How do you like them apples? Weak harvest slowing down Julian you-pickers

While it's difficult to know exactly why it's the case, most of the Julian-area apple orchards tourists get their autumn on at are reporting few fruit for the you-pick crowd.

NBC 7 reached out to the half-dozen or so orchards in the surrounding countryside where the cash-for-apples operations typically rake it in this time of the year, but most are on hiatus or have pared things down.

The Volcon Valley Apple Farm, maybe the biggest operation, says on its website that it is "now CLOSED due to unprecedented low number of apples this year. We were one of only a few orchards in Julian to even open for a u-pick this season. 2024 may be a record breaking year for having the lowest amount of fruit produced!"

Over at Julian Farm and Orchard, they're saying that "Our apple crop is ... limited and there's a very high demand for you-pick apples," and that "most orchards, including ours, will likely have less than 50% of our normal crop yield."

Frank Cross, who runs Crosscut Farm and Orchard concurred: "We definitely have a shorter crop yield this year than we normally do." He told NBC 7 on Wednesday that he canceled reservations this weekend because he's running low on apples.

A voice recording at Apples & Art Orchards U-Pick cuts to the core: "Unfortunateley we have had a low crop of apples this year and we are not open for any more groups."

David Young, owner and operator of Calico Ranch & Cidery, has canceled visits to this year entirely: "We are not gonna do you-pick this year."

Why, exactly, is that the case? Many growers cited a variety of threat actors, but many, including Cross, suggested a prime suspect:

"The roots store carbohydrate reserves and then, typically, apples are a biannual, meaning they produce every other year, so last year was a good year and this year they're storing up their reserves."

Other local apple experts, though, said there may have been more at play this year:

• Julian Farm and Orchard: "This is due to the warmer weather since the beginning of the year."
• Calico Ranch: "We had some hail damage from a summer hail story [he thinks, in early August]."

Just how good was 2023? 

"Last year we had more apples and we had the best year ever," Cross said, regarding the six years he has worked with the fruit in Julian, adding, "You could say last year was an exceptionally good year."

Ken Browning, who has a small orchard in Julian. told NBC 7 he was used to having 70 trees bearing fruit, but he's only got 20 or so this year, possibly because, for the first time in 30-50 years, he tilled between the trees and some of his trees might have expended their energy growing leaves instead of fruit as a result.

So where can you still get a slot to pick apples this fall up by Julian? Try Julian Farm and Orchard up in Santa Ysabel. Their voice recording says some tours may be already be full, but hopefuls may still get reservations, though it's possible they may have to settle for a spot on a waiting list. You could also try Crosscut Farm, but Cross said he had to cancel some reservations because he is running low on apples. Too many “though’s” and one though is spelled as thought

Young, who runs Calico Ranch, said he has a backup plan for 2024.

"The good news is we have a hard cidery, and so we will be utilizing the crop just for that this year," Young said.