STOW, Mass. - As fall approaches, local apple orchards are hoping to rebound after bad weather impacted farms throughout Massachusetts in 2023.

Peak apple-picking season begins in roughly two weeks, and hundreds of people will flock to orchards like Shelburne Farm in Stowe with trees looking much better than last season.

Ted Painter, owner of Shelburne Farm, said last year was challenging for a number of weather-related reasons, even before a rainy summer.

“We had a terrible freeze last year, which took our peaches away,” Painter said. “So this year, we’re much happier because it’s dry, beautiful and sunny.”

The frost happened on May 18, 2023, when apples were already beginning to grow for the fall. Temperatures in some Massachusetts towns dropped to the mid-twenties - often a death sentence for apple blossoms.

Painter said apples can be difficult to grow when conditions aren’t optimal, but fortunately, this year proved to be great weather.

“It needs to be not too much rain, not too little rain, just right,” Painter said. “We don’t want it to be too hot, but we need to be warm enough.”

The warm, clear weather is particularly important in the springtime, when bees help pollinate the orchard.

“The honeybees are a bit of a diva,” Painter said. “I mean, they do amazing work, but they only do it under the right conditions.”

Painter has owned Shelburne Farm for roughly 30 years, and over time, fall apple picking has become just as much about the other activities an orchard has to offer as the apples themselves.

While hot summer days in the field are now over and his staff doesn’t have to worry as much about growing enough apples, focus now turns to getting ready for a big rush of customers.

“What’s happened over the last 25 years, it’s not just about the fruit and the apples and the peaches,” Painter said. “It’s a more complete experience of people wanting to come out, enjoy the space and weather, but they also want to have playgrounds, and we have hard cider now which people really love… Just making it a full event, a complete experience for the whole family.”

Apple picking season begins in mid-September, and typically continues through early October.