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Monday, October 3, 2016
Apple Season
With Thanksgiving coming up fast, it`s apple season again. There will be crowds of people at the popular apple farms which cater to visitors and pick-your-own over the Thanksgiving Weekend, a favourite outing. And hundreds of migrant workers are already out in the fields, working their way through the harvest one variety after another.
When I first dropped in on one of the apple farms just two weeks ago, the harvest had barely started, with only a few apples on the shelves, and the trees looking unpicked.
The apple harvest will be quite good this year they say, but the apples quite a bit smaller than average, due to the summer drought. Fine with me; I find the monsters you buy in a grocery store just too big to eat.
We used to know three or four varieties of apples that we`d buy in the store (Macs, Delicious, Granny Smith), but now we know there are a lot of varieties, and we shop specifically for the varieties we like. I`d never think of an apple as just an apple anymore; it might be a Honey Crisp (my favourite), a Red Prince, Ambrosia, Russet (Mrs. F.G.`s favourite), or a dozen others. And we rarely buy apples at the store except in the dead of winter; we buy them at the farm. And we know that the varieties follow a sequence over the harvest season, so we switch varieties we buy as the season progresses.
The old orchards are rapidly being outpaced by the new high-density growing model. Small trees, planted close together, and espaliered to wires between the posts. Much easier and faster to pick. And I think that black line at the bottom is drip irrigation.
This is a Red Prince orchard, a new variety that is just coming on the market here in Ontario. Look at how close those rootstocks are!
And look at the production of apples along the top of the trees!
With an investment this large, the entire orchard is fenced with deer-proof fencing, and it`s huge. The apples taste just as good as those grown on the old-fashioned trees!
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I had no idea that apples are grown like this. Very interesting. My favorites are Honeycrisp.
ReplyDeleteThe yields are increased I guess with this new method. Love the varieties. We visited one of the local orchards yesterday. It is one of my favourite autumn excursions.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of a Honey Crisp apple but I like the sounds of it. In fact I never knew there were those newer types of apple trees and apple growing methods. Guess I don't get out enough.
ReplyDeleteDeliciously red apples!
ReplyDeleteMy MIL had an extra fridge that she would fill with apples from her tree and the local orchards. She always had apples for baking and adding to salads.
ReplyDeleteHello, what a neat look at the apple orchard. I love the honey crisp apples. Happy Tuesday, enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite are the Macs. When we were growing up, the house had a cold cellar in the basement, so we'd put big bags of apples in there, kept them cool through winter. We always got them from my uncle and aunt's orchard, which has now passed down to one of the cousins.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm.....there's nothing better than a freshly picked apple!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that orchards looked like that these days!
ReplyDeleteWow! There are enough applies to feed many herds of deer. Or people. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely lot of apples!
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
The espaliered trees sure have a great bounty! The apple harvest here this year is one of the best in a long time. We prefer Cortland and Gala, the latter of which isn't grown here. I hope to pick some Cortland this weekend.
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