It’s almost apple season: Under two months away from their harvest!

WILLIAMSON, N.Y. (WROC) — Yesterday, we welcomed in the month of July with absolutely gorgeous weather and below average temperatures. This was a really nice way to welcome in the month, especially after the extreme warmth and several rounds of severe weather we experienced in the month of June.

Now, some farmers’ concerns grew for their crops, especially during that heatwave, but for apple farmers, they knew that their crops would thrive.

“And I think a lot of people are concerned about the heat and the rain, but the apples aren’t really bothered by that right now. If we continue to have high heat and no rain for the rest of the season, we’d have a problem. The apples would be small, undesirable, maybe some sun-skulled,” says Jamie Sonneville, who is the vice president of Lakeville Orchards.

While warmth mixed with no rainfall could have negative effects toward the apple crop, Jamie Sonneville’s biggest worry for their crop is hail.

“There have been a lot of thunderstorms lately,” she says. “And oftentimes as we head into August, that’s when we get the most nervous. A hail storm could decimate our crop.”

As the harvest season approaches, Lakeville Orchard’s team is working hard to make sure that their crop is ready for picking.

“We’re spraying and we’re hand thinning. So, we will wait until the end of this heat spell to go back to hand thinning so we don’t get sun-skulled on the apples but the hand thinning helps make sure that we have the proper amount of fruit and it grows to be the proper size,” Sonneville says.

And in less than two months, the first of many different types of apples will be ready.

“So harvest will begin at the end of August. We’ll start picking premiere honey crisps and ginger golds. Those are our first two early varieties. Two of my favorite varieties, so I am excited,” says Sonneville.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst.