Does Anybody Have An Apple Orchard Spray Program?

[California]

Its a strange year for apples here, an hour north of San Francisco. The apples are unnaturally small. They go for cooked product (juice, applesauce) so they are salable but very few would meet size spec for supermarket apples. It's a very heavy crop of the small apples, so heavy that I have broken limbs everywhere despite normal propping. No disease problem thankfully. Sampling the apples, they seem to go from undersize and unripe, right to undersize and mushy. Only the Galas and Honeycrisp have normal nice flavor and texture, but are still undersize.

And a second issue: The neighbor who operates my 7 acres along with his own larger operation - 200 acres of apples and grapes overalll - says he can't find labor. He normally harvests here 3-4 times as different varieties ripen. This year he got the high-value early Gravensteins then he hasn't been back. He will likely do as he did a couple of years ago, one second pass for the Jonathans, Golden and Red Delicious, and whatever other mid-season apples are here, then a final pass for the (late) Granny Smiths. There are presently a lot of apples on the ground that will have to go for vinegar. Strange times, on both issues.

 

[fishheadbob]

And a second issue: The neighbor who operates my 7 acres along with his own larger operation - 200 acres of apples and grapes overalll - says he can't find labor. He normally harvests here 3-4 times as different varieties ripen. This year he got the high-value early Gravensteins then he hasn't been back.
There is definitely a low end labor shortage. I used to get high school seniors to work. Since the crackdown on Mexican labor the high school kids have taken the Mexicans' jobs on local dairy farms. Good for the H.S. kids, better jobs. Bad for me.

 

[David Wayne]

I have one apple tree, I have never prunned or sprayed. So I always have Sooty mold and Plum Curculio. This year it is loaded and since not prunned the apples dont want to turn red all the way around.Is it ok to peel them and cut out the buggy area to make apple sauce with them.
Thanks,
David

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is yes, I often pick from a few abandoned orchards to put into my applesauce, as the different varieties give it more flavor.

 

[California]

Is it ok to peel them and cut out the buggy area to make apple sauce with them.

Yes. That's how supermarket applesauce is made. Once it's cooked, its sterile.

I've watched the processing plant where my apples go. A load with bad apples will get diverted for vinegar. Normal process is apples are set vertical and spun on spikes for peeling then coring, sliced vertically into 6 (?) wedges, and any browning revealed at that point is discarded. The wedges go on to juice or applesauce, all of it cooked or pasteurized.

 

[David Wayne]

I am probably throwing out more than I need to. trying to remove all traces of where the little Plum bugger has been.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
Better to throw too much than too little. That's a lot of work to throw away when it doesn't turn out right.

 

[HillStreet]

^^^^^
Better to throw too much than too little. That's a lot of work to throw away when it doesn't turn out right.

Remember the old joke?
”What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple?”
“Finding half a worm in your apple”.