Apple picking PC: Fox 11 Online
OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Although it still feels like summer, the fall season is at our doorstep.
That means apple and pumpkin picking in Northeast Wisconsin.
But this year’s weather made for changes to fall crops. For some, the waterlogged summer turned into a blessing.
“We did have a lot of rain that caused a fuss in the beginning, but the apple harvest is tremendous,” says Greg Hofacker with Hofacker’s Hillside Orchard in Appleton.
“I’ll tell you, it’s really neat to come out and see how many apples we have on our trees this year. I’ve never seen it like this ever,” says Greg ‘Sharky’ Sprangers, who owns Sharky’s Orchard in Buchanan.
And more rain means bigger apples, too.
“I’ve never had apples the size that I have this year. They’re just ginormous,” Sprangers says. “If you look up at the tree here, this is a Cortland tree. The apples are just beautiful, all three-and-a-half inch apples on that tree.”
But the beautiful crop doesn’t necessarily mean all is well.
Both farmers say with this year’s unseasonably warm temperatures — and this week’s 80-degree weather — the apples are ready right now, about one or two weeks early.
“It makes it a little bit harder on the orchards now, because you’re gathering together all the different varieties at once, rather than spread out one week or two weeks,” Hofacker says. “So it makes it a little harder on the orchards.”
“We don’t have a cooler, we don’t process them, so we try to sell them as they ripen,” Sharky says. “So all the sudden, someone turns on a switch and says, ‘Okay, you have 100 trees and now they all need to be picked.’ That presents a problem because we rely on pick-your-own people to come in, and there are just so many apples. It’s mind-boggling.”
But both farmers agree having too many apples is better than not having enough.
“They’re literally falling on the ground right now, they’re so ripe,” Sprangers says with a laugh.
And when it comes to pumpkins, Hofacker says the harvest is strong — but unlike the apples, you may have to wait just a little longer to pick your favorite.
“The pumpkins, with the rain, got pushed off where they would be ready on October 1. They’ll be ready on October 14, so they’re a little bit behind because of the rain,” he says. “So, we’ll just have two weeks of pumpkin picking rather than four weeks of pumpkin picking.”
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