Michigan Apples

One good thing about living in Michigan is that you get first dibs on a pretty amazing variety of apples every fall. Now it won't officially be fall for another ten days or so but football has started, leaves have begun to turn color, and apple orchards are starting to toot their horns about what they have to offer. Probably in a few weeks when the temperature has fallen to what I consider real fall weather and more of the harvest has become available I will go to an apple orchard near me. I am sure the ones listed in this story are nice.

But in Michigan it's hard to drive twenty minutes without running into an apple orchard somewhere. Maybe next year I will try some a bit farther afield. Of course apple orchards offer more than apples. They have cakes, pies, candy, syrup, donuts, fritters, and all sorts of other goodies that are derived in part or in whole from apples.

Area orchards and cider mills have opened for the season, offering treats such as apple cider, donuts, pies and fresh apples.
The Michigan Apple harvest 2019 crop estimate is 25.25 million bushels (1.06 billion pounds), according to the USApple Outlook meeting held recently in Chicago.
This year's crop estimate is in line with the average harvest, which is about 25.2 million bushels per year.

“Many factors contribute to the size of an apple crop, including weather and the size of the previous year’s crop,” Diane Smith, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee, said in a press release.

“To make the estimate, growers and other industry experts report on what they are seeing in various regions of the state, then come to a consensus on the crop size estimate. Reports have been consistently indicating a clean crop with good sized apples,” Smith said.

“July was the hottest month this summer, and paired with the cool, rainy spring, both seasons provided favorable weather conditions for growing apples,” Smith said. The Michigan Apple Committee is a grower-funded nonprofit organization. For more information, visit MichiganApples.com.
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