Oh that bad bad Apple Fairy. She needs to be punished.
Posted on 10/18/2019 12:26:51 PM PDT by Red Badger
HARTLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- It's a place where thousands of families go every year to celebrate fall. Now, Spicer Orchards northwest of Detroit, Michigan is dealing with a crime like no other in its more than 50-year history. Someone stole more than 22,000 apples off acres of trees under the cover of darkness.
After running the orchard for more than 50 years, the Spicer family has learned that you only pick apples when they are perfectly ripe. As harvest time nears, they check the apples every few days.
On Sunday, October 6, the apples in the farm’s supplemental orchard on Silver Lake Road in Linden were not quite yet ripe. Then, on Wednesday, October 9, they checked again.
“There was nothing there,” said Ryan Spicer, the grandson of Alan Spicer, the farm’s founder.
“We were predicting about 7,000 pounds of apples to be harvested over the next week period,” said Matthew Spicer, the son of the farm’s founder.
Ryan Spicer says his grandpa called the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office. They are investigating who took an estimated 22,000 apples worth as much as $14,400.
Since neighbors didn’t see anything, they believe someone harvested the crop in the middle of the night.
“It would have had to be three or four trucks,” said Matthew.
“At least a crew of nine,” added Ryan.
“It would have to be somebody who would not have to distinguish between ripe and not ripe apples. Because they took them both,” said Matthew.
They know they were not eaten by deer, as there are no apples knocked on the ground. The orchard was methodically cleaned out by hand.
Spicer Orchards, which was founded in 1968, has never experienced a theft like this, but it is not the only farm recently targeted. Someone stole about 400 pumpkins from MacCallum’s Orchard in St Clair County’s Grant Township. Plus someone stole about 50,000 apples from Williams Orchard in Indiana last month.
Investigators are not sure there is any link.
“Think about how much time and effort that farmer puts into his crop, and when he doesn’t have a crop, how many times does that have to happen then he cant do what he does,” said Ryan.
“It takes us all year to grow apples and every single one of them is very important to us,” said Matthew.
Spicer Orchards has installed trail cameras in its orchards to try to deter more thefts.
This story was originally published by Kim Russell at WXYZ.
Gerber Foods for making baby apple sauce?
Too slow.......must transport to somewhere to sell all at once.........maybe a apple juice factory?............
Oh that bad bad Apple Fairy. She needs to be punished.
Dam, I can relate to this story but in a small way.
Planted an apple tree for my daughter 5 years ago. Finally the tree produced apples and I was ready to harvest a few days ago.
They were all gone. I figure either the HOA maintenance people took them or a homeless person got them.
But either way, I had planted and watered the tree and didn’t get to harvest the fruit.
I’m going to give her such a spanking!
I’m going to give her such a spanking!
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OK, but don’t bruise the fruit!
My fruit usually gets eaten by birds, squirrels, rats and insects, or all of the above...........
will they have doughnuts?
The first fruits of a tree usually aren’t eaten..............
Curious that they give the quantity as 22,000 apples. Also estimated at 7,000 lbs, which would be about nine 18 bushel boxes.
Jonagolds are a pretty high-value variety.
Not too slow at all. Apples have a long shelf life before they even start to go bad. The thieves can take their time selling them in bulk anywhere in the state.........
If I’m a thief, I want my money asap and the heat off!.............
A few decades ago here in the mountains of NC some people walked through a Christmas tree farm at night with backpack sprayers of paraquat and hosed down acres of trees.
It was suspected to be rival growers but no one was ever charged.
Not space aliens, Illegal Aliens.
Maybe they got a sour stomach?
I really feel sorry for the farming family. Mine issue was a minor annoyance, but someone is messing with their livelihood. I really don't like thieves...
I'm sure you do but you're not going to unload truck loads of apples without giving a full accounting of where they came from. Especially since the outlets you are implying already have contracts with the orchards around the state and the news of the theft have already been broadcast throughout the industry.........
I may already have a contract and my apples are indistinguishable from anybody elses, so my truck would not be out of place at the factory gate.............
Various farmers markets.
Too obvious and too slow a return..........
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