With stingy snowfall in Vermont this winter, there’s good news and bad news for our apple growers at Champlain Orchards.

First the bad news. A blanket of snow on the ground insulates fragile young tree roots from frost and freezing. Snow cover maintains a constant cold temperature underground that keeps roots dormant for the winter, preventing them from growing prematurely. Trees that get underway too early in the season can lead to “burning the bloom,” when frost touches the blossom and ruins the fruitlet. Then the year-long wait to grow another crop.

Now for the good news. Lack of snow makes (relatively) quick work of hand-pruning 70,000 trees. An already big job becomes both slow and exhausting when growers, navigating orchards in snowshoes, struggle to prune branches buried in several feet of snow. Hard, open ground is also a luxury when it comes to clearing brush, giving tractors a clear path in and out of the orchards. Otherwise, this entire job would have to hold for spring, when melting conditions make it tough to do when you want to — and very messy.

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM