Wet weather sours harvest in the Orchard County

October is often known as the spooky season.

The nights are getting longer, the temperatures begins to drop and the clocks fall back on the 27th.

October also marks the harvesting season in County Armagh, where this year's apple crop is down.

The poor summer following on from a cold, wet spring has done the apple business no favours.

Armagh is often referred to as the Orchard County, although most of the apples grow in a small geographical area with Loughgall in the centre.

David Johnston, chairman of the Northern Ireland Fruit Growers’ Association, said weather data going back several years showed that Loughgall had an average temperature 1.5C higher than the rest of Northern Ireland.

"There are fewer late frosts, more sunshine and less rainfall on average," he said.

But 2024 was a significant outlier and even the normally excellent drainage and shelter provided by the local topography did not save the Bramley trees from disease, lack of pollination and reduced growth.

Like the rest of us, the bees did not want to venture out into the cold, wet spring weather.

This led to a lack of pollinators at stage one of the fruit growth.

The trees also need to be maintained and treated, and when the weather is frequently wet it is difficult to spray and give the trees the treatment they require.

There are about 100 serious growers mostly concentrated in a five-mile radius around Loughgall taking in Portadown, Richhill, Armagh city and Moy (over the border in County Tyrone).

They average about 50,000 tonnes of apples a year, and most of the growers say the tonnage is down.

An exact number is not available at this stage as the harvest is unusually late this year and unfinished due to the poor weather.

Does all this mean a smaller slice of apple tart at Halloween or a shortage of local craft cider?

The McKeever family has been in the apple business for many years, since granddad McKeever planted their first orchard 65 years ago.

They produce apple cider vinegar, apple juice and craft cider.

They are extremely popular with tourists and visitors who come to see the blossom in May or the normally plump fruit at this time of year.

However this year's apples are much smaller than usual due to the poor weather.

Although the harvest is not as good as normal, Peter McKeever said the freshly pressed juices and local craft cider will still be flowing.

The apples are slightly tart and less juicy this year so if, like me, you are fond of apple tart or crumble then Mark Douglas, known as Krazi Baker, says you may need to add a bit more sugar to your apples.

"The best advice is to taste first," he said.