From apple cider doughnuts to apple crisp, the arrival of fall doesn’t necessarily mean the end of Virginia’s apple picking season.
The state features more than 100 commercial orchards on more than 8,000 acres of land, and sales contribute more than $40 million to the state’s economy annually.
Apples are primarily grown in the Shenandoah Valley, as well as in Albemarle, Carroll, Patrick and Rappahannock counties..
“October is usually the biggest month,” said John Marker, a partner in the family-owned Marker-Miller Orchards LLC in Frederick County and a member of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation apple advisory committee. “But we’ll likely be open the first weekend in November too.
“We’ve gotten pretty good crowds,” he said, adding that interest in visiting apple farms “is not waning.”
Visitors can pick about 10 different varieties of apples in the Marker-Miller U-pick orchards, including Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Stayman, Rome, York and Nittany, a York-type apple that was engineered to ripen earlier than other apples.
Marker said the family planted the pick-your-own orchards 25 years ago and were one of the first orchards in Virginia to plant the Honeycrisp variety.
Today, they grow derivations of Honeycrisp called EverCrisp and WineCrisp. EverCrisp is a hybrid of the Fuji and Honeycrisp apples. WineCrisp is considered a dessert apple.
“Anything with crisp in its name, people like,” Marker said.
Seventy percent of Virginia apples are sold for processing or made into value-added products like applesauce, apple juice, apple butter, apple slices and cider.
Some orchardists, like Marker, also make and sell apple cider donuts.
“We can’t keep them in stock,” he said.
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Crystal Graham
