On most of these apple farms, stone fruits were a bigger part of the operation 50 years ago than they are today. No new apple plantings are planned in the near future at Singer Farms where Bittner is a partner. Current apple acreage is 200 acres. We need to grow things that others can't or won't.
Stone fruit fits there.
Bittner is planting many new summer fruit varieties in test blocks on the farm, hoping to capitalize on his proximity to urban markets, and convince consumers that summer fruit from local growers is riper when picked and tastes better than fruit shipped in from far away. Our problem is that NY consumers don't know that we exist. First among the many questions to be asked about growing stone fruit concerns marketing strategy. In two days, we had over 22 presentations-an expanded format from the first meeting two years ago. Growers had the opportunity to make business contacts with marketers and many creative ideas were exchanged.