David Lambe likes what he sees in his apple orchard near Meaford, where most trees are heavy with fruit. 

It will be another two weeks before these Honey Crisps are ready to be picked, but there are at least five other varieties that are already on farm market shelves, including some new ones like Zester and Sunrise apples.

“We have a fabulous crop of Macintosh and Cortlands. Macintosh is about the same as last year, Cortland down about 20 per cent but size will help make up the difference,” says Lambe.

While growers in the Georgian Bay region anticipate average crops this year, that isn't the case in all parts of the province. The extreme cold last winter damaged some trees and forced a later spring.

Ontario produces about 7-million bushels of apples annually, but this year it’s estimated the crop will be about 4-million once the harvest is complete. The president of the Georgian Bay Fruit Growers Association says the region has fared well.

“We have been lucky this year. We didn't get the spring frost that devastated other parts of the province. Georgian Bay helped us out there keeping the temperature more temperate,” says Kyle Oakley.

At T and K Orchard south of Thornbury, the high density planting has produced a solid wall of fruit. Tom Ferri says demand for Georgian Bay apples is up, while the dollar is down and he's hoping that will help growers fetch top dollar for local apples while slowing down imports.

“Our dollar is so weak. We are hoping that will help other than it becoming a dumping where they are dumping poorer fruit and they don't care about the pricing.”

While there are several varieties of fresh apples available right now, there are many more to come as the season progresses. The Honey Crisp harvest will start in about two weeks.