Future Good Fruit Grower of the Year?

Kai Phelan Hanrahan gets an early taste of the fruit-growing business, encountering his first apple and his first issue of Good Fruit Grower magazine at the tender age of eight days.

Kai, born April 10 this year, is the first child of Ines and Mark Hanrahan. Mark is a second-generation orchardist, growing cherries, pears, apples, and grapes in Washington’s Yakima Valley. Ines, who is from Germany, first visited Washington as part of an agricultural exchange and worked at Peters Orchard in Wapato. She later earned a doctorate in postharvest physiology from Washington State University and now works as a project manager for the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission.

After the birth, the couple saved the placenta and planted a cherry tree on top of it.

Kai goes to work with his parents and napped through his first orchard tour in June.

Excellent Magazine

The Good Fruit Grower magazine has received a 2007 APEX Award for publication excellence from Writing That Works. The magazine received an Award of Excellence in the category "Most Improved Magazines and Journals," which takes into account improvements in content as well as looks. The competition attracted almost 5,000 entries.

Good Fruit Grower’sredesign, which was launched a year ago, was executed in collaboration with Ayers/ Johanek Publication Design, Inc., of Bozeman, Montana.

The Good Fruit Grower was established in 1946 and is owned by the Washington State Fruit Commission. It is published 17 times a year.