"You go to some people's orchards, they've got a full crop of galas, and you go to the next one, and it's sitting on 40%," Jerred Nix told the Hendersonville Lightning in early September. He sells apples commercially with his father, Jeff, and that season his own Gala and Golden Delicious harvests were on the light side.
A month later, the orchards are still that uneven. On October 7, 2026, Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock already had Arkansas Black apples in its pre-picked bins. As of October 5, Coston Farm on Chimney Rock Road listed the same variety as not yet available. The farms across Henderson County's apple ridges are all at different points in their seasons this year. In October, the farm you pick decides which apples you can get.
A good year that arrived early and uneven
The overall picture is good, which hasn't been true for a while. In August, Henderson County Extension director Terry Kelley told WLOS he expected average to above-average yields across the region. "For a change, we've got a smile on our face when we go into apple season, and it's about time for that," he said. By September, he was calling it "probably the best situation we've had in a number of years."
The weather that got the crop here also explains why it's uneven. A March freeze followed a stretch of warm winter weather that had coaxed trees into budding. Then came a three-week drought while the apples were forming, a long hot spell, and then too much rain. The freeze hit the earliest-blooming varieties hardest. Mike Stepp of Stepp's Hillcrest Orchard in Edneyville said it plainly: "We have a lighter crop." The heat pushed things ahead of schedule. "It's caused the apples to become mature earlier than normal, so the crop's a little early this year," Kelley said in August. He also flagged Pink Lady and Fuji as likely to be in shorter supply.
Heat and rain also dulled the color on some fruit. "Quality's a little off just because of the heat and the rainy weather, so that's hurt our color a little bit," Kelley said. Every orchard dealt with the same weather. How much it mattered depended on which varieties each farm grows, how high its trees sit, and when each block bloomed.
Why a freeze in Pennsylvania reached Edneyville
Short crops elsewhere made Henderson County apples more valuable this year. Kelley told the Lightning that spring freezes hurt growers in Pennsylvania, New York and possibly parts of Michigan. "Generally, when we have a really good year price-wise, it means somebody else is having a bad year," he said.
Kenny Barnwell has grown apples in Edneyville for 40 years, and the numbers surprised him. "I did sell some galas for 30 cents a pound. That's unheard of in this area," he told the Lightning in September. In big-yield years, the processing price can fall to a nickel a pound. Those are wholesale prices, a different market from the U-pick rows. Still, they give the county's apple business its best footing in years.
That includes Apple Wedge Packers, whose Edneyville packing house burned in January 2025. Owner Greg Nix held a reopening celebration at the rebuilt facility in October 2025. It has a new metal building and new equipment. At the September agriculture forum the Lightning covered, Nix was among the growers who said they expected a good year.
Where the orchards stand in the first week of October
Each farm's own status page shows how differently they're running. The table pulls from those pages as of this week. The farms post changes often, so check before you drive out.
| Orchard | Where | What the farm lists now | Still coming, per the farm's chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sky Top Orchard | Pinnacle Mountain Road, Flat Rock | U-pick Fuji, Granny Smith, Gold Rush; pre-picked Rome, Stayman Winesap, Arkansas Black | Pink Lady estimated mid-October |
| Stepp's Hillcrest Orchard | Stepp Orchard Drive, Edneyville | U-pick Blushing Gold, Cameo, Fuji, Red Delicious, Rome, Stayman, plus pumpkins | Granny Smith and Pink Lady mid-October, Arkansas Black mid-to-late October in an average year |
| Justus Orchard | Garren Road | Early Pink Lady ready as U-pick or we-pick; Granny Smith, Stayman Winesap, Red Rome ready as we-pick | Late Fuji early to mid-October, another Pink Lady and Goldrush mid-October, Arkansas Black mid-to-late October |
| Jeter Mountain Farm | Jeter Mountain Road | October 8 to 11 schedule includes Stayman, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Melrose, Red Cameo, Enterprise, Da Rosa | GoldRush mid-October, Pink Lady and Arkansas Black late October |
| Coston Farm & Apple House | Chimney Rock Road | As of October 5, McIntosh, Honeycrisp and Early Fuji out of stock | Arkansas Black and Pink Lady not yet available |
| Grandad's Apples 'N Such | Chimney Rock Road | No apple U-pick; Fuji, Red Rome, Granny Smith, Winesap, Stayman in the store; U-pick pumpkins and flowers | Chart lists Arkansas Black, Braeburn, Evercrisp, Gold Rush, Pink Lady for mid-October |
Two things stand out in the table. Grandad's, which still lists Pink Lady for mid-October on its variety chart, has already moved from apple picking to pumpkins and flowers. Fuji, the variety Kelley expected to run short, is still on U-pick rows at Sky Top and Stepp's and in the store at Grandad's, while Coston has sold out of its early Fuji.
