Apple picking season off to ripe start at New Jersey and New York farms
NEW YORK -- It may not be fall yet, but apple picking season is well underway across New Jersey and New York.
One New Jersey farmer told CBS News New York's Nick Caloway the weather during this year's growing season helped create a perfect apple crop.
"Our growing season was good. It was hot like everything else. But we were able to get the right storms to come at the right time," Demarest Farm co-owner Jason DeGise.
Thousands of apple pickers will descend on the farm every weekend moving into the fall. DeGise showed Caloway around the more than 30 acres, where they grow 16 varieties of apples.
"That's juicy. You can just see the juice dripping out. You hear that nice hard crunch," he said.
DeGise practically grew up there and has worked at the farm since he was 13 years old. He and his business partner bought the farm 2014, keeping the beloved tradition alive for generations of families.
"It's great. It's so generational. The children come out with their parents. Then 20 years later, you see them coming out with their children," he said. "It's just a wonderful experience in the fall to come out and be on a farm."
In New York's Hudson Valley, Masker Orchards started their season Labor Day Weekend and reported Macintosh, Cortland, Granny Smith, Empire, Red Delicious and Jonagold were all ripe for picking this weekend.
CBS News New York's First Alert Weather team says the warm temperatures combined with plenty of rain to make for ideal growing conditions this year.
The season technically ends whenever the orchard is picked out, so visitors have until maybe late October. For best picking, twist and pull!
