Great Weather Year for Virginia Apples

The size and colors of the apples grown in Virginia are an indication that summer has ended and fall is here. Orchards in Central Virginia began picking apples in late July and early August and will continue to have apples until November. A lack of hail and the right amount of rain has made this year’s apple crop more plentiful than last year’s. Apples are Virginia’s eighth largest agricultural crop.

One of the big contributing factors of the good quality and size of the apples of this year’s crop was a wet spring followed by a dry spell in August. The dry spell made early apples sweet, red apples redder than ever and the golden apples are more golden than ever.

A hurricane or a premature freeze could change all that and harm the fruit. If Hurricane Ike had taken a turn and worked its way up the East Coast earlier this month, local apple trees could have been in trouble. Hurricanes with 80 mph winds could blow apples off a tree and uproot it.

At the Virginia Marketplace we love apples and have chosen to sell these unique products that are made from Virginia apples: La Provencale Cellars Apple Grilling Glaze and Le Mousseux Sparkling Apple Cider as well as Graves Mountain Apple Butter.