KELOWNA – It’s a bit of a hustle for many Okanagan apple pickers as various varieties of the fruit are here early.
“We didn’t end up with a lot of rain days and I think the heat and the consistency of the weather pattern just provided it with an early start,” says B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association President Fred Steele.
The fruit crops were ready for picking up to three and a half weeks ago at some local orchards, that’s almost a month sooner than usual, and it’s the earliest harvest Steele has ever seen.
It’s good news for locals and tourists looking to buy some fresh Okanagan fruit this time of year.
“I’m actually surprised, I’m used to buying food that either comes from the states or somewhere else so this is really nice to buy things locally,” says Kelowna resident Volker Kalaue, who was buying some Okanagan apples from B.C. Tree Fruits on Thursday.
“A lot of tourists that come into the area, they’re travelling back home with our fruit so it’s nice to have new crop products for them to take home,” says Lynne Guay, the regional store manager at B.C. Tree Fruits.
While sales are good, the early harvest is causing problems for some local orchardists. Some of the apples in Brian Witzke’s Kelowna orchard weren’t picked soon enough.
“I figure we lost about two bins on this row here because of the splitting but you have to accept that this year,” says Witzke.
However, he says the good news is that he’ll be done his work a little bit earlier this fall.
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