Home growers struggle with surplus apples after heavy harvest

Home gardens in and around Turku are producing an abundant apple harvest, leaving some growers unable to use all their fruit before it spoils, Yle reports.

At the Kupittaa allotment garden in Turku, some trees are bending under the weight of their apples. Harvesting has already begun in places, but Jari Lehtonen says he does not have time to collect all the fruit.

Lehtonen has five apple trees on his plot. He has already taken one load of apples to a landfill for biological waste, and expects most of the remaining fruit to end up there as well.

Every autumn has been similar during the eight years he has grown apples, he says, except for one year without a crop. This year, he tried removing some of the developing fruit, which may have reduced the size of the harvest slightly.

Excessive pruning can increase production

Simo Laine, head gardener at the University of Turku Botanical Garden, advises against pruning apple trees too aggressively. He says thorough pruning should not be carried out more often than every two or three years.

If the crown is cut back every year, the tree can respond by producing many new branches, Laine says. Damaged branches and branches growing through the tree should still be removed annually.

Another way to reduce overproduction is to remove some of the developing fruit. Excessive fertilising should also be avoided, as spreading compost around the base of a tree can further increase the crop.

Laine recommends turning surplus apples into juice rather than leaving them on the ground, where they can attract rats and deer. Apples cannot be added to compost without limit, and rotten or mummified apples should be removed completely from the plot.

Some growers organise harvesting sessions with friends and relatives. Pirjo Evesti invites people to pick apples at the Kupittaa allotment garden and take some home. She also takes fruit to a juice-making facility and makes apple sauce.

Professional growers report a normal crop

The Association of Fruit and Berry Growers says the size of this year’s harvest varies by region because of weather conditions. Flowering was successful in spring, and there has been enough rain.

Toni Rahkonen, the association’s deputy chair and an apple grower in Parainen, says the harvest at professional farms is normal. Removing some of the developing fruit helps keep production even, he says, and this year’s crop is better than last year’s, when a cold spring affected flowering and winter damage harmed many trees.

Tarja Matomäki, the association’s chair from Huittinen, says home gardens in Satakunta also have plenty of apples, although the fruit has remained small because of the weather early in the summer. She expects juice-making facilities to be busy in the autumn, as small apples are well suited to juicing.