Around this time of the year, crowds pack the streets of Julian to check out a highlight of this town: Apples. But with a shortage of the crop, businesses are finding different ways to work around it.
For Eva Elmbald, apples have always been a part of her everyday life as she grew up in Julian. Today, it’s part of her livelihood.
As the general manager of Julian Farm and Orchard, it’s the apples that draw people to the business. But this year, they’re facing challenges.
"I do worry that the shortage of apples with a high demand will keep people from coming up here," Elmbald says.
On Monday, ABC 10News Anchor Aaron Dickens spoke to another orchard in town: Volcan Valley Apple Farm. Their apple picking season went from 14 days to 3 days due to lack of supply.
Elmbald says they’ve worked on finding other apple activities people can do, from a cider press demonstration to an apple cannon.
"We bring in outside apples so we can always offer the activities," she says. "This year we added 400 new apple trees to our orchard to give us more apples in the coming years."
This shortage is also impacting businesses in downtown Julian, like Miner’s Diner. It's a local establishment that feeds off of the foot traffic from apple pickers to fill their booths.
"If they're not coming to the orchards, then they're not coming to town and that affects our business," Krista Madriaga, the assistant manager at Miner’s Diner, says. "But there are other things to do. Hopefully people come to do those things."
