Well, they bloomed what, 6 weeks early? And, then it was hot, hot, hot, so I guess it's logical they would ripen early. Unfortunately, the drought made them very small. I've observed that sometimes defective fruits ripen first, so maybe the rest will be better.

Yes, I've seen a lot of stressed or infested fruits ripening prematurely, in fear they won't otherwise make it. The ones I picked today, although with some sweetness, had a tough unpleasant flesh. I'd feed them to the pigs, if I had pigs. If the squirrels want them, I won't object.

I've been wanting to get out and thin out the bearing trees in hopes the remaining apples would grow larger, but it's just been too hot.

The temps having dropped out of the 90s, I went out and thinned about half the fruits from the most-stressed tree. Hope it isn't too late.

I wonder if the big boys (apple growers) are having the same issues? You got to wonder around here and then south towards Richland Center (lot of apples grown from this area south) have any way to irrigate? Without giving my trees water I bet they would be near death.