"CENTRAL LAKE, Mich. -- This year's Michigan apple crop is expected to be 10 times as plentiful as last year's puny output."

"While the big bounce-back is welcomed in the nation's third-largest apple-producing state, the bounty presents its own challenges: How do growers, packers and processors maximize storage to avoid flooding stores with the fruit, thus crashing the market and lowering growers' profits?

The answer, as it turns out, lies in getting the apples to go to sleep — and stay that way.

Two techniques — one relatively new, the other a play on time-tested refrigeration — are keeping apples fresh and flavorful longer than ever, with some varieties 'sleeping' for as many as 9 to 10 months to keep consumers happy until the next harvest."

Mike Householder and John Flesher report for the Associated Press November 9, 2013. [2]