Despite a rainy spring pollination season that hurt many area apple growers, most orchard owners say they have an ample crop for this year’s apple-picking season.
“(We’re) a little bit below average; last year we had a bumper crop,” said Gloria McConville, owner of Sunset Orchard in North Situate. “There are plenty of apples, but not an over-abundance of them.”
Pick-your-own apple season started Labor Day weekend for many growers, and will continue — depending on each orchard’s yield — into October.
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Spring downpours damaged that yield. Growers bring bees in to pollinate the apple buds in early May, hoping for warm, dry days. But when it rains the bees do not fly. This means lighter crops for most growers.
“The bees don’t work unless the sun is up,” said Edith Hill, owner of Hill Orchards in Johnston. “It was very bad. It rained for more than a week.”
But a lighter crop can also mean a better crop, said Hill Orchards manager Allen Hill, Edith’s son. With fewer apples on the trees the fruits tend to grow larger, he said. Also, Hill Orchards had the good fortune of getting rain just before harvest time, which he said is good because apples gain most of their size in the final two or three weeks before harvest.
“(This) should be a very good quality crop,” Allen Hill said. “Last year (they) were small because of the heavy crop. We actually had too many last year.”
Local growers said they can normally get a better price for their crop by selling retail instead of wholesale. Allen Hill noted that supermarkets do not want smaller apples, meaning that local growers have to compete with producers in other states who can supply larger apples for less. The cost of producing apples in Rhode Island — such as the cost of land — makes wholesale selling unprofitable, he said.
“There is no money in selling wholesale,” he said, adding that most of his sales will be retail this year. “Wholesalers all over New England are going out of business. Most store owners don’t want smaller apples.”
Apple growers must also contend with pests and fungus. Scab, a plant disease caused by a fungus, was a particular concern this year, said Kerri Stenovitch, manager of Phantom Farm in Cumberland. Scab, she explained, begins with a spore in the ground. When it rains and the temperature is around 60 degrees, it bursts and attacks tree leaves. If it is untreated it spreads to the apples.
Whenever the rainy season comes, as it did in May, Stenovitch said orchards have to spray the trees with fungicide to keep the disease under control.
Still, she said her orchard was fortunate to get two and a half days of good pollination before the rain came. Macoun, macintosh, empire, cortland, northern spy, red and golden delicious are among the varieties Phantom offers. Growers say macoun, which is firm, crunchy, and not too sweet, has become particularly popular for eating.
Some orchard owners indicated that they were pleasantly surprised that their crops turned out as well as they have, despite the poor spring.
“We had a better set than we expected,” said Edith Hill. “We have a good set of apples. It was very fortunate.”
