MPBN is reporting that the 2012 Maine apple crop is “off by as much as 30 percent”.
The first hint of trouble for some orchards came back in March, when temperatures rose into the 80s in some parts of the state, shattering records. Apple trees started to bloom.
“And this was before the danger of the last freeze, so while they were in full bloom, or just around the time of full bloom, there was an event that killed flower buds,” says Renae Moran, tree fruit specialist at the University of Maine.
I’m surprised to hear this because I went picking on Sunday and the trees were gorgeous and the apples large and plentiful…