Apples & Production Tips

Grated and diced apples can add texture to muffins.

Winter fruit, part 3: The versatility of apples

Apples add character to a dish, even when not the star ingredient

By dee Hobsbawn-Smith February 29, 2024

I first saw Meryl Streep in 1979 in Kramer vs. Kramer and then in Sophie’s Choice. Both earned her Oscars. A wonderful string of movies followed: Manhattan, Silkwood, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, The Hours and Out of Africa, to name a few. In 1990 at the Screen Actors’ Guild national women’s conference, Streep spoke out […] Read more

What’s now known as the Evans cherry likely had ancestry in Siberia and was brought to Alaska by Russian immigrants.

Apples, Columns, Fruit/Vegetables, Practical Tips

Fruit growing on Prairie farms

Part 5 of a series on Prairie farm gardens

By Ieuan Evans February 23, 2024

Fruit growing on the Canadian Prairies is much easier and more rewarding than most people ever imagine. I am an avid fruit grower on my Alberta acreage, growing everything from plums, pears, grapes, apples and cherries to currants and raspberries. You name it, I am growing it. I am familiar with backyard Prairie gardens all […] Read more

File photo of apple picking in a Quebec orchard. (Noah Burger/iStock/Getty Images)

Apples, Crops, Reuters

EU to ban Bayer’s Calypso insecticide

By Reuters, GFM Network News October 22, 2019

Brussels | Reuters — European Union governments on Tuesday widened the EU ban on neonicotinoid pesticides after deciding not to renew their approval for Bayer’s thiacloprid. Farmers will not be allowed to use the neonic insecticide, sold under the brands Calypso and Biscaya, after April 30, 2020, when its current approval expires. A majority of […] Read more

An apple tree branch with “scorched” leaves after a severe fire blight infection. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Apples, Crops, Weather

N.S. fruit, maple syrup producers get AgriRecovery

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News February 1, 2016

The federal and Nova Scotia provincial governments will put up AgriRecovery funding for tree fruit growers dealing with fire blight, and maple syrup producers dealing with snow damage. The two governments on Tuesday announced separate AgriRecovery programs, budgeted at up to $2.69 million for fruit growers and up to $950,000 for maple syrup producers. The […] Read more

Enjoying apfelstreuselkuchen  in a café in Berlin.

Apples, Farm Life

In search of apples — anything with apples

This fruit brings back fond memories of growing up on the farm

By Amy Jo Ehman October 2, 2015

In Berlin, I left the hotel early one morning in search of coffee and apples. Anything with apples. Wandering the neighbourhood, I found a sunny little bakery on a leafy street near the Brandenburg Gate. It had a tiny sidewalk patio with four tables and a plethora of potted plants. Best of all, a sign […] Read more

Slices of OSF’s Arctic Granny Smith apples (top) are compared to their conventional counterparts. (ArcticApples.com)

Apples, Crops, Fruit/Vegetables

Health Canada clears Canadian firm’s ‘non-browning’ apples

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News March 21, 2015

A Canadian company’s genetically modified “non-browning” apples have picked up federal approval for commercial sale after review from Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The Arctic apple, developed by Okanagan Specialty Fruits and submitted for federal approval in 2011, “is safe for consumption, still has all its nutritional value and therefore does not […] Read more

Apples, Crops, Fruit/Vegetables, Markets, Potatoes

Loblaw’s ugly-duckling produce to get swan moment

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News March 13, 2015

Produce growers supplying Canada’s Loblaw grocery chains with fruit and vegetables are expected to benefit in sales through a new in-store marketing program for “misshapen” wares. Through its Real Canadian Superstore chain, some of its No Frills stores in Ontario and some of its Maxi stores in Quebec, Loblaw on Thursday launched “Naturally Imperfect” fruit […] Read more

Okanagan Specialty Fruit’s side-by-side comparison of its Arctic Granny apples (top) against regular Granny apples. (ArcticApples.com)

Apples, Crops, Fruit/Vegetables, Reuters

U.S. approves first biotech apple that resists browning

By GFM Network News February 13, 2015

Reuters — U.S. regulators on Friday approved what would be the first commercialized biotech apple, rejecting efforts by the organic industry and other GMO critics to block the new fruit. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved two genetically engineered apple varieties designed to resist browning that have been […] Read more

Apples, Crops, Fruit/Vegetables, Grapes

New chemistry launched as fruit mite control

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News January 13, 2015

The first member of the benzoylacetonitrile group of crop insecticides (Group 25) to come to market in North America will be a mite control for fruit crops. BASF Canada announced Tuesday it has picked up registration for Nealta, a 200-gram-per-litre suspension concentrate of cyflumetofen, billed as a control for all life stages of tetranychid mites […] Read more

Apples, Crops, Fruit/Vegetables

N.S. backs apple orchard renewal plan

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News May 17, 2014

Nova Scotia’s government and apple industry will put up seven figures over the next six years to update over 400 acres of the province’s apple orchards with new varieties. The apple sector will put $6.9 million into the program while the provincial ag department will put up a total of $2.2 million over six years, […] Read more

Alberta crop conditions improve: report

U.S. grains: Corn sets contract lows on expectations for big US crop

U.S. livestock: Cattle strength continues

GFM Network News