This fall, neither Jaeschke’s nor Bartlett’s Orchard in Richmond will offer customers the option of picking their own apples a must-do fall activity for many in the Berkshires. They
Washington apples are typically imported between September and February, when the Indian crop comes to an end. Washington apples currently attract an import duty of 70%, compared with 50% on apples imported from Iran and Turkey.
Vineyards and apple orchards across the Northeast are still gauging damage from a late-season frost in May that wiped out a third to most of the crop for some growers who say it’s the worst frost damage they have ever seen. In southern Vermont, Scott Farm Orchard lost up to 90% of its apple crop when the temperature dipped to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 3 degrees Celsius) for five hours on May 18. At the northern end of the state, Shelburne Vineyards in Shelburne, Vermont, lost about 50% of its
In spite of the fruit being a vital part of the state's economy, no government has attempted to take up large-scale irrigation efforts to help growers.