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Frost ta kes | a bite out wg of Scugog's apple crop The funny thing about Mother Nature has always been her ability to surprise. Canadians are obsessed with weather and this year has indeed been a year of surprises. In Ontario, we barely registered winter and then were treated to a glorious March when tem- peratures soared and we had to get our summer clothes out early. Sure there was a cold snap after that but then we had more good weather through April and May. Most of us were thrilled. But, not so happy, ac- tually devastated about this almost unprecedented event, were Ontario apple growers. Apple and other fruit growers, both provincially and beyond saw their crops bloom and die and are now left with a fraction of what they should have. The apple industry of this province has been dealt a deadly blow. 07. JULY FOCUS 64 pages.indd 15 Catherine McKay operates Nature’s Bounty Farm. She has lost more than half her crop of apples due to an early cold snap. 1ofo by J. Pter Hvidsten. Here in Scugog Township, Catherine McKay owns Nature’s Bounty Farm and Orchards which has 100 acres in the rolling hills of the Oak Ridges. Catherine has been growing apples since 1980 and is going into her 33rd year in business. She is also a director on the Ontario Apple Growers As- sociation which means she not only knows the effects of our spring on her own crop but is also privy to provincial data, trends and statistics that affect all other fruit tree growers. When asked about the impact this year’s weather has had Catherine responded, “As an industry, the numbers are hor- rible. Provincially, the apple crop is down 89 per cent, which means we have only 11 per cent of a normal crop.” Catherine went on to explain that Newcastle and parts east of Toronto, which are in cooler regions, didn’t get hit quite as bad, but most orchards along the lake shores, were totally wiped out. Irwin Smith, owner of Ocala Winery, also grows apples but fared better than most this year. He explained that his orchards are just a tiny bit further north than those along the lake shore which warms up quicker. “We were actually a week or so behind in blossoming and though we were hit hard, we did not lose everything as so many did,” he said. Please turn to page 16 “As an industry, the numbers are horrible. Provincially the apple crop is down 89 per cent. We only have Il per cent of the normal crop.” ... Catherine McKay FOCUS - JULY 2012 15 12-06-25 11:14 AM