Jan’s Orchard Notes: August in the Orchard – The lazy, hazy days of August

There is something about this time of year that makes you want to slow down. The weather is usually at its best, the sun is shining, and the orchard is full of people enjoying the farm.

Kids playing cornhole with their parents. Couples competing over a game, too. Friends lingering around the picnic tables with a glass of Summer Crush or a Jalisco Slushie. Friends gathering for one of our orchard picnics or cocktail classes. And Fido happily lying beside the table, enjoying a Barkuterie Bowl as part of a dog-friendly day at Merridale.

Does it get any better?

Our courtyard is nestled right in the orchard, and August is one of our busiest times of year. There is a wonderful energy here, but I also know what it takes behind the scenes to make it all happen.

I ask a lot of our team.

They are bartenders, servers, hosts, retail people, storytellers and problem-solvers, and sometimes they are all those things in the same hour. They move from one task to another, often being pulled in several directions at once, while still trying to make every person who walks through our doors feel welcome.

The kitchen is working hard. The tasting bar is full. The farm store is busy. The courtyard is filled with families, couples, friends and dogs, all here for their own version of a summer day at Merridale.

It is a lot. And I hope my team knows that I see it.

I see how hard they work. I see the way they jump in when something needs doing, help each other out and somehow keep smiling when there are more things to do than there are minutes in the day. They show up. They care. And they give a lot of themselves to Merridale.

Many of you tell us how wonderful our staff are, and I know how much those comments mean to them. I am grateful for that because I couldn’t be prouder of the people who represent Merridale every day.

So, when you come in and see them running like crazy, give them a high five.

They deserve it!

And perhaps that is part of what August has always meant to me.

Having three children, I learned that summer never really seemed to end with the calendar. It ended when school began. Even though my own children are now well into adulthood, I can still remember those last days of August. The anticipation of a new school year. New routines. A little excitement. Maybe a little resistance!

I can feel that same anticipation when I look around Merridale now. I see it in the families visiting us, enjoying these last long days before the rhythm of September begins.

And then I look at the orchard.

The apples are getting fuller and larger every day. The branches are beginning to bend beneath the weight of the fruit. Our estate orchard is telling us that another season is just around the corner.

The hospitality team has carried us through the busiest months of summer. Soon, the rhythm of the farm begins to shift toward one of the most important times of our year.

Harvest.

Apples begin coming in. The press fires up. The fruit begins its journey to cider, and the rhythm of the farm changes once again. The work never really stops. It simply moves from one part of the farm to another.

If you are here early in the morning, you can feel it too. The mornings are cooler. The days are getting shorter, and there is dew on the ground when I wake.

Then I look at those big apples hanging from the trees.

They aren’t the juicy, sweet apples you might be familiar with. Our cider apples are different. Some are so high in tannins and acid that they make your mouth pucker.

That’s exactly what we want.

Tannins. Acids. Structure.

These are some of the qualities we seek in the apples that will eventually become Merridale cider. They are part of what gives cider its flavour, balance and character, and why the fruit growing in our orchard matters so much to what eventually ends up in your glass.

So, while we are still enjoying the lazy, hazy days of August, the farm is quietly preparing for what comes next.

One season coming to a close.

Another beginning.

Another shift.

Another turn.