August and early September have been on the cool side this year - just how David DeForest's apples like it.
The crisp fruits are harvest-ready at Cedar Wind Orchard, the 2-acre, 350-tree plot DeForest operates with his wife, Kristi, in New Bloomfield.
Pollination time - the kickoff to the main growing season - saw adequate rainfall and sufficient help from area bees. To attract those buzzing pollinators, the couple let flowering weeds grow around the perimeter of the orchard.
Late summer brought below-average temperatures, which helped later development stages.
"One thing that helped with ripening was the cool August," DeForest said. "You want cool nights for apples."
Thankfully, temperatures didn't drop too soon; a cold pollination season could have deterred the bees.
Cedar Wind Orchard is also home to Asian pears. Earlier each summer, the DeForests harvest peaches, plums and apricots. As far as apples, it holds 48 varieties.
Some have fairly unique flavors and growing habits. For example, the orchard's ginger gold and liberty bloom trees set fruit their second year. Arkansas black and wolf river can take up to eight or nine years.
The DeForests also have plenty of golden russets, winesaps and other varieties. They sell them at area farmers markets, a few grocery stores and at festivals such as Jefferson City's Oktoberfest on Sept. 30.
A favorite comment from their customers is something akin to "I'm not familiar with that variety, but I'd like to try it." They encourage that open-minded approach, as a customer's No. 1 pick might not be available at a certain point, anyway.
"Consumers need to look forward to different varieties, different tastes as the season progresses," DeForest said. "Try different varieties, because there's great flavors out there that you may never have heard of."
Worldwide, in fact, there are more than 7,500 known apple varieties.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service, the United States bore 322,600 acres of apple trees in 2016. Those trees produced about 11.3 billion pounds of apples. Because of their preference for cool nights, the fruits grow particularly well in Northern states, such as Washington and Oregon.
The Show-Me State isn't bad for apple growing, either.
"Apples are widely adapted to many climates, (and) so as long as the right cultivars are selected, then our conditions in Missouri are very good," said James Quinn, a regional horticulture specialist with the Cole County Extension Center.
Specifically, the horticulturist continued via email, "Ideal conditions within Missouri are full-sun locations with deep soils and good airflow. These are best matched with loess soils along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, typical of rolling hills."
Another benefit of hills: Cold night air flows away. That's why you tend to see another Missouri fruit - grapes - grown on hilltops. An example of a prime region for apple production is between Malta Bend and Lexington, Quinn said.
"Apples grow well all across the state," he said. "Ideal conditions are of much importance to commercial growers to be competitive. For home gardeners and small-market growers, the entire state is good, but having full sun, a decent soil and good airflow will improve consistent success."
Like the DeForests, Quinn is pleased with the 2017 harvest.
"This should be a good apple year," he said. "The late frosts that afflicted some early-flowering fruit trees largely spared apples, as they flower a bit later. Our cooler-than-normal August will have benefited apple development, and with September being mild, the flavors should be excellent."
But Cedar Wind Orchard does not rely entirely on Mother Nature. The DeForests spend hours pruning their trees, fighting off pests and otherwise caring for their apples. DeForest compares the effort to a dairy man milking his cows.
"You have to take care of them every day," he said. "You have to be cognizant of their needs. They're my babies, and when something happens to them, I take it personally."