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Apples
 Gravenstein:
This old variety (1790) is one of the best apples for applesauce,
pies and juice. The skin is thin, tender, and greenish-yellow with
broken stripes of red. The flesh is firm, crisp, juicy and tart.
Many customers also like them as a tart, fresh eating apple. For
applesauce and pies these apples are picked while the skin is still
green and the texture is crunchy. Gravenstein gets this name
because it was grown in the castle garden of the Duke of
Augustenberg at Graefenstein, Germany.
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, cooking (applesauce,
puree, apple butter), baking, juice/cider
Available for picking: Beginning in late July until
around mid-August
 Paula
Reds: We use Paula Red, with their beautiful red blush and
crisp, sweet-tart white flesh, in the same ways we use Gravensteins.
Excellent for eating and cooking. (Michigan, 1960)
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, cooking (applesauce,
puree, apple butter), baking, juice/cider
Available for picking: Beginning in late July until
around mid-August
 Yellow/Golden
Delicious: This apple is firm, crisp and juicy with a mild,
sweet, and distinctive flavor. It is the second most popular
dessert apple in the United States. Try them…they won’t be like the
ones from the grocery store! This apple appeared in 1912 as a
chance seedling on the farm of Anderson Mullins in Clay County, West
Virginia. Mullins sold the tree for $5000 in 1914 to Stark Brothers
Nursery in Missouri, and a steel cage was erected around it to
prevent the theft of scion wood for propagation as it traveled back
to Missouri. Some of our customers make pies and applesauce from
these.
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, cooking, (applesauce,
puree, apple butter), juice/cider
Available for picking: Beginning in mid-September
Red
Delicious: The most popular sweet apples in the United
States. We grow an old variety that has red stripes, with white
flesh that is tender, fine-grained, crisp and juicy. The flavor is
mild, and the aroma is distinctive. But don’t be fooled…these are
not like the ones in the grocery store. Red Delicious was a chance
seedling found in 1872 on the farm of Jesse Hiatt of Peru, Iowa, in
a known variety orchard. It was deliberately chopped down twice and
then permitted to grow and fruit, “If thee must grow, thee may.”
Hiatt decided to promote it as a new variety and originally named it
‘Hawkeye.’ In 1893, he sent it to a competition sponsored by Stark
Brothers Nursery in Missouri. The paper of identification was lost,
but Hiatt re-entered it in 1894, and Stark bought the rights to
propagate it and renamed it ‘Red Delicious’.
Uses: Fresh eating
Available for picking: Beginning in late September
Rome
Beauty: This large apple has juicy, creamy-yellow flesh. It
is an all purpose apple and is considered one of the best apples for
baking. A good keeper. It was recorded in 1848. Joel Gillett in
Proctorville, Ohio, bought a number of grafted trees from Putnam
Nursery in 1816. One had sprouted below the graft and Gillett gave
this tree to his son. It produced large attractive apples that he
named Rome, for the township. The original tree was washed away in
a flood in 1860.
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, cooking (applesauce,
puree, apple butter), baking
Available for picking: Beginning in early October
Spitzenberg:
Said to be Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple. Superior in flavor
and quality. These are simply delicious! An heirloom variety, New
York, before 1800. These make great pies and applesauce.
Sweet-tart they are also a good eating apple. We have one variety
that is red and one with just a red blush.
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, cooking (applesauce,
puree, apple butter), baking
Available for picking: Beginning in early October
Newtown/Pippin:
This heirloom apple (New York, 1759) is said to be George
Washington’s favorite apple. It is a tart, hard, green apple, plus
being rich, aromatic, crisp, and coarse with creamy yellow flesh.
This apple keeps well in a cool, dry place.
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, cooking (applesauce,
puree, apple butter)
Available for picking: Beginning in early October
Beans
Blue
Lake:
A fresh market bean. Smooth, round, medium green pods that are
6 to 7 inches long. These beans are flavorful and tender.
Uses: Fresh eating, canning, pickling, freezing.
Available for
picking: Beginning in late July.
Second crop beginning in September.
Romano:
A
savory Italian bean with tender 6 inch pods
which are medium-green, smooth and flat.
They are slow to develop seeds or tough
strings.
This means a longer period of optimum
eating quality.
Uses: Fresh eating, freezing.
Available
for picking: Beginning in late July.
Yellow
Wax:
The yellow pods are 4-1/2 to 5 inches long.
Many people like to use Blue Lake and Yellow wax beans as the base
for their 3-bean salad. Some customers even can them together to
use in their winter salads.
