When are apples in season? That is the question. They appear to be available all the time in stores and markets, right? But when are they freshest? When is the true peak?
We’ll hear from apple growing authorities and learn the apple basics. Let’s discover more about this amazing fruit, shall we?
When Are Apples in Season?
Here in the northern hemisphere, apples typically come to us freshest between July and November. Thanks to a global market, we see them with every passing month. Peak season falls between September and October for most of the country.
When Are Apples in Season for Texas?
According to Farm Flavor, you’ll find fresh apples in your farmers market July – October. That’s when Texas harvests come on the scene and are at their peak. That’s when you’ll see apples overflowing. Orchards are ripe for apple picking. And your market purchases taste and look near perfect.
When Does Apple Season End?
Late autumn marks the end of apple season in Texas and elsewhere. Of course, much depends on the weather and the variety of apple. For example, the Dallas News reports Gala, Crispin, Pink Lady, Fuji, and Mollie’s Delicious are ideal for the North Texas area. Galas are harvested mid-August through September. The Pink Lady variety isn’t ready for picking until mid-October.
For more information on a new apple variety, check out our recent blog post about the new Cosmic Crisp Apple.
How Long Does It Take for Apples to Grow?
If we’re talking apple trees themselves, you’re looking at nearly a decade before the first harvest. Some mature within 5-6 years, however. Harvest to Table notes that these trees (10-30 feet) grow slower with age. They can live to be a century old, though!
In the spring, you’ll see apple blossoms. Once the fruit is set, it takes anywhere from 100-200 days until harvest, depending on the variety. Harvest to Table goes on to say that an apple tree can yield between 75-130 pounds of fruit each year.
Apple Tree Fruit Cycle
Apple trees are pruned annually in late winter or early spring. This happens right before the apple blossoms appear. The fruit sets after the flowers are pollinated. And 3-7 months later, apples are ready for harvest. After harvest and right before spring blooming, the annual pruning occurs again. The cycle continues.
How Long Are Apples Good For?
Freshly picked apples only last a few weeks. After that, untreated apples go soft and rot. The apples you purchase out of season can be as old as 10 months based on USDA research.
Where Do Apples Come from Out of Season?
Where do apples come from in the winter, spring, and summer? Where are apples from these days?
Apples can be stored. The USDA mentions the gas, 1-methylcyclopropene. Along with controlled temperatures and low humidity, this helps with fruit storage. And that’s why some of the store-bought apples you find outside of apple season can be nearly a year old. This treatment is safe, according to health experts. That’s why the USDA allows it, of course.
Where are apples coming from? Countries that produce the most apples are China, the United States, and Poland. Washington, New York, and Michigan are the top three American states producing apples today.
A new variety of apple called the Cosmic Crisp became available to the public in December 2019. This highly-anticipated apple has had no shortage of controversy since its announcement and was even embroiled in a legal dispute between Washington State University and Seattle startup Phytelligence.
The New York Times has commented on the apple as being “dramatically dark” and “explosively crisp and juicy”- even going so far as to call it “the most promising and important apple of the future.” Let’s explore why it’s causing so much excitement:
What Is the Cosmic Crisp Apple?
The Cosmic Crisp is a hybrid of the Honeycrisp apple and Enterprise apple. Breeding of this variety began in 1997 in Wenatchee, Washington and is most notably praised for its beautiful appearance. Its light spots against its red skin call to mind a galaxy- hence the name Cosmic Crisp.
It was grown to have the taste of a Honeycrisp but the shelf life of an Enterprise. It takes around 3 years to produce a crop.
History of the Cosmic Crisp
Even though the majority of American apples are grown there, the Cosmic Crisp apple is the first apple variety developed in Washington State (apples are also the Washington State fruit as of 1989).
12 million Cosmic Crisp apple trees were pre-ordered by orchards in the spring of 2017, making it the largest apple launch in history. Washington state growers will maintain exclusive growing rights to the Cosmic Crisp apple variety for the first decade.
Experts are predicting the apple’s large size and juicy flavor will make it a huge hit with consumers. They are also slow to brown even after being cut and are able to maintain their flavor and texture even after being in storage for over a year.
