On a recent trip to the Similkameen Valley, the new Executive Director of the Steveston Historical Society, Chris Mathieson, was given a wonderful collection of just-picked heritage apples. They won’t keep for long, so we’d like to share them while they’re at their best. Join him at London Heritage Farm for a short talk, then a tasting of as many different varieties as he can slice.
Before coming to Steveston, Chris spent twelve years running the Grist Mill and Gardens Historic Site in Keremeos, a provincial heritage site with its own heritage orchard. Some of the trees there came from Bill Parsons, an Oliver orchardist who donated 25 heritage apple trees before he died in 1990. Looking after the collection of nearly a hundred varieties gave Chris a love for old apples, and for how much history each one carries.(It also didn’t hurt that his neighbour in the Similkameen was the inventor of the Ambrosia apple variety!)
North America alone has more than 10,000 named apple varieties. They come in an incredible range of tastes, textures and colours, and each one survived because somebody wanted it: for cider or pies, for keeping through the winter, for a local taste, or because a chance seedling happened to turn out well. We’ll taste our way through some of them, with a dozen or more varieties available to try.
The talk part of the presentation takes about 20 minutes, and the whole event is about an hour. Most of it will be standing, and the tasting may move out to the patio if the weather cooperates.
This is a thank-you to the people who support our two organizations, so it isn’t open to the public. Space is limited to 30 people, and spots go in the order RSVPs come in.
