Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Addie, why would they grow apples in a desert? They need plenty of water to make them juicy? I don't know about decades ago, but currently it looks like all apple production is in the western half of the state.
https://maps.google.com/maps?espv=2&biw=1366&bih=635&q=where+in+washington+state+are+apples+grown&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.&bvm=bv.89381419,d.eXY&ion=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&ei=HkUaVZjPJsOmNoG-goAN&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&output=classic&dg=oo
CG, if you look at the map, pick up I90 right at Seattle, go over the Cascades, come down on the other side, head south to Yakima and you will be in the heart of commercial apple orchards. Yakima is right in the desert. There is a major army base also in that area for training desert fighting. It is where we always heading for apple picking. When you first come out of the mountains, you are in hops country. Another major crop for that part of the state. The apple orchards get plenty of water from the snow runoff of the mountains. Plenty of irrigation. I not went over those mountains for apple picking but to stay at my girlfriends in Spokane with is further east than Yakima.
When I was managing an apartment complex in Spanway, I rented only to soldiers from Fort Lewis. At least twice each Fall the soldiers there would have to go to Yakima for training. I hated and loved when they came back. They came back with everything they owned covered in sand and dust that screwed up the washers and boxes of apples. Guess which one I hated and which one I loved.