Apple and Pear Harvest Field Day

Anyone heading up to Washington in October might be interested in this event--

 

*Apple and Pear Harvest Field Day *

The Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation (WWFRF) presents its Apple
and Pear Harvest on Saturday, October 12, 2013, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at
the Washington State University Northwest Washington Research and Extension
Center (WSU-NWREC), 16650 State Route 536, Mount Vernon, Washington.

Hosted in cooperation with WSU-NWREC, this year’s event will have talks
about cider (non-alcoholic), apple diseases, and orchard pest management.
Cider tasting, and sampling of heirloom apples such as Ashmead’s Kernel and
Blue Pearmain will be followed by an open orchard event for you to find and
pick your favorite apples and pears.  The WWFRF Fruit Display Garden
contains one of the largest and most varied collections of antique apple
trees in western Washington. Free to members of WWFRF; Non-members: $15
Single or $30 Family. Go to www.nwfruit.org for more information.

The Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation (WWFRF) was
created in 1991 to help fund the Tree Fruit Varietal Research conducted at
the Washington State Northwest University Research and Extension Center
(WSU-NWREC). WWFRF volunteers are dedicated to supporting research and
educating the public on the special fruit growing conditions found in the
Pacific Northwest region.

September Meeting

The Medford's garden tour was great, almost like a trip back east...

But first we ate--and drank a lovely glass of homemade grape (it's a fruit group after all). It was kind of a European lunch lasting about three hours! Lots of story telling and laughing. THEN we spent another couple of hours wandering in the yard, and could have spent more time but it was 5:30. Jim and Effie just don't know how to say git!

 What became apparent as we strolled was how much more water Jim has than most East Mountain folks. We peered into an old stone faced well, and the water level was only about 12 feet down (and used to be higher). Multiple springs used to flow through the property, and several are still intermittent. There is a small year round pond complete with six huge carp, and again the water level is lower than it used to be, but bog plants like cattails, willow and horsetail that surround the area testify to the water table. A lower spillover pond is popular with the local bears, and scat and deep prints were unnervingly plentiful. A flock of turkeys are also daily visitors.

Green grass, split rail fence, an orchard of mature fruit and nut trees, a towering weeping willow--it might almost be Virginia except the mountain backdrop is a lot higher than the Blue Ridge.

The Medfords have a variety of apple trees, peaches, English and black walnut, butternut, even elderberry. Besides the fruit, they have planted many other trees including honeylocust, and the prettiest redbud I've seen in New Mexico--also the tallest trumpet vine I've seen up here, at least twenty feet up a dead tree. There are roses, iris, lilacs, columbines, patches of snow-on-the-mountain that took me back to my grandmother's garden in Kentucky.

The property is so verdant and unlike New Mexico, it's being used for a TV pilot. The buildings on the 28 acres will be part of the film too, including the main house, barn, and cabin. A structure that predates WWII (and my favorite part of the tour) is their root cellar, jammed with Effie's canning. They've never lost a jar to freezing which is more than I can say.

We had a lot of fun, visiting, joking (when pressed for the varieties of apples, Jim said "well, there's red ones and green ones."), at least I think he was joking. Hopefully, our meeting next month will be another good one. Dwight is thinking we'll try to visit Los Alamos, and Martha's garden before the weather turns. We'll see you then...

2013 Salt Island Apple Festival

Any of you who read Pomona, the NAFEX publication, have heard of the Salt Spring Island Apple Festival. In fact, they donated the beautiful poster to be raffled at our very first meeting. I confess I long to attend their event--maybe next year. Anyway, perhaps some of you will be in the northwest the end of this month so I'm posting this from Harry Burton's email.

 

 

The Salt Spring Island Apple Festival, Sunday, Sept 29th from 9 to 5 PM.   A CELEBRATION OF THE APPLE DIVERSITY OF SALT SPRING ISLAND, BC

Visit Apple Heaven while you are still alive.  Salt Spring grows over 350 varieties of apples ORGANICALLY.  We celebrate that at the Apple Festival--A great way to connect with APPLES.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

1) All profits are directed back into worthwhile projects, which are shown in this file.  Disbursements 2013 shows where all proceeds from the last Apple Festival (2011) until now have been disbursed.    

2)  There are over 1000 photos from the 2011 Salt Spring Apple Festival shown on the website 

       saltspringapplefestival.org

 We did not have a 2012 Apple Festival due to a caterpillar invasion.

