Most visitors see the orchard for six weeks each fall, when the work is done and the fruit is ready. The other ten months decide what that fruit will be like. This is the year as it goes for a Michigan apple and cherry grower.

Winter: pruning

From late winter into early spring, the trees are pruned while they are dormant. The goal is to open the canopy so sunlight reaches the inside branches and air can move through. Fruit that grows in the sun is redder and sweeter. Pruning also removes dead wood and keeps trees at a height where pickers can reach the top.

Spring: bloom

In May, the trees flower, and the orchard smells sweet for a week or two. This is the most nervous time of the year. A hard frost during bloom can cut the crop by half or more, since frozen blossoms do not set fruit. Bees carry pollen from flower to flower, and good weather during these days matters more than anything else.

Early summer: thinning

After bloom, each cluster sets several tiny apples. Growers remove most of them so the tree puts its energy into fewer, larger fruit. It feels backwards to take fruit off the tree, but it produces better apples and keeps the tree from tiring in alternate years.

July: tart cherries

Michigan is the nation's leading tart cherry state, and Montmorency cherries ripen in mid-July. They are picked and processed quickly, and our cherry juice concentrate comes from that harvest. You can read about sizes and shipping on the cherry concentrate page.

September and October: apples

Harvest runs in waves. Honeycrisp and Cortland come first, followed by Empire and Jonathan, then Ida Red and Northern Spy. Cider presses and the store open on weekends, and u-pick rows are posted as each variety ripens.

November: cleanup

After harvest the work continues. Fallen leaves and fruit are cleared to limit disease, trees are protected, and equipment is repaired. By then, the cider mill has been shut for the season and we are already thinking about next year.

See it for yourself

You are welcome to walk the rows on a fall weekend. The Visiting the Orchard page has hours, directions and tips, and our Photos page shows how it looks through the seasons.