The Cosmic Crisp Apple Lawsuit
Phytelligence was actually a spin-off company from Washington State University, having been founded by one of its professors, Amit Dhingra.
After signing an agreement with Washington State University in 2012 to grow Cosmic Crisp trees on behalf of the school, both parties eventually became locked in a long-standing legal dispute over propagation rights and patent infringement claims. Phytelligence was seeking a license to sell the trees while WSU claimed the startup was selling Cosmic Crisp trees though unauthorized to do so.
In June of 2019, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit against WSU. Eventually, Phytelligence announced in September 2019 that their board of directors unanimously decided to liquidate its assets and shut down the company.
Cosmic Crisp Apple – Where to Buy
Washington State is promoting the release of this new apple with the largest campaign in apple industry history for a single apple variety. They are estimated to spend over $10 million on marketing efforts, starting with the tagline “Imagine the Possibilities.”
Consumers are able to buy Cosmic Crisp apples in a wide variety of grocery stores since its national release. Orchard at the Office plans to offer this as an office fruit delivery option shortly after its launch.
We don’t sell our fresh fruit delivery service so much as offer it. “Would you like fresh fruit delivered to your office?” After that, it’s simply a matter of sorting out the details. ORCHARD At The OFFICE is proud to provide fresh fruit delivery to businesses throughout the Dallas / Fort Worth area. It’s what we do and it’s all we do. Our singleness of purpose gives us the ability to focus on providing the highest quality service to the best of our ability.
FRESH FRUIT SELLS ITSELF
Our fruit baskets consist primarily of “the ABCs” – apples, bananas, and clementines. Bananas are the most popular fresh fruit, not only in Texas but in all of the United States. Americans consume an average of 13.5 pounds per person! The apples we use are primarily JAZZ, a cross between Gala and Braeburn with a subtle sweetness and enduring firm texture that satisfies most palates. Of course, we offer a variety of other fresh fruit, including grapes, berries, mangoes, and so on. With the popularity of the ketogenic diet, we’ve also seen a spike in avocado demand and are happy to accommodate.
OFFICES ARE GETTING HEALTHY
In the past decade, one of the major corporate catchphrases has been “wellness programs.” Company-driven initiatives to promote employee health are encouraged and incentivized. In its worksite wellness manual, the Texas Department of State Health Services lists a variety of measures that businesses can take to improve the fitness of their workforce, including health fairs and “healthy food.” This is, of course, where fresh fruit comes in. (For more information on what your company can do, refer to this D Magazine blog post on “Getting The Most From Your Wellness Program.”)
We’re local. As a Texas-based company, we can be attentive to your needs in a way that is simply not possible for any larger operation. We’re your neighbors in DFW and Greater Houston and think of you as such.
Personalized attention. It never benefits us to oversell. We want you to get “the best banana for the buck”. We’ll work with you to get the quantity and variety you want in a mutually-beneficial arrangement.
Simple financial terms. There are never any contracts, so you can try us out with no commitment. We’re certain our fresh fruit and obsessive customer care will keep you coming back. We’ll work with you to provide the service you need. Payments can be made by check (paper or electronic) or credit card.
ANY BUSINESS, ANY SIZE.
Some of the offices we serve have a staff of 5. Others have a workforce of 3,000. Therefore, we’ve developed options that will accommodate any office. While our most common order is a weekly delivery of a Premium Large Basket which holds 50+ pieces of fruit, we’ll gladly deliver smaller orders such as our Mini Basket (16+ pieces), all the way up to our “Fortune 600 Special”, a bulk special that will satisfy hundreds of staffers. Whatever your needs, we’ve got you covered.
Harvest Project Food Rescue keeps its feet on the ground and a smile on its face.
It’s early Saturday morning. Danae Gutierrez pulls into Lipman Family Farms, a massive produce wholesaler, driving her old white pickup with her son Dorian riding along. She uses it because it gets the job done. She makes this trip every Saturday morning because she gets the job done. Her mission: to pick up as much unsalable but sufficiently edible produce as the flatbed will allow, and drive it down to one of several locations throughout DFW – in this case, San Francisco De Asis Episcopal Church – where a team of volunteers will work to sort the food for redistribution.
