Stone Fruit Is Coming

Stone Fruit Is Coming. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Along about this time of year the cherry harvest is well in hand and a lot of people start thinking about the apple harvest. But here in the northwest there is another important crop just getting underway. Stone fruit which includes cherries but also includes peaches, nectarines, plums, prunes and apricots. BJ Thurlby, president of the Washington State Fruit Commission talks about this year’s crop.

THURLBY: We’ve got a nice soft fruit crop. It’s running about a week ahead this year, too. We’re deep into apricots as we speak and so far, so good. I mean the demand apricots has been taking the fruit out of here and I like what I’m hearing based on talking to the different sales organizations. The California deal is pretty much done and it’s out playing field now and we’re moving fruit out there so that’s good.

Thurlby says as the cherry crop will be on the downside it will be time to start in on some of the others.

THURLBY: Another week here and we’ll start picking some early peaches so we’re getting very close and then we’ll start in on some nectarines and as we get further into summer we’ll have some Italian prunes so it’s one of those things where this is kind of at the peak of the produce - quality produce time for this valley right here. We’re going to have soft fruit in volume all the way through August this year so it’s peach and nectarine time.

Fruit will begin showing up at your local farmers markets and grocery stores here in the next week or so and it will be at it’s peak so enjoy.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.