Pretty pictures, busy time of year
By Laura Hand
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 6:25 p.m.
LAFAYETTE -- It is a pretty time of year, with apple trees in bloom in the valley and on Lord's Hill in LaFayette.
It's also a busy time of year for the people who tend the trees, and produce the crop.
Mark Fleckenstein, who's Beak & Skiff's production manager, says April, May and June are real busy times, with pruning, ensuring the bees are doing their jobs (yes, there are lots of bees this year), and keeping an eye on the weather. Frost endangers the buds, and the beginning of this week, the wind machines have been running to keep the air moving--that keeps the temperatures up, and the flowers safe.
During the day, they look for temperatures in the upper 60s, sun and not much wind, to allow the bees to do their work. "If it's 50 and raining," says Fleckenstein, "not much happens, and the crop is dependent on set." Each tree has thousands of blossoms, each a potential apple, but after the blooms fade, crews go through the orchards and eliminate all but a few, so that the remaining apples have room to grow big.
They also hope there's no hail. A pinpoint-sized hit now grows into a major blemish as the apples mature, and that reduces their value from eating quality to juice quality.
Most of the apples from LaFayette are stored and then packed and sold during the wintertime, and they are primarily Macintosh and Empires, which grow well in these conditions. They grow a dozen types--most in smaller quantities, and new varieties may be tried, but will continue, Fleckenstein says, only if people want to buy them. One surprise, if you haven't seen an apple orchard lately: the size and shape of the trees. They are small (no dangerous ladders needed to pick) and cylindrical--a thousand compact trees to the acre because they need the payback, as quick as possible.
For a look at the varieties, and the picking schedule, click on the link below.
