Ontario stone fruit season is just getting underway. "We are about a week or so earlier than last year," says Sarah Marshall of Ontario Tender Fruit/Fresh Grape Growers "We have started harvesting early varieties of peaches and nectarines and yellow plums, which is our first plum variety that's available in the market."
The earlier start is due to notable heat earlier in the season. "Even our March was a lot warmer and we didn't have that much of a winter honestly," says Marshall.
The volume from Ontario will be slow to start but well on its way by the second week of July. The overall volume anticipated this season looks similar to 2023's crop, except for apricots due to a very early bloom and a spring frost.
Harvest schedule
The early start may also mean a slightly earlier end to Ontario's stone fruit season. Peaches generally harvest until mid-September and nectarines until the end of September. Early golden plums have started and will be harvested for five or six weeks while the European plum harvest will begin at the start of August and go until mid to late September.
Demand is expected to be good for Ontario stone fruit which is also shipped outside the province to Quebec, the Maritimes, and some even out to Western Canada. "We expect fairly similar pricing to last year, depending on the crop," says Marshall.
For your information:
Sarah Marshall
Ontario Tender Fruit Growers
Tel: +1 (905)688-0990
[email protected]
www.ontariotenderfruit.ca