THE AUTUMN HARVEST – A TURBULENT TIME

In this short period, one has to juggle numerous tasks and prepare many things ahead of time. Perhaps the biggest challenge at this production stage is hiring the people to harvest the fruit. It’s not easy in an era of near-zero unemployment and war in Ukraine. But in the end, we managed to recruit skilled apple pickers. Such people must know their work very well because, despite appearances, it is not that simple! First, they have to assess whether a given apple is ripe and ready to be picked; second, they have to pick it gently, careful not to bruise the fruit, which would later disqualify it from being sold as prime quality merchandise. Third, they must endure the sometimes difficult working conditions because rain, wind and cold are expected at this time of year. All these factors can discourage many from fieldwork. We harvest the fruit into large box pallets that hold about 300 kg of apples, which then go to the fruit coolers, where they will be stored for months. Some of the fruit also goes for direct sale. Sometimes, we also sell some fruit from our orchard in the fall.