“We didn’t even have a name when we first started!” laughs Ms. Gutierrez, recalling the origins of an organization that started, and has remained, humble. “We didn’t have a truck or anything. We really started with nothing. That’s why I couldn’t take all the grapefruit!”
To explain that statement necessitates a bit of history…
Gutierrez and her parents emigrated to the United States when she was seven. With low-income potential, her family often experienced food insecurity, unsure of where their next meals would come from. For this reason and many others, her parents placed a high value on education, and Danae’s intellect and vibrant, outgoing personality served her well throughout her formative years. She is not afraid of hard work and is willing to step in when she sees that “somebody needs to do it!”
When her son Dorian became a student at Cigarroa Elementary in Dallas, she saw a need for leadership at the PTA. Before long, she was elected President and even received a DISD Volunteer Impact Award for School Support. During this time, she met Luis Carrillo, a fellow PTA board member who was also working with Dallas Mexico Casa Guanajuato, a community center serving the Mexican citizens of Dallas. Carrillo was seeking quality produce for the senior citizens, as the contributions they were receiving were not always usable. Gutierrez said, “well, somebody needs to do it”, and in the summer of 2014, she went about the process of talking to the produce wholesalers near the Farmers Market.
“I went to this one place, and they had twenty-five boxes of beautiful grapefruit!” Gutierrez recalls. “They had a couple of blemishes on the skin, so they weren’t for sale, but they were in great shape. So I took a box and they were saying, ‘when are you coming back for the other twenty-four?’” She laughs and says, “That’s when I realized there were literal tons of produce going to waste, and we just had to get it to the people who needed it.”
Ms. Gutierrez smiles as she recalls the origins of Harvest Project, as she smiles about many things. Her positivity and tenacity transform the seemingly onerous task of food rescue into a positive mission.
Since 2014, Harvest Project has grown – cautiously, responsibly, and humbly. Gutierrez wants to be sure the nonprofit never gets so ambitious that it overreaches its primary purpose. “We don’t want to have people who are counting on us to be waiting around, because we’re spending too much time going too many places.” In a given month, Harvest Project will take its seven vehicles to seven locations – some weekly, some semi-weekly, some monthly. They now serve thousands of families every month in locations ranging from South Dallas to Arlington.
The volunteer arm is fully self-supporting, in that all of those who serve at each site are participants. Gutierrez explains, “The people who assist are willing to show up early and get things sorted and set up, because they get first choice of the produce.” As always, humility is the acme of the project, and this is a big part of the training as well: since the volunteers are participants, it is made clear that they are to treat their fellow recipients as equals. “We won’t allow people to be like, ‘oh, we’re the ones giving you the food, so we’re better than you.’ Because the volunteers are receiving contributions, and getting first pick of the produce is a perk, everyone’s in the same boat – and we usually have too many volunteers! There’s a waiting list of people willing to help.”
The process of “food rescue” goes beyond distribution. Participants in the programs are given valuable tips on preparation, storage, financially-responsible shopping…even composting. Self-support is always the goal.
While the organization may have started with Hispanic leanings, the participants and volunteers come from all over the globe, as one would expect when dealing with a community as culturally-varied as DFW. “Food insecurity can affect everyone,” Gutierrez says, “and it was humbling for me to find that even I had assumptions of what need looked like, and every week I see proof that it’s a challenge that transcends cultures.” But just as the challenges can be transcendent, so too can solutions, and participants work to find ways of overcoming language and ideological barriers to make Harvest Project work.
Sometimes these differences can provide educational opportunities. “In one area, we have a lot of participants who are refugees from Myanmar,” Gutierrez says, “and I was picking up the produce to bring to that mission, and I got all these banana leaves. I thought, ‘What is anyone going to do with a banana leaf?’ So we get out there, and all these refugees got so excited! I didn’t know that in Myanmar banana leaves are used like husks are used for tamales in Mexico. Not only did I learn something new about a culture, but also I now know how to use a banana leaf to make food in my home!”
The key to the success of Harvest Project Food Rescue is a clarity of purpose and humility. Provide produce and education for communities in DFW experiencing food insecurity one banana at a time – and with a smile.
ORCHARD At The OFFICE, the largest provider of fresh fruit delivery to offices in Texas, is proud to contribute to such an important organization and salutes the inspiring work of Ms. Gutierrez, who has been a member of the ORCHARD At The OFFICE team since 2017. We are grateful to the many others like her in every community, whose names so often go unmentioned.
Today, we’re playing 20 Questions with Kevin Long and Chris Buchanan of the Richardson-based office fruit delivery service ORCHARD At The OFFICE, who have served the Dallas/Fort Worth area since 2010.
Q: Describe your company in fifteen words or less.
BUCHANAN: We deliver fresh fruit to Metroplex offices.
LONG: That’s it. Seven words.
BUCHANAN: Do we win anything?
LONG (laughing): I don’t think it’s a competition.
Q: Where did the name “ORCHARD At The OFFICE” come from?
LONG: I wanted a name that told a story, that gave a clear mental image and conveyed a journey. Here, in this basket of fruit, you have an orchard…right here at your office! It’s worked well for us.
Q: Give us a Fun Fruit Fact we may not know.
BUCHANAN: If you took every fruit on the planet, laid them side by side, and attempted to name them all aloud, you’d irritate people. Even Harlan Pepper would tell you to stop naming fruits.
LONG: One thing I like to show people is how to peel a banana from the bottom, the way monkeys do.
BUCHANAN: And when you do it that way, you don’t get the phloem.
LONG: Right. That’s the technical name for the stringy matter inside a banana.
BUCHANAN: I should have made that my fact. (sighs) I had my chance, but it’s gone forever.
Q: Speaking of bananas, what’s this “bananigans” thing all about?
LONG: It’s really a state of mind, a reminder that health and happiness go together. Whether it’s the “banana smile” or juggling clementines, moments of silliness provide levity that add dimension to a workday.
Bananigans at D Magazine
Q: You describe yourself as a “local business”. What exactly does this mean to you?
BUCHANAN: Well, the company was founded right here in the Metroplex – Richardson, specifically. Our home office is here, our staff lives here, and our fruit is sourced from here. While it may be grown elsewhere – I’m certainly not aware of any pear orchards in Rowlett or Euless – the lifeblood of this business is Dallas. These are our friends and neighbors we’re serving.
Q: What’s the most popular fruit in Dallas?
BUCHANAN: Bananas are by far the favorite. We sell tons every week – and that’s not a figure of speech.
LONG: Yeah, bananas are the most popular, but whenever I’m in a conversation with someone, I’ll often ask them what their favorite fruit is. So many times, people say mangoes! I’m not sure why that is, because I don’t see nearly as many people actually eating a mango, but that’s what they say.
BUCHANAN: They could be lying.
LONG: Yeah, they may be lying.
Q: So what’s your favorite fruit?
BOTH (in unison): Mangoes.
Q: What are the smallest and largest offices you serve?
BUCHANAN: There’s one business with only three people, but they’re very dedicated to healthy living, so they go through our 16-piece Mini Office Basket every week. As the Metroplex is the home to so many large-scale operations, we’ve created options for everyone, such as our “Fortune 600 Special”. This helps us serve companies with over 1,500 employees.
Q: What do you do with any surplus fruit?
LONG: When we’re doing really well, there’s barely anything left over at the end of the week! When there is, we donate it primarily to two organizations: the Harvest Project, and the Samaritan Inn in McKinney.
Q: Tell us more about the Harvest Project.
BUCHANAN: Harvest Project is an amazing organization. It was started in 2014 by Danae Gutierrez, who has served on the DISD board and is truly an inspiring individual. It’s a community project that provides fresh produce to families in need at no cost. They’ll provide fruits and vegetables, give recipes and instructions where appropriate, even teach them to shop for bargains. Like Ms. Gutierrez, Harvest Project represents real, grass-roots action to promulgate positive change in Dallas.
Danae Gutierrez of Harvest Project
Q: What do you suggest Dallas can do as a whole to stay more fit?
LONG: Eat more fruit, of course!
BUCHANAN: Yes. Beyond that, though, we don’t make nutritional suggestions. We leave the dietary recommendations to those far more qualified. Besides, there’s very little consensus and we try to stay out of the fray!
Q: Understood. That said, are there some more pragmatic tips you can suggest?
BUCHANAN: Some things are fairly straightforward. We did contribute a blog post to D Magazine awhile ago with some basic suggestions for how to stay healthy at the office, five minutes at a time.
