If you're looking for "I Spys," dating or LTRs, this is your scene.
View ProfilesPublished August 22, 2023 at 1:49 p.m.
When Conor McManus took over Happy Valley Orchard in Middlebury last fall, he was more concerned with pruning his trees and pressing cider than with worrying about frost.
But the weather had other plans. His apple trees roused from their winter sleep early, during extended warm spells in February and March. Water seeped back into the trees' cells, making them more susceptible to cold damage.
Even so, things looked all right as the apple blossoms began to bloom in mid-May. Wednesday the 17th was cool and windy, though not unusually so. But around midnight, the wind stopped. The warm air insulating the trees began to radiate up, allowing cold, dry air to settle in, which pushed temperatures into the low 20s. In the early hours of May 18, the orchard froze for a solid eight hours.
McManus, 44, saw evidence of the damage about two days later, when buds and leaves turned shades of yellow and brown and the sumacs along the interstate looked as if they were dying.
"That's what my apple trees started to look like," he said. "I was like, This is really bad."
Now that harvest season has arrived, most of Happy Valley Orchard's 17 acres of apple trees are bare — and McManus isn't alone in that misfortune. Across New England and even into northern Pennsylvania, apple growers are looking at dramatic losses for the 2023 season.
This fall, as Vermonters head to their favorite spots for fresh apples, many of their excursions will look different. But McManus and other affected orchard owners are getting creative to salvage what they can of the season.
University of Vermont Extension tree fruit specialist Terence Bradshaw called the 2023 growing season "just terrible." In addition to the May apple freeze, Vermont's temperatures dipped below negative 17 degrees in February, wiping out most peach crops. The summer's relentless rain didn't help, either.
Bradshaw said the damage has been highly variable from farm to farm. "I went to an orchard in Monkton that's up on a ridge, and, aside from some of the trees at the bottom of the hill, you wouldn't know there was any freeze," he said. "But in the Connecticut River Valley, which is normally a little bit warmer, there was 100 percent loss on some farms. So it's all over the place."
Variation aside, with nearly 30 years' experience in the industry, Bradshaw characterized the May freeze as the worst he or anyone from the preceding generation of orchardists can recall.
"I know pretty much everybody who's been in the business, and nobody else has told me they remember it this bad," he said.
The topography of each orchard played a role, albeit an unpredictable one. McManus' trees, on a hill and about a dozen miles from Lake Champlain, were hit hard. Meanwhile, Shelburne Orchards, which is nearly on the lake, has a full crop.
Shelburne Orchards co-owner Nick Cowles explained that orchards on Lake Champlain are less vulnerable to frost injury. In late spring, the lake water is still much colder than the air above it. As warmer air rises, the air on shore is sucked toward the lake to replace it. This circulation pattern "keeps the air moving, so the air doesn't settle. So the frost doesn't settle," Cowles said.
A few of Shelburne Orchards' apples bear frost rings that you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for them. Cowles said the markings make the apples utility-grade by commercial standards, meaning they wouldn't sell at a grocery store. But since Shelburne Orchards is primarily a pick-your-own operation, minor cosmetic imperfections are fine.
Cowles, 72, said diversifying his farm has helped him and his family avoid relying too heavily on any one income stream. For instance, Shelburne Orchards lost all of its peaches in the February freeze, but the apples look great. The orchard can make up the lost peach income with tree sales, site rentals and apple brandy production.
In Cowles' view, smaller, diversified orchards that deal directly with the public have a huge advantage, especially during tough years. "I mean, nobody's getting rich doing it, but they're able to sustain," he said. "It's having that ingenuity that is kind of a trademark of farming anyway."
The elder orchardist pointed to McManus as a prime example of that ingenuity, calling him "a freakin' go-getter." He noted the swift growth of McManus' original business, Mountain Mac Cider, which launched in 2021 and now produces 40,000 gallons of hard cider annually, distributed across the state.
"He lost fruit, but he is a survivor and he's going to be a player in this business for years," Cowles said of McManus. "He's definitely not a quitter."
McManus received a second blow from the flooding that occurred in Middlebury on August 3. Though the orchard isn't near a river, the rain fell so rapidly that runoff stormed through his cidery and storefront. McManus put out a bucket and clocked eight inches of rain in less than 45 minutes. Then he dumped the bucket's contents and set it out again to measure the next wave of rain.
"I forgot about it until later on that evening, and when I came out again, it was overflowing," he said.
He lost a lot of washing and drying equipment that was submerged during the storm.
"We're definitely struggling right now," McManus said. "The frost and the floods have really set us back."
What does this shortfall mean for consumers eager to savor Vermont's quintessential fall crop? Bradshaw suggests checking to make sure your favorite orchard is open before you make the drive. But even owners whose trees are barren this year are doing what they can to draw customers — hosting food trucks, making corn mazes and growing pumpkin patches.
"I think most everyone's going to do something," Bradshaw said. "I mean, this is a year where — whether it's apples, vegetables or record stores — everybody's hurting, right? So change your expectations and support them."
As for McManus, his doors are wide open for the season. Happy Valley Orchard's apple crop may be sparse, but he will sell apples from Vermont orchards, and he makes a mean cider doughnut. Mountain Mac has a variety of small-batch hard ciders to buy or taste on-site, as well as two beers (a Belgian and an American red ale) and an alcohol-free, sugar-free soda in development for kids called Cida. Beginning September 15, the orchard will also host family-friendly events and weekly evening concerts or comedy sets through late October.
Plus, there's the view. Set high on a hill overlooking the Green Mountains, the orchard with its ancient apple trees seems more forest than farm. McManus just installed eight outdoor fireplaces for public use.
"You can sit out here and watch the stars and hear the owls, see an occasional deer go through or a fox," he said. "It's beautiful."
The original print version of this article was headlined "Take Your Pick | Apple farmers are down — but not out — for this year's harvest"
Comments are closed.
From 2014-2020, Seven Days allowed readers to comment on all stories posted on our website. While we've appreciated the suggestions and insights, right now Seven Days is prioritizing our core mission — producing high-quality, responsible local journalism — over moderating online debates between readers.
To criticize, correct or praise our reporting, please send us a letter to the editor or send us a tip. We’ll check it out and report the results.
Online comments may return when we have better tech tools for managing them. Thanks for reading.