Uses: Fresh eating, canning
Available for picking: Beginning in late July
 French Horticultural:
An excellent shelling bean,
renowned for its taste and shelling ease. It produces large,
red-streaked, green pods, filled with red-streaked, white beans.
When these pods are picked in the dry stage the beans inside are
light brown with red streaks. They are very flavorful and full of
fiber. An heirloom variety.
Uses: Fresh eating, canning, freezing
Available for
picking: Beginning in mid-August
Beets
These delicious root crops are globe shaped with smooth dark red
skin and a small tap root. The green leaves are also very
nutritious. They can be eaten raw (in salads and on sandwiches) or
steamed.
Uses: Fresh eating, canning, pickling
Available for picking: Beginning in late July &
continuing throughout most of the picking season
Blackeye, Crowder, Purple Hull Peas
Blackeye peas: Pods are 6 to 8 inches
long. Excellent canner and a favorite with our customers.
Crowder peas: Pods are 6 to 6-1/2
inches long. Pale green silvery pods at green shell stage and light
straw color when dry.
Purple Hull peas: Pods are green and
purple when immature, deep purple when ready for mature-green
harvest, and purple when dry. Most customers want these “Southern
Peas” in the green shell stage, others want them in the dry stage,
some even pick small pods to snap and cook with their peas.
Uses: Fresh eating,
canning, freezing
Available for picking:
Beginning in mid/late-August & into September
Broccoli
Broccoli: Large, dark green heads rich
in vitamins and full of flavor.
Romanesco Broccoli: A fascinating yet
attractive and nutritious addition to your broccoli recipes. The
heads are formed from swirling chartreuse spires. Romanesco is
broccoli, but the taste and texture is more like cauliflower.
Uses: Fresh eating, freezing
Available: Beginning in early July, Fall Crop
in September & October
Cabbage
Cabbage:
Solid, light green heads with that unmistakable, rich, savory
flavor…much sweeter than those bought in the grocery store.
 Red
Cabbage: Why are they ‘red’ when they are really ‘purple’?
This cabbage has a mild, sweet flavor.
Both green and red cabbage are great fresh, cooked or in salads, or
made into sauerkraut.
Uses: Fresh eating, sauerkraut
Available: Beginning in early July, Fall Crop
in September & October
Cantaloupe & Melons
You can’t buy these melons in the grocery store! Norm picks all our
melons and you can be confident that they are very sweet and
delicious. We guarantee them to be ripe and will give you another
one (or a refund) if it isn’t. Over the many years of farming Norm
has experimented with many varieties of melons. We grow the ones
that have passed the “Lehne Taste Test”! Our favorite cantaloupe is
sometimes referred to as a “Norm-a-loupe”! You can also try really
sweet cantaloupes with green flesh. (No u-pick on these)
Uses: Fresh eating
Available: already picked: Beginning in mid-August
& continuing throughout most of the season
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Carrots
Very flavorful and sweet. Much more delicious than store bought!
Uses: Fresh eating, canning, juicing, freezing
Available for picking: Beginning in mid-August &
continuing throughout most of the picking season
Cauliflower
Cauliflower:
Large, smooth, dense white heads that are well
rounded, with delicious flavor and texture.
Cheddar
Cauliflower: No, this beautifully
bright orange/yellow cauliflower does not taste like cheddar
cheese…you have to add that yourself! This cauliflower is delicious
and full of vitamins. In addition this variety contains
approximately 25 times more beta carotene than white cauliflower.
Keeps its color when cooked.
Purple
Cauliflower: This captivating
cauliflower will cause a stir at any table! It also retains most of
its color when cooked. Also full of vitamins and antioxidants.
Uses: Fresh eating, pickling, freezing
Available: Beginning in early July, Fall Crop in September & October
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Corn
Over the many years of farming Norm has experimented with many
varieties of corn. We grow the ones that have passed the “Lehne
Taste Test!” Customers tell us that we grow the best tasting sweet
corn! And do we ever plant a lot of it! Norm plants corn about
every 10 days so we have it coming on throughout the entire season.
Eat it fresh, can it or put some in your freezer. Yellow, Bi-Color
(yellow/white), or White--take your pick!
Uses: Fresh eating, canning, freezing
Available for picking: Beginning in early August &
continuing throughout most of the picking season
Cucumbers
Most customers prefer a certain size pickling cucumbers for their
favorite pickle recipe and we encourage them to pick whatever size
they want…from the tiny gherkin on up! We also grow slicing
cucumbers with smooth skin—they are sweet, crisp and burpless. Eat
them skin and all! We also have lemon cucumbers which are very mild
and sweet.
