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Fruit & Orchards

Crazy Early Harvest

13 years ago

I thought the Honeycrisp apples were dropping prematurely because of the heat and intense sun of this season, but then I tried one. They're dropping because they're ripe, and about 3 weeks early.

I also ate some Seckel pears, which are ripening equally early as did my Aurora pears.

Spring came early and the summer weather probably pushed things forward an additional week.

While the Honeycrisp would be richer if it ripened under a less intense sun I am looking forward to all the late ripening apples this year and will be seeking out Granny Smith apples this fall!

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Comments (3)

denninmi
13 years ago
Yup, everything has been about 3 weeks early here as well for most of this season. I picked my entire crop (which was only about 2/3rds of a bushel, thanks to a woodchuck that stripped all of the lower branches just after the tree bloomed) of Williams Pride the last weekend in July -- amazingly early for me here. I need to pick my Stanley prune plums tomorrow, and those usually come in right around Labor Day here. My Bartlett pears seem to be bucking this trend, they traditionally ripen very late August to around Labor Day as well, and seem to be right on that schedule this year.
alan haigh
Original Author
13 years ago
Yeah, some things are definitely ripening out of usual sequence as different varieties react to conditions differently. My Elephant Heart and Fortune plums are right about on schedule, other plums are very early. My Harcrest peaches usually ripen before Madison but are ripening after this year.
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franktank232
13 years ago
I just read in Russia the apple trees are blooming...in AUGUST! Something to do with the heatwave there..everything is all screwed up i think. I'm looking forward to "normal" weather again.

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