CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - With all the recent sunshine, it does not feel like fall quite yet. But soon, temperatures will begin to drop, and orchards across Central Illinois will be at the peak of their busy season.
Staff at Curtis Orchard and Pumpkin Patch have been preparing all year for this, especially by growing pumpkins and apples. While they started early, a recent drought has made it difficult to get crops up to a harvestable size.
"The drought is definitely affecting the trees, so we're irrigating to try and get the size of the apples up there," said Rachel Coventry, co-owner of Curtis Orchard. "The pumpkins, of course, were really hurting for a while. We did get some rain recently, and that was a huge surprise and very, very welcome because we don't have irrigation on our pumpkins."
Luckily, Coventry said pumpkins are more resilient than most crops and have pushed through even without the rain. They have already started harvesting some of them, while others continue to grow and ripen.
Coventry shared that they try to avoid irrigating the apples when possible, as it is very expensive and uses thousands of gallons of water. But they will do it when necessary to keep the crops healthy.
"That's one reason why we've tried to offer lots of different things, so if our apple crop is down, we have other fun things to bring people out, because there have been times when the crop has been really light or really low," said Coventry. "Maybe pick less for the store, but have more for apple picking for people when they come out here, because that's what they're looking for."
Coventry said they have not had to do anything like that yet, and still have plenty of apples for donuts and cider, as well as pumpkins for their baked goods.
They have a few varieties of apples ready and picked so far, but will have more in the coming weeks. They have an updated list of the varieties on their website.
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