The incredible hot and dry weather that has been the norm since early spring and throughout the summer in and around Osoyoos has resulted in one of the earliest harvests of almost all varieties of fruit in this region over the past several decades. Hank Markgraf, a veteran orchardist and growing services manager with BC Tree Fruits, says this is the earliest harvest he can recall during his 50 years in the industry. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Ideal spring weather combined with one of the hottest and driest summers in recent history has resulted in one of the earliest harvests in history for orchardists and fruit farmers across the South Okanagan.
“This is the earliest harvest I can recall during my lifetime and I’ve been involved in the fruit industry for close to 50 years,” said Hank Markgraf, a longtime orchardist and the grower services manager with B.C Tree Fruits, the organization that promotes and markets the fruit growing industry in this province.
The end of August and first few days of September usually mean the harvest is beginning for many varieties of fruit, but ideal growing conditions from early spring to late summer means many different types of fruit have already been picked, said Markgraf.
“Of course the cherries were done long ago, but they also had one of the earliest harvests that I can recall,” he said. “Peaches are just finishing up, while Bartlett pears are done and Anjou and Bosc pears are still to come. Nectarines are also finished.
“A lot of the apple varieties have already been picked and many others are 10 to 14 days ahead of schedule and are being picked now when they normally wouldn’t be harvested until the middle or more towards the end of September.”
Many fruit varieties blossomed much sooner this past spring and that’s the biggest reason the harvest is so far ahead of schedule, said Markgraf.
“It still takes the same amount of time to grow an apple or a peach,” he said. “The reason the harvest is so soon for most varieties is because of what took place back in the spring.
“We had buds coming up two and three weeks before they normally appear and that’s why we’re harvesting that same fruit two or three weeks ahead of schedule. It has been quite remarkable because this is one of the earliest harvests anyone I know can remember.’
B.C. Tree Fruits represents the interests of roughly 500 growers spread across the Okanagan Valley from the Canadian border north to Salmon Arm and stretching from Keremeos east to Creston, said Markgraf.
You need hot and dry weather over an extended period of time to grow quality fruit and that’s why the Okanagan Valley is ideal, he said.
With the weather getting decidedly colder overnight during the past couple of weeks, many variety of apples should taste even better than they normally do, he said.
“The colder temperatures overnight really allows a lot of the apples that haven’t been picked to colour up really nicely,” he said.
The early cherry harvest meant a lot of the pickers that normally travel to the South Okanagan from Quebec hadn’t arrived yet and this did provide some challenges to get the crop harvested, he said.
“A lot of the farmers who usually use the Quebec pickers had to reach out to the migrant workers from Mexico and Jamaica because the harvest took place to early,” he said. “It was a bit of a challenge, but I don’t know of any cherry farmer that wasn’t able to finish their harvest.”
The summer of 2015 will go down as one of the hottest and driest on record, but extended runs of hot and dry weather are not unusual for the South Okanagan and don’t really adversely affect the eventual harvest, he said.
“That’s why the Okanagan has become one of the premier fruit growing regions in the world,” he said. “Fruit does very well when it’s really hot and dry and that’s why so many orchardists and farmers get into the business in this part of the world.”
The hot and dry weather also means pests and insects don’t cause as many problems as they do in other parts of the province and country, he said.
“We have far less pest and disease problems in this region than most other places and that’s directly related to the hot weather and dry conditions,” he said. “You get the odd situation that comes up with certain pests, but overall we haven’t had any significant infestation with any one variety of fruit that I know of this summer.”
The early harvest won’t affect fruit prices at all, he said.
“We produce so much fruit in this region that an early harvest really isn’t going to effect the price,” he said.
The demand from Canadian consumers to purchase and eat South Okanagan fruit has been strong for many decades. The early harvest just means that they will be able to access some varieties of their favourite fruits earlier than usual, he said.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
