Minnesota Apple Farmers Expect a Great Harvest Season

As the leaves on the trees begin to change and Minnesotans start to pull out sweatshirts and jeans again, farmers in the state ready to harvest the apples they have spent all spring and summer growing. This time of the year is a great one to visit orchards -- not only to pick up fresh varieties of apples, but to pick out a pumpkin for carving. As some may know, last year's fluctuating spring temperatures killed off a lot of the blossoms on trees, leaving farmers with less than plentiful harvests come fall. This year however, farmers are very pleased with the ripening apples, a sign that bodes well for all those who love apple flavored everything. Many farmers and consumers are excited for this year's rebound after the huge let down of 2o12, where harvests were down around 50%. "This year we have nice, well-balanced crop loads on the trees," apple grower Fred Wescott said. "The fruit size is good. Last year, there were some trees without any fruit on and other trees had fruit, it's a much better situation. It's 180-degree turnaround from last year's crop." The harvest will be about two weeks late according to some farmers due to the very brisk, well, very cold, May we had here in Minnesota. In the next few weeks, Minnesota's 150 (approximate) apple farmers will be harvesting about 20 million pounds of the fruit -- that's more than enough to go around, even for those who love apples of all varieties like myself. Photo via: Google