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‘We had about a 70-80% crop lost’ | York County apple orchards feeling the aftermath of April’s hail storm
Multiple apple orchards in York County say their crops were destroyed in April.
YORK COUNTY, S.C. — The aftermath of the hail storm that blew through the Carolinas in April is still being felt now months later.
Multiple apple orchards in York County say their crops were destroyed.
“It did a lot of damage, not only to buildings and vehicles – but also unfortunately to our apple crop this season,” Matthew Gusmer, a manager at the Windy Hill Orchard and Cider Mill, said. “We had about a 70-80% crop lost.”
Gusmer said he was surprised by the damage they were left with following the hailstorm in April, but he’s even more surprised the damage is still here.
“Usually you would see nice, greenish-turning-pink this time of year colored apples,” Gusmer said. “There’s very, very few of them. We hope we have enough apples to get through each week,” Gusmer continued.
Now there are signs everywhere telling people not to pick the apples and not to enter the orchard – in what was supposed to be a very profitable season.
“We actually had a freeze last spring,” Gusmer said. “Which usually after a freeze you have a bigger crop next year.”
Still, many say they’re excited to take part in everything else the orchard has to offer.
“We were excited to see the pumpkins, we wanted to try the donuts and get some apple cider,” Ava Giesmann, a visitor at the orchard, said.
Another visitor, Colleen Maguire, said although it was “sad” they couldn’t pick apples, they still enjoyed their time.
“I think a cidery is just a cool concept compared to going to a winery, pumpkin patch, that kind of thing,” Maguire said. “It’s definitely sad but still cool that we get to enjoy our time here.”
Those working at the orchard say people can come to grab what’s left of the apples this season while they still can.
“We’re down to our last variety – which is the pink lady,” Gusmer said. “We started picking those yesterday on a very limited basis.”
He also says people can still come out and enjoy the pumpkin patch, hayrides, donuts, and cider.