Apple Facts

According to U.S. Apple, the top five varieties in the U.S. are:

1. Red Delicious

2. Gala

3. Golden Delicious

4. Granny Smith

5. Fuji

The 2009 U.S. apple crop is 241-million boxes, 100-million of which come from Washington State.

Last year's tree fruit crop from the Wenatchee area (includes Wenatchee, Chelan and north to Omak/Okanogan) is worth $1.5 billion.  That's 150,000 truckloads of fruit shipped out of Wenatchee this year , or 3,000 truck loads a week.

The 2008-2009 crop shipped from the Wenatchee Valley looks like this:

Apples - 37-million boxes
Pears - 8-million boxes
Cherries - 10-million, 20lb. boxes
Other soft fruits, such as peaches, apricots and nectarines account for about 1/2-million boxes.

Employment through the fruit industry:

The fruit industry provides about 8,000 full-time, family-wage jobs in the Wenatchee Valley ( again, including Wenatchee, Chelan, Omak, etc.).
Another 40,000 jobs are added with semi-seaonal (8 months a year) and harvest workforce (mid-June to mid-November).

Information courtesy of the Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association

Bloom & Harvest Dates

Fruit/Vegetable	Full Bloom	Harvest Date
Apples	4/22 - 5/8	Aug - Nov
Pears	4/12 - 5/15	Aug - Nov
Cherries	4/15 - 5/10	Jun - Aug
Peaches	4/10 - 5/1	Jul - Sept
Apricots	4/10 - 4/25	Jul - Aug
Asparagus		Mar - Jun
Indian Corn		Sept
Strawberries		Jun - Jul
Cantaloupe		Jul - Aug
Sweet Corn		Jul -Aug
Melons		Jul - Aug
Blueberries		Jul - Sept
Prunes		Aug - Sept
Nectarines		Aug - Sept
Plums		Aug - Sept
Watermelon		Jul - Aug
Tomatoes		Jul - Aug
Potatoes		Jul - Nov
Pumpkins		Aug - Oct
Walla Walla Onions		Mid July