Empire State’s apples orchards are a family affair

The New York Apple association consists of over 500 apple orchards that ultimately produce hundreds of varieties of the fruit. The state’s orchards are mostly family-owned and multigenerational.

Joel Crist of Crist Bros Orchards explains how specially grown trees are key to a solid crop, “The trees the we’re using in these very high-density plantings are dwarfing,” and says “they stay a lot smaller than the apple trees you might be used to seeing and they put more of their roots’ energy into growing sweet delicious apples than they do growing trees.”

New York apples are sold at over 7,400 grocery retailers nationwide.