We’ve made it through a late freeze in April (23rd and 24th), straight line winds of 80 mph in July which took out over 70 trees, two weeks later a hail storm and then 5 inches of rain last week. Mother Nature has thrown her worst at us this season. We have, however, met the challenges and are beginning to pick fruit.
The first varieties of Zestar, Sansa and Gingergold opened our season. We have offered all three varieties to our customers at markets at which we were able to finally set up last week. It was a good feeling to see old customers again and meet new ones as well.
This week harvest will get in full swing. Our goal is to pick Gala and possibly some McIntosh. What we are finding as we pick is considerable damage from the April freeze and last week’s hail. The fruit buds were at a delicate stage at the time of the freezing temperatures and were affected with frost “rings.” This frost ring is similar to scarring like a burn to our skin, The taste is not affected; it’s just a cosmetic issue. The hail storm damaged the apples by denting the more densely composed ones, and breaking the skin on the softer apples. When the skin is broken the fruit begins to rot and there is deterioration of the apple. We eliminate any damaged apples. This season there will be quite a large amount of them.
The U-Pik location opened this weekend and had a favorable response from the patrons. Gala, Dandee Red and Zestar were available for the pickers. The season is just beginning and the U-Pik is set up that different varieties ripen every week. Thus the pickers can always have a chance to try something new each week as they visit and pick fruit.
It’s indeed a very busy time for us but we look forward to harvest as we get a chance to enjoy’ “The Fruits of our Labors.” See you soon at market or the U-PIK!