N.B. Orchards Survey Damage In Fiona Aftermath
SAINT JOHN — New Brunswick orchards took minor damage as Fiona blew through early Saturday morning. Still, apple farmers say they were shocked by the punch the tropical storm packed.
“I was surprised to see the new orchard, the damage that the wind did up there, because I thought it was fairly protected, especially from the north wind. But I mean – [the wind] was just coming from everywhere,” said Chas Mackay, the owner of Mackay Apple Orchard in Long Reach.
While his 1200-tree orchard, low along the banks of the Saint John River, suffered only extra apples being shaken off the trees, his new orchard on higher ground sustained more damage.
“I probably had about 10 trees completely just blown right out of the ground,” Mackay said. “They broke off where the graft was. And we probably have another 30 that I’m just making stakes for them now. They were staked but we’ve got to get them re-staked.”
Those 30 trees are still attached to the ground but have been pushed over to a 45-degree angle and need to be righted and supported.
“The wind was blowing so hard, it actually twisted the end of the post,” he said of one of his four rows of trellised apple trees in the new orchard.
September is the time where the trees are the most laden with fruit and the picking season had just begun, meaning this storm came along at the worst possible time.
“On Saturday I had no customers down here so I lost a day of U-pick… you only get like four weekends a year,” he said. “The big damage is time. We don’t have time at this time of year to fix a lot of things.”
Cidery venue sustains wind damage
Mackay’s son, Joe Mackay, runs Yip Cider with his brothers. Yip uses apples from the Mackay Apple Orchard for its award-winning beverages. On Saturday, Yip posted on social media that the cover of its large dome, which they use as a venue for fall events, had been damaged.
“It’s frustrating: we lost some trees and some minor damage in the orchard, and of course the dome,” Joe Mackay said. “We’re working through it this week to come up with some solutions because we do have some events coming up this week that require it.”
The cidery’s small dome is still intact and the Yip taproom will be open for regular hours.
The excess apples that fell off the trees during Fiona cannot be used for the cider, as they must be picked directly off the tree to start the fresh cider-making process.
All the extras that fell to the ground will be sold to hunters for deer season.
Fiona fallout doesn’t stop orchard opening
Down the road at the Bates Family Orchard, in Long Point by the Belleisle Bay Ferry, Steve Bates is also dealing with the aftermath of Fiona, along with the excitement of the grand opening of his orchard this weekend.
Fortunately, the damage was not severe. One row of 400 trellised apple trees in his 13,000-tree orchard, was damaged.
“We had a support brace on the trellis break, that holds up the whole row,” he said.
“That was a little concerning but I guess we just have to fight through it for now because there’s so much weight on the trellis with all the apples right now that we can’t really fix it until we pick all the apples off.”
There was some minor damage to the corn maze with a few extra openings for people to help find their way through.
“We have a little display for the corn maze, that luckily we didn’t put up last weekend,” Bates joked.
The field of u-pick pumpkins was undamaged by Fiona. The Bates Family Orchard will open on October 1.
Alex Graham is a Huddle reporter in Saint John. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].