As many of you have already heard this season; The entirety of the province of BC alongside our very own farm has experienced the devastating loss of our Peach and Nectarine crops this winter. Of course, you have questions and we are here to answer the best we possibly can.
What caused This?
We experienced a very warm winter season with temperatures not falling below 0 degrees Celsius. This warm weather did not allow our trees to reach that “dormant” hibernation stage that typically prepares them for winter conditions. Then came the cold snap. The devastation came from approximately a week of sudden cold weather with temperature reaching as low as -30 degrees Celsius (numbers that even on a typical year is not normal for the Okanagan Valley) in January.
What does this mean for Consumers?
Unfortunately, this means we will not be able to provide our own homegrown quality guaranteed produce. We will however be working together with a local farmer in Oliver to bring in produce from parts of the States and Ontario! We will have peaches and nectarines – just not our own.
This being said, our guarantee will remain the same – we will be unable to provide any guarantee for produce that we do not grow ourselves. Feel free to take a look through cases prior to leaving the stand where we can replace any problematic produce. For more questions regarding our guarantee check our website: Support – Fortunato Fruits
What about the other Fruit?
We did experience significant crop loss with some of our other produce including; Apricots, early plums, and our summer apples. This may mean we will have a shorter season for these fruits, but they can still be found on our tables for a limited time. As for our other produce including; Cherries, table grapes, pears, prune plums, and winter apples; they are growing happily on our orchard.