Mark Hanrahan cut open a Cosmic Crisp apple on his orchard north of Buena on a hazy morning in mid-September. With a spray of iodine, he could tell by the ensuing coloration the conversion of starch to sugar in the apple. It’s one of a few ways to judge an apple’s maturity and storability.

“It’s still a few weeks out, at least,” he said.

He drove his orchard car — a dusty, well-loved sedan — to a neighboring orchard of Golden Delicious, where the last of the crop was about to be harvested. He also grows cherries and pears, which are his major focuses on the family farm his father started in the 1960s. His mother descended from early hop-growing families in Moxee.

Save for some hot August days, the weather was generally good for fruit across the Yakima Valley. The Washington State Tree F

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