Getting Ready for Apple Picking Season

What does a fruit grower do before the harvest?

At Canaan Orchard, the answer is: plenty!

Over the past month, my brother Dave, who manages the four-acre orchard, has been busy. 

Take, for instance, summer pruning, which involves cutting off massive amounts of branches in an effort to promote a good crop. 

The photo on the left shows piles of brush set aside to be gathered up and put into a large pile for burning.

Of course, those piles were formed from weeks of going through each row of trees, as Dave sawed off limbs that were unproductive or got in the way of the fruit. While Dave did the heavy lifting, I helped to cut out low growth and branches in-between trees.

If you look closely you can see the apples, which are getting riper each day. Those apples are the whole reason why the pruning happens. 

Early varities will be ready soon at Canaan. Gala and Honeycrisp among them. Followed in the coming weeks by Empire, Jonathan, Jonagold, Golden Delicious and Ida Red among others.

Other varieties you'll find at Canaan include Suncrip, Macoun, Cortland, Empire, Fuji, Ida Red, McIntosh, Northern Spy, Red Delicious and Evercrisp.

All told, Canaan Orchard, while small, has 20 different types of apple. (According to the USDA, Michigan's apple production ranks third, behind Washington and New York state.)

According to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, apples are "the most consumed fruit" in the United States. The 2021 apple crop was about 10.5 billion pounds. Worldwide, the US ranks second, behind China, followed by Poland, Italy and France. One in every three apples produced in the US are exported. 

When you come to Canaan this year, you'll be greeted by a refreshed welcome sign.

It took Dave and me five hours to take the sign - made up of four large traffic signs - off its post and scrape and carefully repaint it.

That sign has welcomed generations of visitors to Canaan since the 1980s. It'll be there to welcome you! 

Sidenote: It's not unusual to have families that include grandparents, parents and grandkids all u-picking together. And Dave's customer base is extremely loyal - I'd guestimate that about ninety-five percent of Canann's business comes from repeat customers. U-Pick Season at Canaan begins September 8, the Thursday after Labor Day weekend.