It’s a great time of the year to look for local apples in valley stores.
Orchardists hustle to gather 2020 crop
Apple trees are becoming heavy with fruit as the season changes from summer to fall, when Methow Valley orchard owners begin their apple harvest.
The Washington State Tree Fruit Association (WSTFA) released its forecast for the 2020 apple crop harvest in early August, projecting 134 million boxes of apples — a 1% increase, statewide, compared to last year’s crop.
WSTFA’s projections look to be on target for many orchardists in the Methow Valley.
While orchard owners are contending with the same challenges their crops have faced in years past — such as spring frosts, hot summer days, high winds and Codling moths — this year has delivered a new concern for farmers: the coronavirus.
“The crop is about the same as last year, but we didn’t have all this COVID-19 bug floating around last fall,” said Dave Schulz, owner of Schulz Orchard in Twisp. “It’s going to be interesting with labor, and if we will be able to get the harvest off in a timely fashion.”
According to Schulz, the size of his orchard allows him to hire locals to harvest his apples, which means he’s not bringing in workers from farther afield, and his pickers can go back to their own living spaces as opposed to sharing on-site housing during the picking season.
Schulz, who has owned his 8-acre orchard for more than 50 years, has some “concern” about the harvesting process, but noted that there is limited virus exposure during picking because pickers are easily able to keep 6 feet of distance between one another.
Sales affected
Stina Booth, of Booth Canyon Orchard in Carlton, also noted that the harvesting process is “self-isolated” by nature, leaving marketplace conditions as the larger coronavirus concern for Booth.
“COVID will affect our sales this year, since attendance at the Seattle area farmers markets is restricted,” said Booth, who trucks the orchard’s harvest into Seattle weekly to sell at those markets.
The harvest at Booth Canyon Orchard started late this year, due to late-maturing varieties, but the volume has been “good so far,” according to Booth.
Up Twisp River Road, Richard Murray, owner of Twisp River Organic Apples, has had “no trouble” hiring locals for the harvest, which Murray attributes to the smaller scale of his orchard, as well as there being “a lack of available work, so many people are interested.”
Another incentive for hired harvesters is the opportunity to take home No. 2s, a term for apples that won’t go to market due to their irregular shape or color.
This year, Murray has begun working with the Methow Conservancy on a new program in conjunction with The Cove, called Farms to Neighbors, that delivers local produce to Cove clients.
The Farms to Neighbors program delivers 60 to 70 boxes of produce each week to Cove clients, who might otherwise not have access to fresh, local, produce.
“We’re trying to buy the produce that [local farmers] might just have more of than they expected,” said Alyssa Jumars, Methow Conservancy’s Agricultural Coordinator, “and cover any loss of customers they may have experienced this year due to COVID.”
Now in week two of delivering apples from this season’s harvest, Farms to Neighbors is on schedule to deliver 100 pounds of apples per week to The Cove while the harvest lasts.
“Last week we were delivered Ginger Gold [an apple variety], which is one of my favorites,” said Jumars, who noted that the program’s original six-week stint has been expanded, and is now scheduled to continue for more than eight weeks.
“It’s a chance to deliver some really high-quality, locally grown [produce] to locals, while also supporting local farmers,” said Jumars.
Smoke impact
At his orchard on East Chewuch Road, Richard Wasson, owner of the Methow Valley Ciderhouse, is in the middle of his harvest season. Wasson’s 6-acre orchard is home to 16 apple varieties that mature at different stages, requiring a two-month-long picking season. The entirety of Wasson’s apple harvest is pressed into cider, which then sits in 300-gallon tanks for up to six months as the cider ferments and ages.
Smoke from the late summer wildfires has made the picking process less than enjoyable for Wasson and his team, who meticulously wash the apples before pressing them into cider in order to remove any taste the smoke may have left. It’s an extra step, but one that is important to take, said Wasson, to assure that the taste of the cider is not affected.
“It’s a typical season here in the Methow,” Schulz concluded. “In other words, it’s always a little bit different.”