Uses: Fresh eating, pickling
Available for picking: Beginning in late July,
Second crop beginning in September
Eggplant
We grow three types of eggplant:
“Traditional Mediterranean”: long,
oval, deep purple.
"Oriental”: long, slim, deep purple,
or straight, slender, white with a purple blush.
“Indian”: small, round, lavender
Eggplant will absorb the flavor of whatever it is cooked with. It
is a versatile vegetable worth trying. We recommend picking
eggplant before they get too big and seedy.
Uses: Fresh eating, freezing
Available for picking: Beginning in early August &
continuing throughout most of the picking season
Hazelnuts/Filberts
The name filbert is the scientifically correct
name for the tree and nut. The name is of French origin and the
first Oregon filbert tree was planted in 1857 at Scottsburg.
Hazelnut is the name coined by the English and it was applied to the
native species by early settlers. Hazelnut is more commonly used in
marketing channels and in 1981 the Oregon Filbert Commission decided
to conform to the common standard and began emphasizing “Hazelnut.”
Hazelnuts are said to be a “heart healthy”
food. They contain nearly 75% mono-unsaturated fat. Studies
indicate this high level of mono-unsaturated fat is likely
responsible for a reduction in both total blood and LDL cholesterol
levels when hazelnuts are consumed as part of a low saturated fat
diet.
Norm harvests this crop in the fall. (No
u-pick on these.) After harvest, we sell fresh, in-shell hazelnuts
once they return from the dryer. Some customers enjoy cracking the
hazelnuts back at home; however, many customers run their order
through our hand-crank nut cracker. It makes for an easier job of
separating the nut meats from the shells when they get back home.
Uses: Just add a handful of raw, roasted, chopped
or diced hazelnuts to any culinary creation. The addition of
hazelnuts to appetizers, snacks, salads, sides, main dishes,
desserts or specialty items is an addition of healthy goodness!
Available already picked
only: Our in-shell hazelnuts, fresh from the dryer, are available
in October.
For more Hazelnut information:
www.oregonhazelnuts.org
www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
Herbs
We grow Basil, Chives, Dill, Mint, Oregano, Italian Parsley,
Rosemary, Sage, Summer Savory and Thyme. Once you have used fresh
herbs in your recipes you might not be able to go back to ordinary
dried herbs! The flavor of fresh is beyond compare.
Uses: Check your recipe before you come to the
farm to see if you want to add any of these fresh herbs. Use fresh,
in canning, pickling
Available: all season
Nectarines
Harko:
This is a sweet, firm, yellow, semi-freestone nectarine. These make
a great dried fruit.
Uses: Fresh eating, cooking (desserts, jam), drying
Available for picking: Beginning in early August
Fantasia:
This is a sweet, large, yellow fleshed nectarine. A freestone
variety. Good canned, you don’t even have to peel them.
(California, 1969)
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, canning, drying
Available for picking: Beginning in late August
Okra
This is an indispensable ingredient in many stew, soup and gumbo
recipes.
Uses:
Fresh eating, canning, pickling freezing
Available for picking:
Beginning in mid-August & continuing throughout most of the picking
season
Peaches
Red
Haven: This is a delicious peach with an almost fuzzless,
red skin over firm, creamy yellow flesh. Developed in 1940 by
Michigan State University, Red Haven was the first red-skinned
commercial peach variety. Technically a freestone, it does tend to
stick to the pit so we refer to it as a semi-freestone.
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, freezing, canning,
jam
Available for picking: Beginning in mid to late
July
Suncrest:
A large, round freestone peach with bright red blush over yellow
skin. It has yellow flesh with a firm texture. Very juicy, with
good flavor. (California, 1959)
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, freezing, canning
Available for picking: Beginning in early August
49ers:
Forty-niners are a large peach with a brightly blushed skin over
yellow flesh. This excellent freestone variety is very popular at
our farm.
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, freezing, canning
Available for picking: Beginning in mid to late
August
Improved
Elberta: This is probably the best known yellow canning
peach because of its classic, rich peach flavor. A freestone. The
skin is red blushed over yellow flesh.
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, canning, freezing
Available for picking: Beginning in late August to
early September
Rio
Oso Gem: Large and round freestone peach with a bright red
blush on its yellow skin. The flesh is firm with a coarser texture
than other peaches. It is juicy with a rich, sweet flavor.
(California, 1933)
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, canning, freezing
Available for picking: Early to mid September
Pears
Bartlett: The classic-shaped pear;
green when picked, then ripens off the tree to a mellow yellow.
