The Lost Harvest
By Derrick Mead

Unusual spring weather this year has made for a strange sight in the orchards of Northern Dutchess County: fruit trees, in full leaf, as barren of apples, peaches, plums, and pears as one would expect in January. The double whammy responsible for these unprecedented conditions struck initially in the second week of April, when temperatures soared into the mid nineties for several days. This unseasonable warmth lasted long enough to incite an extremely early bloom in most all of the tree fruits locally, and placed farmers in a highly vulnerable position with respect to a late frost.

And, unfortunately, freeze it did. On May 20, snow actually accumulated in the early hours of the morning, and remained on the ground for the better part of the day. As the low pressure front that brought the precipitation receded, it was replaced by a cool high pressure mass that sent temperatures well below freezing for the next three consecutive nights. Chuck Mead, partner at Mead Orchards near Tivoli, feels that just one of the nights on which he recorded temperatures in the lower 20s would have been sufficient to cause damage that supercedes anything in the memory of farmers active in the area for seventy five years or longer.

Accounts among other local growers vary somewhat with respect to individual geography and locality, as factors like elevation in regard to surrounding land and proximity to large bodies of water, like the Hudson River, can have significant effects on just how low temperatures go in spring frost situations. But the news is, save for one case, not very good. Bill Morris, of Cedar Heights Orchard in Rhinebeck, feels the placement of his trees along a high ridge salvaged most of his apples, and is expecting a "Pick Your Own" harvest ranging from twenty to one hundred percent by variety. Talea Fincke of Montgomery Place Orchards in Annandale reports that her peach crop will be about sixty percent of normal this summer, most likely due to the "river effect," a pocket of warm air that tends to settle over the water and nearby areas as temperatures fall. Her prognosis of her apple harvest this year, however, is more in line with the remainder of the orchards around Red Hook. Karen Fraleigh, of Rose Hill Farms in Upper Red Hook, as well as Mead Orchards, are both expecting a much smaller than normal crop of apples, with estimates in some cases running below ten percent. Pears and plums, along with other tree fruits like cherries and nectarines, seem to have fared even worse.

This industry is a patient one by nature, however, and opinions and plans seem to be running more toward optimism than despair. Fincke reminds disappointed consumers that the fruit is "...a gift every year," and hopes this season's loss will prompt newfound appreciation for the crops so often taken for granted in unremarkable seasons. She adds that fruit trees respond to "resting years," when they get a chance to focus all energy on growth, with bonanzas in following harvests, so be ready for a big crop next fall.

Other farms shifted their focus away from tree fruits this summer, and are thinking outside the box to try and recoup some of the revenue generally earned during "Pick Your Own" days in the fall. Mead Orchards will offer "Pick Your Own Vegetables" with a variety starting with tomatoes and peppers and continuing up to Halloween with broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkins, and winter squash. The orchard will also feature "Pick (out) Your Own" apples this fall, with bins of fruit grown elsewhere placed among the trees that could have borne the harvest.