Apples are an all-American success story-each of us eats more than 19 pounds of them annually. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Wall Street Journal’s recent article about apple growers in New York’s Hudson Valley pointed out that in recent years, due to weather patterns, increased regulations, etc., apple acreage shrank by 14% and the number of apple orchards dropped by 25%.
I saw this first hand last weekend during our visit to my daughter’s old college town, in New Paltz, for some apple and pumpkin picking. We saw how sparse the pickings were, and were told at several orchards that an unexpected early freeze had really hurt the apple crop.
That’s why some growers are turning to hard cider. (Nearly two-dozen cideries now operate in the Hudson valley, up from eleven five years ago according to the article.) There will be a Hudson Valley Cider Alliance, an annual Cider week, and a “cider route” similar to the local wine trail.
Why would they do this? According to Dan Wilson, selling hard cider evens out the cash flow throughout the year, and, “allows us to attract a little different demographic.” It also offers orchards a nice option for apples that are weather damaged and might previously been tossed or sold at a loss.
So when you get done cursing the weather, your suppliers, your ad agency, your marketing department, your parakeet, figure out how to make things better. Try using what you have, not what you think you need. And you might find that fairly often, all you need, like the good folk in Hudson Valley, is a good idea.
Saved as a favorite, I really like your blog!
Posted by: Coffee Green Mountain | January 01, 2013 at 11:27 PM