Alan Deal is a third-generation apple grower in Alexander County, in the foothills near Boone. He walks through rows of the last apple trees still in bloom on his hundred-acre orchard and plucks a blossom from a branch to check for damage from a recent frost.
"Just a couple of degrees can make a lot of difference when the trees are blooming," Deal said, as he inspected the blossom. "But yep, that's one small apple that's starting to develop."
Deal's grandparents first planted the orchard in 1939, in what is the second-largest apple growing region in the state. Fruit trees grow on the hillsides sloping up either side of N.C. Highway 16, in what's known as the Brushy Mountains. The elevation protects the apple blossoms from spring frosts.
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