New York fruit farms ready for apple picking season, despite drought

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. -- The Labor Day holiday weekend means the opening of apple picking season at many area fruit farms. 

Drought conditions made for a less-than-ideal growing season, but apple farmers said there's still plenty to pick from, CBS2's Tony Aiello reported Friday. 

Apple season at Wilkens Fruit and Fir starts the first Saturday in September.

"It means Wilkens Farm is open and we enjoy every minute of it," said Anthony Cutrone, who always marks his calendar. 

The trees are laden but many of these fruity beauties seem a tad on the small side. 

"Since June 17th we've only had 2.2 inches of rain," said Randy Pratt, from Wilkens Fruit & Fir. "The impact will be smaller apples, but sweeter apples. So the apples will be great tasting, but a little bit on the small side, and mostly from the younger trees." 

Pratt said the drought impacted the growing season. The farm actually retrofitted an orchard sprayer with a PVC pipe to dump a daily 2 gallons of water on trees. 

Fifteen miles east is Outhouse Orchards in North Salem. They said despite the drought, 2022 brings a happy apple crop thanks to a lot of hard work by dedicated staff. 

"That entails installing drip irrigation lines to certain areas of the farm. We planted 800 new trees this year and with the new trees we really have to keep up to date with watering it," said Kaela Outhouse. 

Both farms have apple pies and cider donuts ready for the season. They expect to welcome many from the Big Apple happy to spend a day in the country just 30 miles north of the Bronx. 

"We hear from people coming up from the boroughs all the time, who come here to enjoy the outdoors, to get the fresh air, to go climb some trees, to go pick some apples," said Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater. 

Some area apple farms are using a weekend reservation system, so you should check websites before visiting. Farmers told us Columbus Day weekend is often the busiest of the season.