2026 was a bad year for this Friendly Neighborhood Orchardist. We had a series of hard frosts in April and May that killed every single apple blossom in our orchards!
Apple trees generally bloom over several weeks during the Spring Season. If we have a hard frost that kills the tender open blossoms, the tree generally has more blossoms in reserve that open a little later after the hard frost passes by. But in the Spring of 2026, multiple frosts were spread out over two months and killed those later opening blossoms as well. No blossoms mean no apples.
I have been growing apple trees in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia for over 40 years, and I’ve never had ALL the blossoms in my orchards killed by frosts during the Spring. Farming is tough and the weather is unpredictable, but this was very unusual!
Fortunately, we have enough organic apple and pear cider vinegar in stock to last until the 2027 harvest season. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope that the 2027 Spring Season will be gentler, and spare some of the spring blossoms so we have an apple harvest in the Fall.