24
Escarpment Magazine Fall 2012
apple harvest
support our local growers
when mother nature doesn’t
With approximately 85%
of Ontario’s apple crop
damaged by the early spring, word is spreading that if you
want fresh Georgian Bay apples, the only place to get them
may be at our local roadside farmers markets.
Warm temperatures inMarch caused apple trees to bloom
early, unfortunately the sub-zero temperatures that fol-
lowed in April decimated crops. The consequences are sur-
facing this Fall, with sharply reduced supplies of
homegrown apples. This season has been devastating for
our local apple farmers, workers and their families. Myrna
Binkley of Binkley Apples in Thornbury, says her genera-
tion has never seen a harvest like this: 1945 was the last
time that this happened.
“
Our harvest was about 3% of what is normal,” explained
Kyle Oakley of Oakley’s Farm Fresh Market. “Luckily we
have crop insurance, which will help get us through the
year. But we usually employ 35-40 migrant workers from
Jamaica in the orchard, whereas this year we have 7. This
loss of harvest will have a large effect on them as well.”
Mary Lynn Sheridan of The Farmers Pantry in Clarksburg
explains her farm was unable to offer their popular pick-
your-own-apples tradition due to the fact that trees, which
normally produce 500 apples, have only produced four or
five this year. Mary Lynn says local growers have banded
together, trading and selling bushels between one another
in an effort to keep our roadside markets stocked with
homegrown apples. Still, some varieties will be hard to find
–
McIntosh for example, took a very hard hit. Others like
Honey Crisp, Northern Spy and Royal Gala fared better
but are in high demand and may sell out quickly.
In a typical year, about 35% of grocery store apples are
from Ontario, however this year that number is virtually
zero. With the lack of local produce, grocers are getting
their apples fromas far away as Chile and South Africa. So
please, support our local growers when Mother Nature
doesn’t: buy your fresh Ontario apples at our own road-
side markets found all around the Escarpment!
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