Barry Balsom, owner of Arlington Orchards, said the great start is also translating into more work for local pickers.
“Orchards around Malpeque Bay started picking Yellow Transparent, also known as August Apples on Aug. 11,” he said. “A large crop combined with strong demand meant an early recall of pickers just to meet the demand. The demand is incredible. It is the biggest early crop we have ever had and we don’t have to worry about selling it because they are flying out.”
Balsom said from his operation alone, they have sold more than three tons of Yellow Transparents in a week.
“They just move right out,” he said. “Now the Red Astrachans are picking up and other summer varieties and the demand, they’re just hungry for early apples. PEI apples seem to be catching on.”
Balsom said the industry has noticed a sharp increase in the demand for Island produce, partly because some varieties can’t be shipped.
“Yellow Transparents don’t ship very well,” he said. “So, the big box stores don’t handle them. The summer apples that we do have tend to be fresher and we can leave them on the tree longer to develop that flavour more. Islanders are getting reacquainted with agriculture again and that’s a good thing.”
Balsom said as the season goes on, the pear crop looks to be “absolutely outstanding.”
Balsom said there have been a lot of developments in the apple industry over the last six months.
“The growers are getting together and we’re developing apple routes,” he said. “We’re finding out that the industry tends to be concentrated in certain areas of the province, like down in Montague, around Charlottetown and Malpeque Bay. So, we’re developing apple routes for the consumers to find us.”
Balsom said the industry is working with the province to help set up the new apple routes.
“We have certain areas where there tends to be a commercial apple industry,” he said. “Prince Edward Island has a pretty good climate, but there are some climatic differences that produce different areas that tend to produce fruit. We’re noticing for our area and the Summerside area and on the west shore of Malpeque you have the largest concentration of growers in the smallest area of the province. The most densest concentration of growers.”
He said this has to do with the shallow Malpeque Bay and the predominantly westerly winds.
“We don’t get an off shore breeze here,” he said. “We tend to have a breeze warmed up that stays later in the fall and it helps our fruit develop.”
Balsom said there is a history around Charlottetown that is as old as the capital city, but people tend to forget that and plans call for developing a route around the remaining orchards in Charlottetown to let people know what is happening in the industry there.
He said the Cardigan Bay area is the oldest apple producing area.
“The first apples produced there were in the Creed Orchard and apples weren’t for eating they were for dinking back then,” Balsom said. “We have been producing apples down there since the 1780s. It’s just an opportunity to highlight the third most important produce in the province and that’s the apple industry.”
The Journal Pioneer
