Moran quoted in Press Herald articles on apples, pears
Renae Moran, a tree fruit specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, spoke with the Portland Press Herald for articles about Maine’s bountiful apple harvest and small Asian pear crop.
In an article about this year’s bumper apple crop, Moran said some people may still have apples in July. “People like to see a lot of apples, but [orchards] are going to have to contend with a weaker wholesale market. But it’s been a great year for pick-your-own.” She said producing an overabundance of fruit does take a lot of energy out of trees, so she expects next year to be a smaller crop with fewer blooms. “We like to have a consistent crop year after year [for market reasons], but for some reason this year the trees produced a huge amount of flowers,” Moran said.
In the article, “A tiny but delicious crop of Asian pears growing in Maine,” Moran said she has tried growing the fruit at UMaine’s Agriculture and Forest Experiment Station at Highmoor Farm in Monmouth. This year, she lost most of her trees, which she blames on the tough winter, the article states. “I’m not giving up on Asian pears yet,” she said.