 

3)  Want some fun?  Here is a  Time Lapse of The Apple Display Set up for the 2010 Salt Spring Island, BC  Apple Festival

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWCIt4Dbhx0 (Preview)

Play

(Show link)

Apple Festival Time Lapse

SSIAppleFestival

Captured in this fascinating time lapse, watch our coordinated annual ballet of community volunteers setting up the 2010 Salt Spring Island Apple Festival's 296 apple varieties (alphabetically!), the vendor setup and strike at the end of the day. About 5 minutes of delight. You will love this event.

(Show link)

 

APPLE  LUSCIOUS  ORGANIC  ORCHARD

Growing over 200 connoisseur apple varieties

Certified Organic by IOPA (#902)

Harry  Burton

110 Heidi Place

Salt Spring Island, BC  

1)  Website:

www.appleluscious.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) Apple Luscious Video Channel:  

youtube.com/user/AppleLusciousOrganic

Facebook Search: harry.burton.1428

Contact Person for CAPTAIN APPLE.

The  14th Annual Salt Spring Island Apple Festival

Theme:   SO MANY APPLES; SO LITTLE TIME, BUT TAKE TIME TO TASTE THE APPLES ALONG THE WAY.

 

Sunday, Sept 29, 2013

A chance to visit Apple Heaven while still on earth!

Growing over 350 apple varieties

ORGANICALLY.

1)  Apple Festival Website: saltspringmarket.com/apples/

2)  Apple Festival PAST HIGHLIGHTS  (NEW):  www.saltspringapplefestival.org

  

3)  Apple Festival Video Channel:  youtube.com/user/SSIAppleFestival/videos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NAFEX Library Coming to New Mexico Fruit Explorers!!!

We're very excited! Dwight just learned that the NAFEX Board of Directors has agreed to send the NAFEX Library to our New Mexico Fruit Explorers group. Dwight (and probably Pat?) are making arrangements to go to Arkansas to pick up the materials from the current curator.

The NAFEX library contains hundreds of references about fruit--books, journals, research materials--many out of print and/or rare. The materials were available to members for a small loan fee. The library also held back issues of the NAFEX publication, Pomona. Much of this material is now available online, and the Board was reluctant to continue with the library, but Dwight persuaded them that such a collection of print materials should not be broken up.

Rain!!!

Picking rhubard

Dwight and Pat have had over 4" of rain this week. Dwight reports the meeting is still on for tomorrow at Jim's (he had an inch). The Medfords are at 29 Casa Loma Drive, just off of N-14 between Tijeras and Cedar Crest.  His phone number is 281-5373 if anyone needs directions. Time will be 12:30.

 

If you are going north on N-14, start looking for Casa Loma on the left about two roads past the Burger Boy.

 

We are looking at meeting in Los Alamos in October.  More details will follow.--Dwight

We've had almost 3 inches of rain in four days--what's growing? Everything!!! Found an interesting recipe for rhubarb wine and since we haven't been eating sweets (all my rhubarb ideas) decided to cut back that explosion and turn it into something liquid. The recipe is English though, so am laboriously converting from the metric. You'd think with all the science I had in college, I'd remember how...Jo

September News

September meeting--
September 14 the meeting will be at Jim Medfords, including a tour of their area.  Orchards, vineyard, nut trees and bramble fruit are in an area with springs and water!  It will be well worth coming.  Over the next week give me an RSVP if you know for sure that you can or cannot come.

 

The Medford's place is on N-14 between Tijeras and Cedar Crest.  I'll post directions and phone numbers next week.bLooking forward to seeing everyone.        Dwight

p.s.:  The bears have agreed to take the day off!

Anyone want to host a group of schoolchildren? Email me and I'll send it on.

I am an orchardist and a teacher up in Penasco and am always so busy that I have been unable to make it out for any of the meetings.  What I am wondering though is if anyone would be interested in hosting a group of about 20 Kindergarten through third grade students at their orchard/farm for half a day this fall, so that our students could learn about what happens on an orchard especially during harvest.   I am not sure about what would be too far for us to travel any offers at this point are very welcome though. 

Please write me back if you are interested or have questions,

Sam 

Update from Lloyd--congratulations!
Hi Dwight and the Saturday gang; I just wanted the group to know that I
got married 5 weeks ago and I am retiring at the end of this year /Dec.
31 and selling my Fig Tree business and my many, many N.M. fig tree
varieties from collecting these last 10 years historical, heirloom and
stage coach stop fig trees.  If anyone in the group or  anyone you  think
 might be interested is interested in the details just e-mail me.  I'd
very much appreciate it if you could pass this on Dwight. Lloyd Kreitzer,
the fig-man of New Mexico www.landofenfigment.com