‘I’m in it ‘til I croak’: South Jersey farmers fight to make it through fall with fewer apples after the spring freeze

For many, a quintessential South Jersey fall includes apple picking, a warm cider, and sugared doughnuts.

But fall in the Garden State might look a little different this year after a spring freeze left farms across the region with damaged apple varieties and huge crop losses — at least $300 million worth, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in May.

With pumpkin spice and Halloween decorations already signaling fall’s arrival, farmers and produce sellers are trying their best to get by with fewer apples, or none at all.

At Russo’s Fruit & Vegetable Farm in Tabernacle, which typically attracts visitors for six weeks of picking, the apple crop was decimated by the freeze. The farm had to purchase apples from a farm in New York to sell this year, the most local they could get.

Third-generation owner Joann Gsell, 59, said she won’t know the extent of their lost profit until fall is over, but the farmers are doing their best to fill in the gaps.

Russo’s staff planted sunflower fields and popcorn plants for picking instead, both new experiments, along with their usual pumpkins. Gsell planned new events, too, spread across the picking season to draw in more customers.

“Even if we get the same amount of customers coming out, the per-dollar sale won’t be what it was when apples were available,” Gsell said. “But we really don’t know until we’re past it.”

Jersey’s apple harvest season typically begins in mid-July and wraps up by the end of October, according to a report by the state Department of Agriculture, but local farmers, who are still recovering from a tough summer of sparse berries and higher prices, say the season will likely be much shorter and will rely on success in their pumpkin fields.

Still, fall must go on, farm owners say, starting with their apple festivals.

Tracy Duffield, who has worked at Duffield’s Farm Market in Sewell for four decades, said the Gloucester County farm had to push back the start of apple picking by a month.

The freeze killed Duffield’s early apple crop planted in January, and with half its crop remaining, it’s uncertain how long picking will last this fall.

But that didn’t stop Duffield’s from hosting its annual Apple & Food Truck Festival on Saturday, featuring apple picking, pony and hayrides, and face painting. It’s the official launch of the farm’s apple season this year.

“I compare it to COVID. You have to get creative and figure things out,” Duffield said. “It is what it is. You just make the best of it.”

Duffield’s will still carry its beloved apple cider donuts this year, along with new apple-cider-donut-scented candles. But they did have to switch cider providers this year, buying from a Central Jersey-based farm instead of Mood’s Farm, 20 minutes away in Mullica Hill.

Mood’s is not making fresh cider this year, said co-owner Patti Mood, but they’ll have frozen cider from past apple seasons to get them through.

“We’ll just see how long it lasts,” Mood said. “We’re not sure what next year will look like.”

This fall, Mood’s doesn’t have enough quality apples to run its pick-your-own operation. At the farm’s own Apple Festival on Saturday, visitors gathered apples sourced from nearby states placed in bins in the orchard during discounted hayrides, instead of picking them off the trees.

Other farms have canceled their apple-picking operations this year. Neither Strawberry Hill Farm in Chesterfield nor Johnson’s Corner Farm in Medford have apples to pick.

Despite the shortage, apples are still being celebrated this year, on and off the farm. First Methodist Church of Moorestown is hosting its third apple festival on Sept. 18.

And Medford Historical Society will host its 47th annual Apple Festival on Oct. 10, their biggest fundraiser of the year.

Thomas Gerber, co-president of the historical society, said their usual supplier in Pennsylvania lost all their apples and couldn’t provide the 320 pounds needed for the festival, so they found a different farm in New Jersey.

Amy Zorn, an eighth-generation owner of Hunter’s Farm in Cinnaminson, said their farm market has been able to buy Jersey apples from other farms, but they’ve had to pay higher rates for smaller apples compared to previous years. She hopes customers continue to support their local farms through this year’s challenges.

“There are still Jersey fresh items out there,” she said. “You might not see as many apples, but there are fall squashes, sweet potatoes, and other things coming to Jersey. I encourage people to go out to their farmer’s markets.”

Mario Caltabiano, 31, has been farming since he was 6 years old. As the owner of MC Farms in Pilesgrove in Salem County, Caltabiano grows 14 varieties of apples, Asian pears, and several types of vegetables.

He said he’s used to freezes that take out large sums of fruit, but apples, “the hardiest things,” usually power through.

Caltabiano said one of his farms saw a total apple loss, and the other lost 90% of its crop. With about 20 apples clustered on each tree, and thousands of trees, Caltabiano said he’s not sure how long it’ll take the public to pick them all. Either way, Caltabiano has to continue to tend to the orchards to make sure the trees stay strong enough to produce fruit next season.

“This year, when fruit is 90% of your business, you have the same amount of bills. You have to take care of the trees to the very end,” Caltabiano said. “How do you make up for that?”

In recent years, MC Farms has ventured into the agritourism world, offering hayrides, barrel train rides for kids, cut-your-own flowers, and a wine garden settled in the orchards. Rising prices for fuel and fertilizer are still making work difficult, along with the destruction of most of his crops.

But Caltabiano said he plans to make it to next fall, and the one after that.

“I’m in it for the long run,” Caltabiano said. “I’m in it ‘til I croak.”