The fruit of orchard owners’ labor will come to a store or farmers market near you as soon as the apple harvest season gets underway. The state’s orchards produce approximately 49 million pounds of apples each year across 4,000 acres, according to the Wisconsin State Climatology Office.

Those acres include Hillside Apples in Casco, which opened its 30th season last week. Owner Bill Roethle says the weather has been good for growing apples this year, with one exception. Earlier this summer, a storm hit the region that brought hail to the orchard. Depending on where each apple variety was in its development, the fruit may have suffered some minor damage. Roethle says the damage could have been worse if the storm had brought high winds along with the hail.

Roethle says it will still be a good crop for apple lovers to choose from, dents and all.

Early-season apples such as Paula Red and Zestar are ready to be picked, while other varieties such as McIntosh, Cortland and Honeycrisp are still a couple of weeks away.