The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eager for apple season
We take a shine to apples, and Georgia has a bumper crop
It’s hard to believe, here at the hot end of a long August, but cooler nights are coming to the mountains. Cooler nights are good news for apples. Lower temperatures will give color to the skin and will actually shape the curves of that famous North Georgia fruit.
Cool breezes will also draw Atlanta folks up to those hills to partake in a secondary crop: agritourism.
While North Georgia might have a hard time competing with Washington state and Michigan in the wholesale apple market, farmers in our state will welcome thousands of city dwellers heading north for wagon rides and youpick adventures, all of which create a crucial revenue stream.
“It’s changed the way we do business,” said David Lillard, orchard manager at Mercier Orchards, in Blue Ridge. “We no longer have to plant 300 acres and wholesale 300 acres to make the same living that we make now.”
Mercier will entertain about 750,000 visitors during the apple season, from August through October; that’s Mercier’s share of an industry that draws a few million tourists north every fall.
They come to enjoy apples right off the trees, but also to drink cider, eat doughnuts and fried pies, listen to music, ride on wagons pulled by tractors and enjoy all things related to the Malus domestica.
By the way, due to storms, hail and poorlytimed cold snaps, last year’s crop was mediocre. This year’s crop is gangbusters. “It is going to be a tremendous season,” said Lillard.
There are plenty of places to enjoy that delight that grows on trees. Here are a few.