Collegeville Orchards: What Does The Apple Crop Look Like This Fa

COLLEGEVILLE (WJON News) - After a hot summer, this year’s produce is headed to customer’s tables.

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Collegeville Orchards is planning to open this weekend and stay open through at least the end of October.

Co-owner Todd Beumer says this year’s apples will be smaller than average.

We're noticing some of our early apples are smaller in size. The drought has something to do with that, and also, everything bloomed extremely late this year. Usually, we start seeing the first blossoms around May 5th. This year, we didn't see blossoms until the 17th.

Beumer says his pumpkin crop matured much earlier than normal, and he hopes the recent rains will keep the plants alive until harvest time. The orchard’s vegetables struggled as well.

Everything's been a struggle with watering, that's kind of the way it is in dry years. It's a catch-22; the weeds don't grow as fast if we can spot water, but if we overhead the water it seems like the weeds grow faster than the plants.

Collegeville Orchards will open for the season this weekend with fresh produce and a petting zoo, and they plan on starting the hayrides next weekend.