Flesh is very sweet and tender. (England, 1700)
Uses: Fresh eating, desserts, canning, drying
Available for picking: mid to late August
Peppers (Hot & Sweet)
Green peppers are less sweet and slightly more bitter than yellow,
orange, purple or red peppers. Peppers are a great source of
vitamin C. Green peppers have two times the vitamin C by weight
than citrus fruits, and red peppers have three times what the green
varieties have. The fiery hot flavor in hot peppers is concentrated
along the top of the pod. The stem end of the pod has glands which
produce the capsaicin (the primary substance that determines the
amount of heat in peppers), which then flows down through the pod.
The white pith, that surrounds the seeds, contains the highest
concentrations of capsaicin. Removing the seeds and inner membranes
is effective at reducing the heat of a pod. Nevertheless, always
wear gloves when working with hot peppers. We know of no cure for
the heat when it permeates the skin.
Sweet: Do you want sweet peppers like
green purple, orange or red bell peppers, sweet yellow Gypsy
peppers, red Pimentos?
OR
Hot: Are you after something more
spicy like green Anaheim chilis, yellow Hungarian Wax, Jalapenos,
Cayenne, Hot Portugal, Serrano, Thai-Hot, plus a few others?
We have several varieties of peppers from MILD to WILD!
Uses: Fresh eating, canning, pickling, freezing,
drying
Available for picking: Beginning in mid-August &
continuing throughout most of the picking season
Prunes/Plums
Brook:
Long-time favorite in Western Oregon. Oval shaped fruit with
purplish-black skin and yellow flesh. Larger and sweeter than
Italian. Ripens one week earlier than Italian. Discovered in
Lafayette, Oregon (seedling of Italian). Introduced in 1946.
Uses: Fresh eating, canning, jam, drying.
Available for picking: mid September
Italian:
Large, long, oval fruit; purple to dark blue with greenish-yellow
flesh. Rich flavor, very sweet when fully ripe. Grown in Oregon as
a commercial agricultural crop beginning in the 1890’s.
Uses: Fresh eating, cooking, canning, jam, drying.
Available for picking: mid September
Moyer:
An outstanding prune, developed by Douglas County nurseryman, C. E.
Moyer. A very large Italian-type prune with orange flesh.
Uses: Fresh eating and drying.
Available for picking: mid to late September
Pumpkins
In addition to the larger traditional Halloween pumpkins we also
grow a smaller pie pumpkin. This heirloom variety has the best
flavor for making pies.
Uses: Fall decorating, carving, pies
Available picked or u-pick in October
Summer Squash
Zucchini: A very popular summer
vegetable. Zucchini has a delicate rather than strong flavor,
requiring little cooking. Zucca is the Italian name for squash.
Yellow Crookneck: This summer squash
has mildly sweet and watery flesh, and thin, tender skin.
Scalloped: A small summer squash noted
for its round, shallow shape and scalloped edges. It resembles a
small toy top. We suggest you pick all summer squash before they get
too big for the best flavor and texture.
Uses: Fresh eating, canning, pickling, freezing
Available for picking: Beginning in late July &
continuing throughout most of the picking season
Tomatoes
Along with zucchini, tomatoes are one of the most common garden
goodies in the United States. Most everyone seems to look forward
to the unmatched taste of vine-ripe tomatoes! This is another item
that Norm has experimented with over the many years of farming. We
grow the ones that have passed the “Lehne Taste Test”! Traditional
globe shaped tomatoes, Roma (paste) tomatoes, cherry and grape
tomatoes are available.
Uses: Fresh eating, canning, juicing, freezing,
drying
Available for picking: Beginning in early August &
continuing throughout most of the picking season
Watermelon
Juicy, Crisp and Sweet! You won’t find them this good at any
store. Norm picks all our watermelons and you can be confident that
they are very sweet and delicious. We guarantee them to be ripe,
and will give you another one (or a refund) if it isn’t. Once again
Norm has experimented with watermelon varieties over the many years
of farming. We grow the ones that have passed the “Lehne Taste
Test”! And the final results are in…we only grow watermelons that
have seeds because they taste so much better than the seedless
varieties. (No u-pick on these)
Uses: Fresh eating. drying, pickling (watermelon
rind pickles)
Available already picked: Beginning in mid-August &
continuing throughout most of the season
Winter Squash
These vegetables differ in shape and color. But they all have
sweet, tender flesh varying in color from pale yellow to dark
orange. Acorn (green and gold skin),
Carnival (an Acorn-type with bright green and orange skin),
Butternut, Spaghetti and
Delicata (Peanut) are available. These delicious squash
are a favorite fall and winter vegetable. They will keep well in a
cool dry place. (No u-pick on these.)
Uses: Fresh eating, freezing
Available already picked: Beginning in
mid-September & continuing throughout the rest of the season
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