<\/p>\n
By the time the gates opened at the Colorado State University Extension Apple U-Pick event in Yellow Jacket and 9 a.m. Saturday, hundreds of people had lined up at the gates armed with bags, boxes, buckets and an appetite for locally grown apples.<\/p>\n
Just two hours later, nearly every tree had been picked clean.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is not much left,\u201d a volunteer said, to those arriving at 11 a.m.<\/p>\n
Those that slept in, were forced to choose between the less popular varieties: Golden Delicious and the Pinova apples.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Honey Crisps went first, the Liberties and the Royal Empires followed,\u201d said Tom Hooten, CSU County director extension agent.<\/p>\n
Hooten counted 175 people lined up at the gates Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
There weren\u2019t as many apples to go around this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the freezes Memorial Day weekend and a couple days after,\u201d Hooten said. \u201cThree consecutive nights of temps in the mid 20s \u2013 that\u2019s not good for apples.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Golden Delicious apples, however, fared well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were higher up in the orchard, and cold air tends to settle, so they produced well,\u201d Hooten said. \u201cWe had a lot of golden delicious, but people do prefer the red apples.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hooten said some varieties handled the cold temperatures, while others didn\u2019t. Some of the trees were bare of fruit before the apple pickers descended, and others had very few apples.<\/p>\n
The Liberties and the Royal Empires, they went fast too. They are hard-to-find varieties, Hooten said.<\/p>\n
The event was still a success. Families trucked through the orchards with big smiles on their faces, snapping photos, sampling the different types of apples and offering picking strategies.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t go for the little ones, they will make your stomach upset,\u201d one mom told her daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp here, I found the perfect apples,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t eat that one, it has a worm hole,\u201d another mom said.<\/p>\n
In total, about 500 people made the trek to the Southwest Colorado Research Station in rural Yellow Jacket, and a total of 7,691 pounds of apples were sold. Those numbers were down from last year, when nearly 800 people attended the U-Pick event, and nearly 12,000 pounds of apples were sold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe even had apples left over last year,\u201d Hooten said. \u201cWe were loaded with apples last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
New this year was the music stylings of the San Juan String Band, a band made up of local public land officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople loved the band,\u201d Hooten said. \u201cWe are trying to add a few things to make it more of a community event.\u201d<\/p>\n
The band yodeled, sand songs about apples, a teddy bear picnic and warned children about playing with matches.<\/p>\n
In addition, Battle Rock 4-H members sold food, soda and cold water.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great fundraiser for them and a good way to make it a community event and provide food and drink for participants,\u201d Hooten said.<\/p>\n
People came from as far away as Kayenta for the event.<\/p>\n
Most people talked of turning the apples into pies, apple crisps and sauce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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