The harvest has begun and it’s very sweet
Melvin Summers (L) and Eacon Cooper traveled to Peru from New Market Jamaica
By John T. Ryan
Peru’s population increased significantly on Saturday, August 25th as hundreds of Jamaican men arrived in town to pick this year’s apple crop. Asked about the honey crisp apples being harvested in the orchard along the Barney Downs Road, Seth Forrence said, “We have a nice crop. The apples are smaller this year because of the dry summer, but they’re very, very sweet.” McIntosh continues to be the orchard’s most popular apple, but honey crisp is growing in popularity. Other varieties include Cortland and McKeon.
Forrence Orchards will be employing 210 Jamaican pickers this year. One hundred fifty men are working with sixty more men scheduled to arrive in a few days. The hot, dry weather resulted in this year’s harvest beginning about seven to ten days earlier than usual.
It takes about eight weeks to harvest Forrence’s 1,200 orchard acres. Their trees typically yield 600,000 to 700,000 bushels weighing approximately 25 million pounds. Tractor-trailers will transport six to seven hundred loads of apples from Forrence Orchards to consumers in the northeast and all along the east coast of this country.
Honey crisp apples are extremely tasty and very popular
Posted: August 29th, 2012 under Agricultural News, General News.