This year’s apple crop sounds great. Here’s the word from the Hendersonville Times-News, reporting on the crop in Henderson County, the top apple-producing county in Western North Carolina:
The season started early for Henderson County apple farmers.
The winter was exceptionally cold. Apple trees stayed dormant for a long time this winter, and then the mountains heated up in March and April, when temperatures reached into the 80s.
Normally, the different apples varieties bloom at different times in the spring. But this year everything bloomed at once, in what experts call a snowball bloom.
“This growing season has been one of the most challenging, because we went from winter to summer,” said Anthony Owens, Blue Ridge Apple Growers president.
Owens said this looks like it could be a good harvest for local apple growers. While the weather sped up the harvest, the region appears to have produced an abundant crop. Apple farmers are harvesting galas, honey crisp and ginger golds and soon will be harvesting golden delicious and other early varieties.
Last year, a large area of the county suffered significant hail damage to the apple crop. There have been four hail events this year, but nothing as damaging as last year’s storms.