Achi news desk-
Alex Walsh is not going to count his apples before they are picked, but there is reason to believe that this year’s crop will be a good one.
“We have big flowers, we have big potential for a big crop. We need everything to go well and we will have good apples at the end of the season,” said Walsh, an apple grower.
Joan Hebb, president of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association, is optimistic that there will be a bountiful season for all growers this fall.
“Overall, I think this will be a very good year. There are lots of blooms everywhere and the weather is cooperating,” Hebb said.
It is a big change from the last two years when farmers faced a series of extreme weather events which destroyed some crops completely.
“In 2023, we had a polar, icy vortex that took out all the peaches and other stone fruits. In February 2022, the same kind of thing happened that damaged a lot of buds so we’ve had two years with little to no peaches and cherries and plums,” Hebb said.
The tree fruit industry contributed $83.1 million to the province’s GDP last year.
“A lot of it is sold locally, but we also have good international markets. We sell in Ontario, but we also sell to the United States and around the world,” Hebb said.
Now to make this year even better, Walsh needs the pollinators to do their thing
“We have a lot of flowers. You can see from how many beautiful flowers are here, 10 percent of these flowers need to be pollinated into a crop and then we will have a good crop that is salable and good for export and good for Nova Scotia. “
The buds are so numerous that Walsh has already had to prune the trees once this year. He plans to thin the flowers again on Thursday because there are too many. This is to control the quantity and quality of the apples that will be picked in the fall.
After two years of unpredictable weather, Walsh hopes his trees will bear the full fruit of his labor come harvest time.
