It’s now peak apple season in Virginia, and consumers can start enjoying a sweet selection of locally grown options following an abnormally dry summer.
Orchards across the state typically begin harvesting apples in July and continue through early November, with a majority harvested during the fall. There were 828 farms growing apples on 11,149 acres in 2022, according to the most-recent U.S. Census of Agriculture.
A majority of Virginia was placed under a drought watch in June by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force. As of Sept. 4, a drought watch advisory had been expanded to 22 counties in the Big Sandy, New River and Northern Virginia regions. Drought warnings have been maintained for seven counties in the Shenandoah region, including Rockingham County.
While widespread precipitation from tropical storm Debby provided significant relief for drought conditions, summer’s severe lack of rainfall resulted in smaller apples state...