Blue and gray clouds, pregnant with rain, hovered ominously over the rows of ginger golds and still-blooming Cortlands. But that didn’t matter. Sue Moulton was going to get her apple-picking in no matter what.
Thanks to her good friend Lisa Cushing, Moulton and her family were experiencing their first afternoon spent milling about the expansive acreage of McDougal Orchards in Springvale, where the season’s early apples were ripe and ready for plucking, earlier this week. As the two friends walked among the ginger golds, canvas tote bags straining with the weight of their haul, Moulton’s 10-year-old daughter, Rosie, padded along behind, gazing up at trees bursting with their greenish-yellow bounty.
“I love apples,” said Sue Moulton, her feet ankle-deep in dew-damp grass. “It’s fun as a family activity. It’s always been a tradition.”
Cushing, a McDougal veteran who convinced Moulton to try the offerings there for the first time, sees apples as the harbinger of the season to come.
“Fall’s my favorite season,” said Cushing, “and apples really bring on the fall ”“ plus there’s the pie, and the cider, and everything else that comes with it.”
Considering the strength of this year’s crop, there should be an abundance of the fall fruit with which to concoct those tasty treats.
The wealth of apples this year is due to a wet early season, said Aaron Libby. The “son” in “Libby & Son U-Picks” in Limerick, Libby has seen the early season varieties, like gold stars and Paula reds, explode in both number and size.
“Everything that happens weather-wise has an effect,” said Libby. “When it’s wet early on, the apples size up.”
While that’s good news for consumers, wet weather can pose challenges for farmers trying to maintain a viable product. Damp conditions are often a breeding ground for a spectrum of diseases that can afflict the autumn staple, so some farms ”“ including Libby’s ”“ use integrated pest management systems to help keep harmful critters from spoiling apples and other fruits.
“It’s a host for a variety of diseases,” said Libby. “It’s a challenge keeping the apples clean and ready to go.”
Still, Libby prefers that challenge to the one that vexed farmers last year, when wonky temperature fluctuations and a late frost depleted much of the state’s apple crop ”“ opening up the market to saturation from non-local sources, such as the Southern Hemisphere. That’s why apple prices have been high since last fall, he said.
By contrast, Libby expects a much stronger season ”“ particularly in October, when families come out in full force to grab hold of the late-season varieties.
“What we’re looking for now is nice-weather weekends,” he said.
In Limington, Earl Bunting of Doles Orchard called the bountiful crop a “mixed blessing.” While the abundance of apples is good for the pick-your-own side of business ”“ and a boon to consumers with the do-it-yourself mentality ”“ those with a wholesale business are struggling, said Bunting.
The reason is that an overabundance of the fruit drives down prices, putting pressure on farmers to sell in larger numbers to make up the difference. While dry, cool autumn weekends may allow for that possibility, Libby said the phenomenon makes it more difficult to compete against fruit coming in from remote locations, like the South and Washington State.
“It’s become a cliché, but we’re a global marketplace,” said Bunting. “You have to get rid of what you’ve got very quickly.
“I think everybody would like more of an average crop,” he said.
At McDougal Orchard, owner Ellen McAdam sees the season playing out nicely, as long as the weather holds out for the prime apple-picking weekends. Now that school has started, and people have turned their eyes toward autumn, business has been picking up, with customers stocking up on old favorites such as McIntosh and McGowan, and newer varieties such as the honey crisp.
Those who are local to Sanford and Springvale might come picking for a couple of hours, said McAdam. Those from farther away, to make the commute worth their while, may spend an entire day.
“It slows people down,” said McAdam. “It’s a lifestyle thing. Everything else in life is so fast. It’s nice to have something where you can really take your time, and allow yourself to not feel those pressures. It’s a step back in time.”
That suspension of time is what brings the Moultons to the orchards each year ”“ and what will bring them back in the future.
Sue Moulton will see to it that the annual treks remain a fixture on the family’s itinerary.
“I love the nostalgia,” she said. “You pass the tradition on.
“There’s nothing better than a fresh-picked apple from a tree.”
— Staff Writer Jeff Lagasse can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 319 or jlagasse@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
