Doles Orchard - Irrigation in times of Drought

A message from Earl & Nancy Bunting: 

As you are well aware, COVID -19 has decimated countless small businesses (along with several others) in just a few short months. We know we are not alone and that you are worried about many friends and businesses you love, support and depend upon. But, as the certainly-uncertain future surges towards us, we are driven to reach out nonetheless. 

Doles Orchard has been a local icon, “up on the ridge,” for far longer than we have had the good fortune of farming here, well over 100 years. Many folks fondly remember spending warm summer days picking strawberries and blueberries, and the cooler days of autumn picking apples and in search of the perfect pumpkin. We took over in 1993, fulfilling a lifelong dream of working for ourselves as farmers, connected to the earth and our local communities. So few regions have been able to hold on to such powerful fragments of cultural memory, and to this day the farm continues to be a treasured haven for local produce, homemade baked goods, childhood memories and countless good times. 

Now, with the uncertainty and restrictions that COVID -19 brings, we need help as we adjust to the new not-so-normal. We are thoughtfully and carefully working on establishing and implementing practices for safely remaining open and in business. Meanwhile, the majority of our staff are unemployed and fixed costs are accruing.  

Initial circumstances allowed us to offer a take-out dinner night a couple nights a week, which got us through the initial days of the pandemic. And we have recently opened the strawberry fields on a limited and socially-distanced basis.

However, in addition to the extraordinary strain of the shutdown due to Covid-19, Mother Nature has presented additional challenges. An abnormally cold, rough winter last year devastated approximately 3/4 of this year's strawberry and peach crops, and we find ourselves harvesting from only 1/4 of our strawberry patches, and none of the peaches survived. In addition to a scarce crop to begin with, we have also experienced one of the worst droughts since we’ve operated the farm, and some would say the worst in over 100 years. To a very limited degree, thanks to an aging and undependable irrigation system, we have been able to meet some of the needs of our plants and trees, but the current limitations make it virtually impossible to fully support all the needs of the farm: plant, animal and human.
 
Even if we are allowed to remain open this summer, any further challenges due to weather, drought, flooding or another shutdown, will make it impossible to make ends meet. We need time and support to reinvent ourselves for the coming times.

We humbly ask for your support in keeping the orchard alive and thriving as we wade through the uncertainty of the year to come. Your donation will go towards our staff, mortgage, utilities, insurances, and all the costs of surviving.  We have had rough patches before, but this is uncharted territory.
 
Here’s how your generous donations will be prioritized:

- Supplies (pick-your-own, Box Shop, baked goods, farm animals)
 
- Paying our vendors (many of which are small businesses themselves)
 
- Replacement parts for farm equipment, tractors, irrigation system, etc.

- Paying other bills (mortgage, insurance, etc.)


Anything you can give is greatly appreciated. We realize that many are suffering. If you cannot donate, consider sharing this link. And I hope it goes without saying, we are all in this together and we are ready and willing to help in whatever way we can.  

We thank you for your support and hope to be searching for ripe fruit, or lounging underneath an apple tree with you in the near future. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Be safe and take good care. 

Earl & Nancy Bunting
Owners of Doles Orchard
 http://www.dolesorchard.com/ 

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