Local orchards optimistic after frosty mornings

By Mark Ribble

REGIONAL — The significant snowfall that blanketed this area on April 21 was cause for alarm, but the sub-zero temperatures that followed on April 22, could have been devastating for local tree fruit growers.

In fact, according to Wally Simpson of Simpson Orchards in Leamington, the blanket of snow may have helped save some buds from freezing.

“The snow acted like a blanket on those buds and protected them from the temperatures,” he said. “The same thing happened last spring.”

Last year’s late snow fell on May 8, and the temperatures got as low as -4 degrees Celsius that day.

An unharmed apple blossom.

An apple blossom frozen by the zero temperatures.

On April 22 of this year, the temperature dipped to -4.4 and stayed there for a couple of hours.

“Thankfully, it didn’t linger all night,” says Simpson.

This year’s crop appeared to be about two weeks ahead of schedule, according to Simpson, who says he usually gauges it by the apricot blossoms.

“The apricots were on early, and they took the biggest hit,” he said.

On the left, a cherry blossom that had survived the cold temperatures. On the right, is a casualty of the frigid weather.

Even with the frozen buds — that cannot recover after being frozen — Simpson hopes that the crops will bounce back for a good year.

Some of the bud damage is hard to determine. “Peaches are trickier to tell,” he added.

But last year’s peach crop took a hit during that May snow and they had a pretty good harvest, so Simpson is hoping this year will be equally as good.

A peach blossom is pictured above covered in snow.

Apples faired well, with some lost blossoms here and there, but Simpson said they usually have to thin the blossoms out anyway. Pears should also be okay.

As long as the area doesn’t get another sub-zero night, the Simpsons are planning for a good crop and thanking their lucky stars that it wasn’t any worse.

“Farming is all about the weather,” Wally said. “And we have no control over that.”

Andrew Thiessen at Thiessen Apples couldn’t agree more.

“Mother Nature can be good to us or bad,” said Andrew. “It’s a stressful time for sure.”

Thiessen said they should be just fine with their apple crop, even though they lost some buds and had a few more freeze this past weekend as well.

“It’s always hard to determine,” he said. “But we know we will have plenty of apples, so that’s not a concern. We’re looking forward to apple season.”