The islands have seen a particularly poor crop, though in Southeast Estonia the harvest has been better, and roughly average compared with other years.

Not only have there been regional differences, but even some inexplicable differences in quality between different types of apples grown at the same location.

Riho Kadastik, owner of an apple orchard on Saaremaa, told ERR that part of the harvest is still attached to the trees, which makes it harder to give a final assessment on the crop, but noted there has never been a year like this one in his memory.

"In fact, there are apples, but they have not kept well on the tree, and how they will keep in storage is unknown. Just as it was unknown in spring when they blossomed, but many did not pollinate as the weather stayed cold for a long time," Kadastik explained.

The differences between varieties are also significant, he said. Even two varieties growing side by side have a difference to the extent that while the apples of one type are high quality, the other kind are barely edible and not suitable for sale at all.

"So, the difference is very large. What causes it, I cannot say — I think no one can say," Kadastik admitted.

Lauri Kasvand, head of the Halika apple farm in Räpina municipality, Põlva County, in South Estonia, said that despite the various challenges, their harvest will prove to be about average. Both the spring frosts and the cool, rainy summer had their impacts there too.

"The rain damage was very severe for us. Here in Southeast Estonia, in May and June we got several years' worth of rainfall, and the flooding was so bad that there was nowhere left to drain the water, not even into the ditches. I haven't made a thorough assessment yet, but we've lost about a hundred trees completely due to water damage," Kasvand said.

He added that some trees are essentially dead, and where the fruit remained small due to the water, that damage extends across hectares, as the trees were under stress and unable to bear fruit.

This pattern has recurred, he noted.

"Weather damage is becoming a more and more relevant issue, one that cannot be avoided in any year, any more. It's just that every year it's different: Last year it was rain, hail, and drought, this year it's flooding and cold weather," Kasvand said of the negative factors.

Only a tiny share of the harvest consists of apples with a beautiful appearance, he added.

Over on Hiiumaa, Triinu Schneider, who also cultivates apples, said that she has almost no produce at all this year.

By contrast, Kasvand confirmed that while last year Southeast Estonia had a very poor apple harvest, this year there are at least some apples there.

"The pressure from diseases and insects during the cool and wet weather has reduced the quality of the crop: Apples have stayed small, developed scab, or gotten worms. For this reason the apple harvest in Estonia this year is generally very modest. This affects the price of high-quality table apples the most. Apples of poorer quality can still be found, and there are enough of those to make apple juice or jam, or simply peel and eat," Kasvand said.

"But the beautiful, shiny-looking apples you'd want to put on the table have to be sorted out from the entire harvest, and those make up a vanishingly small part," he noted.

One of the smaller producers in Estonia who use apples is the Jaanihanso cider house. Its director, Alvar Roosimaa, said that apples are indeed having to be actively sourced more this year, but overall the situation does not affect them.

"There are fewer people who want to sell apples, while from the big producers we haven't even heard anyone offering juice apples this year. I hope it won't affect our production. We'll still get the amount we need, since we're very small. Apple is a national fruit — somewhere there are always orchards with a surplus and trees full of fruit, even if the big picture statistically looks bad," Roosimaa outlined.

The Jaanihanso cider house requires about 50,000 liters of raw material, meaning fresh apple juice, this year.

"If we get a bit less or a bit more than that, it's not a problem — it'll fit in. But that's to do with the scale we're working with," Roosimaa added.

Most crop types including honey have seen poor harvests this year, for the same weather-related reasons.

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