Vermont’s 2024 apple crop bounces back after last year’s frost

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – In 2023, a frost in May decimated the region’s apple crop. This year, growers are enjoying a complete rebound.

“This is 180 degrees out from last year,” said Phil Murdock of Chapin Orchards.

Last year, bloomless and bare branches forced Murdock to import apples from out of state to sustain his business. A late May freeze decimated what experts say was around 90% of the region’s harvest, but the apples we missed picking last year are back. As Murdock describes it, it’s a once-in-a-decade crop.

“I think the trees last year didn’t have to work to produce anything, a lot of pent-up energy, so they produced with vigor this year,” said Murdock.

The trees are full of apples, with so many of them that even apple expert Terence Bradshaw was excited by their almost logic-defying abundance and size.

“We didn’t really have flooding issues in the orchards, but we had plenty of water, so of the fruit we have it’s really good sized, so that’s nice. Because often when we have these big heavy years, the fruit are smaller, but these are a decent size,” said Bradshaw.

And with nights getting colder, Bradshaw tells me the apple starches turn sweet, and the first batch of cider at Adam’s Apple Orchard was pressed Friday.

“We’re happy to be making our own cider with our own apples again. We didn’t make much last year, so it feels like we’re back to normal,” said John Adams from Adam’s Apple Orchard.

With the apple industry back to business as usual, the only thing these growers asked for was good weather for the pick-your-own season.

Orchard owners tell me that this year’s apples should be good until November, so go out and pick your own.

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