Milder winter gives P.E.I. orchards a fighting chance
Kevin Yarr | CBC News | Posted: September 6, 2016 2:00 PM | Last Updated: September 6, 2016
A long pollination season also helps apples along their way
Record-breaking snowfall in the winter of 2014-15 was hard on P.E.I.'s apple orchards, but farmers are looking at a good harvest this year.
Last year's harvest was hurt by the heavy snows, which damaged many trees so severely they had to be cut down, and by a late spring.
Blossoms really stayed on the trees a long time. - Mark Ashley
Mark Ashley, owner of Wintermoor Orchard and president of the P.E.I. Apple Growers' Association, did not even open his U-pick last year, and had to import apples to have enough to make apple cider.
The harvest is looking much better this year.
"I think everyone is saying this year that their crop is a little above average, so that's great news from across the Island," said Ashley.
"We had a really good, it wasn't necessarily a really warm, pollination season during blossom, but it lasted a long time. Everyone says their blossoms really stayed on the trees a long time, so they got good, overall, pollination."
P.E.I. apple growers also suffered to orchards after a snowy winter in 2013-14.
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