ALPINE TOWNSHIP, Mich — Early spring has translated to early growing for most fruits this year. Apples are the latest added to the growing list. Most varieties are 10 days to two weeks early. Two local growers tell us what his means for fall.
The apples are ready at Schwallier’s Country Basket
“We are going to start picking them on Tuesday, we're about 10 days ahead of normal.” Said orchard owner Phillip Schwallier.
He says even though the crop is early it won’t affect this year’s yield.
Schwallier said, “This will be the third year of a darn good crop. We got a big crop back two years ago. We had a good crop last year, and we got an even better crop this year than last year.”
“You can see we're starting to get some apples that are getting close to being ready. we will start picking next week.” Said Justin Finkler, Operations Manager at Riveridge Land Company.
He says, they are seeing the same conditions in their orchards. Their big worry is that a late summer heat wave could hurt the apples before they can be picked.
Finkler said, “That's a bit challenging for harvest time. But this week's been perfect. You know, we got really good coloring weather, and this is perfect picking weather right now.”
“We hope the prices are good for us.” Said Schwallier.
A bumper crop for growers is not always good news. A large harvest also means lower wholesale prices.
“Last year, we lost money on every bushel that we grew. And this year, we hope that we do better. The price. Price is a little stronger right now.” Said Schwallier.
Despite possible low wholesale prices , Schwallier is excited for this season and is hoping for a good year, saying, “We got good quality right now and good size. This is the year to come out early.”
Schwallier’s fall season kicks off August 13th. They say u-pick apple season might end early, but they will still have apples for sale until they close on November first.
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube
