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Typically at this time of year, the earliest Okanagan apricots would be just weeks away, but now you'll have to wait a whole year. That frosty February we shivered through was too much for the apricot crop which is among the most susceptible fruits to winter damage.
Lake Country fruit grower Penny Gambell showed us row after row of Apricot trees looking leafy and green, but with no sign of fruit. "Most trees do not have any apricots," said Gambell. "It's probably about a 99% loss." And Gambell said other growers are seeing the same outcomes in their orchards.
"The apricots normally would be almost, not as big as a walnut, but some varieties could be," she said. The apricot loss stems from an unusually cold February. "Because it went down below minus 23," said the former president of the BC Fruit Growers Association, "and minus 23 is usually the point where, if you're going to have damage to apricots, that's about where it'll be."
Nectarines are also vulnerable to winter damage, but Gambell said they fared better than the apricots, emerging with a reduced crop. Cherries she said, look pretty good. "There probably was a little damage to reduce the crop, but the size is really good and the crop looks to be there."
The near total loss on Apricots is not a disaster for Gambell Orchards which overlooks Okanagan Lake on Okanagan Centre Road East in Lake Country. The fruit typically makes up less than 5% of the overall harvest. The bottom line is that when your favourite fruit stand opens up this year, you won't be seeing a lot of apricots. "Nope," said Gambell. "They're going to be looking for vegetables, and other fruits, and lots of cherries!"
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