Good apple season in PEI despite drought

By Pratik Bhattarai, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Graphic

Apple farmers in eastern PEI say the harvest season is looking good despite the dry summer.

Rick MacPhee who operates MacPhee’s Orchard on Launching Road said the crop is of good size, colour and quality. 

“We always prepare for a dry section or spell in the summer, although this year is extremely dry. It was almost as dry as 2001,” MacPhee said.  

He said for dry seasons they prepare by cutting the grass and thinning the branches and leaves so the tree uses less energy and need less water. They don’t have an artificial irrigation system and the plants depend on just natural rain and ground water.

The orchard makes 100 per cent of sales through U-Pick, which started in mid-September this year and it has been going on for 25 years, he said. Throughout the years customer numbers have steadily risen. 

He grows more than 20 varieties of apples. 

“There are some varieties with one or two trees. We’re trying them out to see how they respond in this climate,” he said

He said they produce thousands of pounds of apples every year and some of his best sellers are Ginger Gold, Honeycrisp and Jonagold.

Mike Cheverie owner of Red Point Orchard, said he had a similar experience this season. 

“I don’t think the dry summer affected the crop that much. They sized up well and they’re in fairly good condition,” Cheverie said. 

Mike, who also owns Remedy RX with his wife Megan in Souris said he started the orchard as a hobby in 2018 and started U-Pick in 2021. 

Currently, the orchard produces around 120,000 pounds of apples every year and 80 per cent of those are sent to New Brunswick to be packaged with 20 per cent sold through U-Pick. 

They produce Gala, Cortland, Gravestein, McIntosh and Honeycrisp. 

“Typically people look for Honeycrisps. They draw a huge crowd, ” he said

Every year since Hurricane Fiona the U-Pick customers are increasing by 20-25 per cent, he said.

In 2022, the hurricane destroyed 90 per cent of the crop, right around the harvest season and they lost 1,000 trees out of 6,500.

“But we had our bounce back season and this season the production has doubled up,” he added. 

MacPhee said his orchard also endured some damage from Fiona. 

“Well, we prepared for that. We have a history of these storms in the past,” he said. 

Past climate data and advancement of science have helped him prepare for such natural disasters, he said. 

The way to prepare for strong storms is to keep the trees short and surround them with taller trees to shelter them from the high winds. 

He said he is not too worried about dry climates because apple trees are resilient and they come from harsher climates of Central Asia. 

Both of the orchards will be open for U-Pick until the end of October.