Sampling apples and pears to check for ripeness before creating our harvest lists.
This week we’re starting with harvests on pears and grapes with large apple picks like Honeycrisp just around the corner. Harvest takes most of our time these days, but other activities this week include keeping up with apple drops cleanup and some groundskeeping, as weeds and grass are growing more than we’re used to in early September due to the rainy weather this year.
Fruit/Bud/Tree Development
- Many of the later apple varieties (Jonagold, Melrose, etc.) are beginning to really show their red color as they enter their last month of ripening.
- Peach harvest has concluded for the year and it’s time for postharvest foliar feeding. This fertilization is especially important in stone fruit which bloom in the spring before leaves begin expanding. Therefore, there isn’t an opportunity for good foliar feeding before fruit set. Giving the trees important nutrients after harvest for bloom time can help ensure a good crop.
- Many grapes are in their final stretch of ripening. Cold conditions this week are presenting continued challenges for our grapes. We’re watching the forecast carefully to ensure grapes ripen as much as possible but can still be harvested before rain predicted for next week. Rain at this stage of ripening has the potential to cause crop loss due to cracking and so there’s a very tight window to get grapes that are both sweet enough and still of a sellable quality.
Pest & Disease
- We’re continuing to see some botrytis in grapes from cool wet conditions. Usually outbreaks of this fruit rot are concentrated in pockets.
- Wet and cool conditions cause preharvest fruit rots in other crops as well. We’ve noticed more brown rot in Quince and Peaches this year.
- On a positive note, we’ve observed very little to no apple maggot damage in pome fruit this year. Codling moth is still an issue for us due to the timing of our netting application, but the combination of our nets, cool weather and kaolin clay earlier in the season appears to have provided adequate apple maggot exclusion.
What’s Ripe?
This week we’re harvesting: Apples: Mott’s Pink, Initial, maybe first picks on Honeycrisp, Elstar, etc. Pears: Orcas, Manon, Hortensia, Kosui, Misharasu, Chojuro, Seckel Grapes: Interlaken, Lynden Blue, Jupiter, Reliance, Faith
Canadice Grapes nearly ready for harvest
