Apples survived
By Chowning JohnsonUniversity of GeorgiaHurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne caused major damageto many crops in the Southeast. But they didn’t take a big biteout of north Georgia apples.The storms uprooted a few trees, said Eddie Ayers, the Universityof Georgia Extension Service coordinator in Fannin County. Butmost trees were unharmed. And most of the apples stayed on theirbranches.Gilmer and Fannin counties are north Georgia’s largest appleproducers, followed by Habersham, Hall and Rabun counties.Despite the weather, farmers in these counties are optimisticabout this fall’s crop. And they’re happy to have escaped thebrunt of the tropical storms.”Every year is unique in the fruit business, and farmers havedifferent challenges,” Ayers said. “But the farmers … have puttogether a good quality crop.”Apple timeApple harvesting began in late August, Ayers said. It’s expectedto continue until mid- to late November.”We’re just getting into harvesting the very popular varieties,”he said. “People really enjoy picking up Golden Delicious, Fuji,Granny Smith and others and taking a bite out of them.”With the top choices now in harvest, many people venture to thenorth Georgia mountains to enjoy the fall leaves, cool weatherand fresh apples. They shouldn’t have any problem, Ayers said,finding ripe, juicy apples to sink their teeth into.Some growers will let you pick your own apples. Others set uproadside stands full of fresh apples for sale. Freshly made appleturnovers, cider and other products only add to sightseeingshoppers’ seasonal sensations.(Chowning Johnson is a student writer with the University ofGeorgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. CAESnews editor John Harrell also contributed to this article.)