The late varieties set the schedule now
For the rest of the season, the trip depends on three varieties: Pink Lady, Arkansas Black and GoldRush. All three are on different timelines at different farms.
Pink Lady shows the spread best. Justus Orchard already lists an early Pink Lady as ready, with a second Pink Lady forecast for mid-October. Sky Top's calendar estimates mid-October. Jeter Mountain Farm and Mountain Fresh Orchards both put it in late October. Pink Lady was also one of the varieties Kelley expected to be short this year. Early bloomers took more freeze damage, and Kelley noted that early bloom doesn't necessarily mean an early harvest. So a hot summer can move ripening up while the spring freeze has already cut how much fruit is there.
Arkansas Black, which Mountain Fresh's chart rates very tart, is already pre-picked at Sky Top. Stepp's and Justus chart it for mid-to-late October, and Jeter for late October. GoldRush is ripe on the trees at Sky Top now and charted for mid-October at Justus and Jeter.
Every one of these charts warns that it's an estimate. Jeter's says harvest timing can vary by weeks, and Stepp's describes an average year. This hasn't been an average year. The farms' weekly variety updates are more reliable than any printed calendar, and the Lightning's orchard roundup points readers to Sky Top's weekly variety schedule.
Different rules at each farm
Each farm also handles visitors its own way, and two have changed things this year.
Jeter Mountain Farm labels timed U-pick entry "New 2026." It recommends reserving a basket time slot in advance and takes walk-ups only if space allows. The farm is open Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and U-pick ends at 3:30. Stepp's Hillcrest takes no admission and no U-pick reservations. Its 5-acre corn maze is open daily through the season. Sky Top says it's open daily from 9 to 6 with pumpkins and apples, and it also recommends reserving ahead because U-pick depends on how much ripe fruit is in the orchard. This year Sky Top added a coffee bar run with Flat Rock's Sharewell Coffee. It serves lattes made with the orchard's own apple syrup or local honey.
For anyone who'd rather skip the ladder, Mountain Fresh Orchards off U.S. 64 runs a farm market daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It sells pre-picked apples, cider, pumpkins, cider donuts and fried pies. The orchard lost 40 trees in Helene and replanted them.
These are the dates that close out the season:
- October 8 to 11. Jeter's posted picking schedule has Stayman on Thursday and Saturday and Fuji and Golden Delicious Friday through Sunday.
- October 25. Last Sunday of U-pick at Creasman Farms, which opens its trees on Sundays only, noon to 5 p.m.
- November 1. Jeter Mountain Farm's fall season ends.
- Thanksgiving week. Sky Top closes on Thanksgiving Day, and the Lightning's listing has it running through the following Sunday, November 29. In August, the Butlers told WLOS they planned to stay open into early December.
Coston doesn't post a closing date. It says its U-pick orchard stays open until all the apples are picked. With Honeycrisp, McIntosh and early Fuji already gone, its last weeks will be Arkansas Black and Pink Lady, once they ripen.
In August, David Butler of Sky Top told WLOS he had more than half of a typical crop, enough to keep visitors picking through the season. For an October trip, the farm's variety page from that morning is the best guide to what's on the trees.
At TFM Carolina, we spend a lot of time on the ridges around Edneyville and Flat Rock, where elevation, slope and exposure decide what grows well on a piece of land. If you're curious about owning land in Henderson County's apple country, we're glad to walk a property with you and talk through what the site can support.
