The cool-down experienced around the state this week is a reminder that Mainers will soon be lugging firewood and shoveling snow, but it also means it’s time to pick the apples. Growers say those who do will not be disappointed.

“We’ve got a bumper crop of apples,” said Rod Bailey of Bailey’s Orchard in Whitefield. “We’ve been busy.”

Sue Hinkley, of Pittston, carries a pumpkin she bought Sunday at Bailey’s Orchard in Whitefield. The 60-acre farm is open for picking, according to owner Kay Bailey, until “all the apples are gone.” Hinkley said she selected the gourd after harvesting a bag of apples on her annual trip to the orchard with her husband, Morris. Staff photo by Andy Molloy

Alice Berry lugs cornstalks Monday at the Stevenson Farm in Wayne to a pickup truck for delivery to the farm’s roadside stand on U.S. Route 202 in Winthrop. Farmer Tom Stevenson said the stand is selling fall vegetables and adornments now, including pumpkins and other gourds. Staff photo by Andy Molloy

Aravis Epley, 2, gets a lift from her mother, Christina Epley, to reach an apple Tuesday at Lakeside Orchards in Manchester. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Alex Brokordt chats with Aravis Epley as the 2-year old’s mother, Christina Epley, picks more apples Tuesday at Lakeside Orchards in Manchester. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Orchards throughout central Maine have been open for pick-your-own business for a couple of weeks as their early varieties have come into season, but unseasonably warm weather has had people focused on cooling off at the beach rather than picking apples. Daytime temperatures this week have dropped back into the 60s and are hitting the 40s at night.

“It started off kind of slow because it was so hot,” said Marilyn Meyerhans of Lakeside Orchard in Manchester and The Apple Farm in Fairfield. “I think people were still in summer mode.”

Those who wake from their summer slumber and go to the orchards will find a robust crop of apples that benefited from nearly ideal growing conditions, such as warm weather, a healthy supply of buds and good pollination, said Renae Moran, university professor and tree fruit specialist for the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension.

“I think one of the things people are going to notice is the abundance of apples,” Moran said. “It’s what we call a bumper crop.”

Moran said the cooler weather not only puts people into a frame of mind to pick, but it is good for the apples. Different varieties of apples peak at different points in the season. The McIntosh and honeycrisp seasons have just begun in the area, Moran said.

“We’re entering the peak harvest right now, when you can expect all the orchards to be open statewide,” she said. “Now we’re coming into our best apples, the fall and winter apples. This is when we start to see the sweeter apples ripening up.”

Jan Rackliff of Morrison Hill Orchard in Farmington said McIntosh, honeycrisp and Cortlands are ready for picking now. The orchard soon will move into Macoun season and into the delicious varieties.

“It’s a wonderful crop this year,” Rackliff said. “We have good quality, large apples and we have a lot of them.”

There has been a good turnout from the pick-your-own crowd, but Rackliff expects business to pick up even more with the cooler weather and arrival of the later varieties, such as Macoun.

“They’re tart but sweet, and … very crisp,” Rackliff said.

Meyerhans said New Englanders have a reputation for favoring green apples that lean toward the tart. That could play into growers’ hands this year as apples are staying greener longer because of the warmer weather.

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