Q: Along the same lines, how did y’all get involved with the Dallas Running Club?
LONG: That started in 2016 with one of our administrators, Leah Hinton. She’s friends with Erin and Sean Jett, who served on the DRC Board at the time. They were looking for a business willing to donate bananas to their races, and since we believe very strongly in the maintenance of a vital running community for Dallas, we’re happy to help! It’s a great partnership.
BUCHANAN: Yeah, the Dallas Running Club means a lot to us. My wife is an athlete who has logged more miles than I care to count and the whole history of the DRC, Tal Morrison, and White Rock Lake as a sort of “running sanctuary” are fascinating to me. It really feels like we’re part of something special.
Orchard At The Office provides bananas for Dallas Running Club races
Q: What are the trendy fruits right now?
LONG: Avocados are the biggest trending fruit right now. Last year, America spent more importing avocados than any other fruit, including bananas. That is an entirely new development, and our sales reflect the popularity of avocados.
BUCHANAN: Definitely. I’d also have to say that clementines, also known as “Halos” or “Cuties”, do extremely well. There’s actually several different varieties of citrus we conveniently call “clementines”, and they’re all delicious and have lots of mouth-watering appeal!
LONG: Chris handles our marketing, as you can tell.
Q: What’s the most unusual fruit you’ve ever sold?
LONG: Durian!
BUCHANAN: Oy vey. Here we go…
LONG: He hates durian, but I love it. Durian’s an Asian fruit that looks like a giant pod – about the size of jackfruit but even more spiky – and when you open it, the edible fruit almost has a banana pudding consistency.
BUCHANAN: And there all resemblance ends.
LONG: It does have this very complex, powerful aroma. I get why people don’t like it, but I find it fascinating. Eating durian is an event!
BUCHANAN: So’s a tsunami. All I’m saying is that there’s a reason it’s banned on Singapore Rapid Mass Transit. It’s exponential: it starts off smelling like a field of chives, then comes the sulfurous essence, then what can only be described as a “rotting” smell kicks in. Then it’s like they all compete with one another to see which can fill the room quicker. And that pretty much describes the flavor.
LONG: Hey, I’m not saying everyone will like them. More for me, that’s what I say!
Q: Talk about the “seven banana myth”.
BUCHANAN: OK, I learned about this from Karl Pilkington…and when I say “learned”, it was clearly some sort of nonsensical urban myth. The idea was something to the effect that if you ate more than six bananas in a day, you’d have a lethal potassium overdose. It’s been thoroughly debunked in a number of studies, of course, but like Twinkies or zombies, misinformation has no shelf life – it’s always staggering back from its grave to eat the brains of the living.
Q: From a delivery standpoint, what’s your favorite building in Dallas?
LONG: I’ve always liked delivering to the Comerica Bank Tower. The freight dock is efficient, the security staff is courteous and professional, and the entire building is very attractive and easy to get around.
Q: Are there things you’ve learned about Dallas as a result of delivering fruit here that you didn’t know before?
BUCHANAN: Well, I’ve certainly gotten to know all the local structures and the business that dwell within them. I used to go to Klyde Warren Park, for instance, and I’d look around and think “oh, there’s that cool new building with the blue glass, and there’s the one with the D Magazine logo” and so on. Now I’m thinking of the building names, and exactly which business is in there, and which ones are our customers and which ones will be.
Q: What kind of music could we expect to hear at ORCHARD At The OFFICE headquarters?
LONG: That totally depends on who’s in the office! You could hear everything from ambient to metal. I like to have music going to keep the brain’s alpha waves going. But every once in awhile, I’ll mix it up with some Tool or Van Halen.
BUCHANAN: I gravitate toward jazz fusion or any music that Outcry Theatre might employ in one of their amazing shows. I love the music of Tori Amos and Sigur Rós, and that sometimes creates problems as I find myself listening to it a bit too much and getting all emotional and weepy.
Q: Sell me fruit. Right now.
BUCHANAN: Our fruit really sells itself. Quite often, if we make people aware that there’s this office fruit delivery service in Dallas, that concept generates interest.
LONG: Everybody loves fresh fruit. “Would you like a banana?”
