‘All Gone’- Hail Ruins Apple Crop in Northumberland County Orchard
ELYSBURG, Pa. — Green's Fruit Farm near Elysburg is open for pick-your-own apples, and there are 38 varieties to choose from. Owners Sara and Bobby Hricko say this is their largest crop in about ten years, and they were excited for the season.
"We had enough rain. The fruit got good size. We had some cool nights, and the fruit got great color. And now, really, in five minutes, between five and ten minutes, it's all gone. It's pretty much all gone," Bobby Hricko said.
"It started raining, and then we started hearing hard pieces of ice hitting roofs and cars, and the first thing we thought of was the apples," Sara Hricko said.
Thursday's hail storm came and went quickly, but it caused a lot of damage to the apples.
"The fruit is gashed, or it's bruised pretty badly, and it's just so advanced in its maturity it's not salvageable anymore," Bobby said.
The Hrickos say the Honeycrisp and yellow varieties were hit especially hard.
"If they're not picked in the next day or two, they're going to start rotting on the trees," Sara said.
The Hrickos say they spent the last 11 months working on this crop, and just like that, it's gone.
"We'll try to have a little bit of seconds, cider, and apple butter for our retail customers, but it looks like our wholesale commercial operation is shut down for the rest of the year," Bobby said.
Bobby and Sara believe there is still enough fruit for pick-your-own apples, so they will keep that open on Fridays and Saturdays. They will sell apple butter and cider at their roadside stand on Route 487. As for their wholesale operation, they will look forward to next year's crop.
The largest hail we’ve seen in years… just..hit… the farm… 😭🥺 (We’ll be able to tell in the coming days, just how extensive the damage is…)