are many gallons of ripe berries ready to be picked in order to be open for business.

What we don't know:
-- The weather! As you can imagine, blueberry season is affected greatly by the weather, and we all know how crazy that can be these days. Whether it's the super-cold winter (great) or the mild June (okay but weird) or the drought two years ago (yikes!) or the torrential rains in July last year (devastating)... I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that every year is different and, during the season, every week is different. Our only option is to go with the flow.

-- The pace of the ripening differs too. Certainly due to the weather and possibly other factors, we've had years when so many berries were ready at once, we couldn't harvest everything. And then there's this year -- such gradual ripening that I could almost pick what's ready day-to-day all by myself.

Finally, we're new at this! Alan and I both proudly claim the farming that's our heritage and we've gardened for years, but we're learning as we go and are fairly new students with these blueberries. It's humbling and it's exciting.

Whew! I know that helps me understand this (and every) crazy year. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support.

07/23/2014

CLOSED WEDNESDAY, JULY 23rd

Sorry friends! Please check back for Saturday.

07/21/2014

Tomorrow morning, Alabama Power will host a breakfast for the Democratic National Convention Committee visiting to consider the merits of beautiful Birmingham for the 2016 Convention. The most-excellent chef (and most-excellent brother-in-law Danny Lasseter) wanted our scrumptious berries on his menu.

07/20/2014

Equine friends