I received an email from a publicist earlier this month, declaring that “February is National Apple Month.”
While I tend to raise an eyebrow at these thematic “months” (can I declare that March is Baby Toe Month?), I couldn’t very well ignore APPLE MONTH!
Why? Because apples are a big deal to the Stevenson siblings, above (Jacob, Reb, Zach).
In 1985, Jack Stevenson (our dad) purchased a 5-acre plot of land in Parksville, B.C. with the intention of starting a commercial apple orchard. His ultimate goal was to quit teaching high school science (no more frog dissections? How could he?) and retire on a fruity fortune.
At first, it was known simply as “The Land,” but, realizing that this creative title may fail to entice hordes of hungry customers, my parents arrived at “Applejack Orchard” instead.
When the backhoes, hacksaws, nail files and other tools of destruction had done their thing, 2000 trees went in. We had 18 varieties in all, including Jonagold, Royal Gala, Empire and Cox’s Orange Pippin. Then the onerous jobs began. Over the years, these included glamorous activities such as:
- “Rock picking” – plucking rocks of assorted sizes out of the ground with your bare hands and tossing them onto a mother pile
- Drip emitter weeding – liberating the irrigation system from a weedy embrace
- Spreading fertilizer – using a wheelbarrow and empty yogurt container
- Spreading sawdust – using a wheelbarrow and a man-size shovel
- Apres-pruning – gathering twice as many twigs as your body mass and dragging them up the orchard like some kind of spiny monster
Then there was the apple harvest itself, the highlight of which was getting through a session without unwittingly grabbing an apple that had a wasp burrowed into a hole on the posterior side of the fruit.
Our parents didn’t spare us, even though we probably had a legal right to resist forced employment. Of course we’d have preferred to play Super Mario 3 all day long, but we had to defend the family honour!
Also, we got paid a small wage and this was crucial. If I wanted the Young Guns 2 soundtrack on high tech cassette tape (not saying I did………..), I had to pick apples for hours. Zach, in a weaker moment, even struck a deal to shovel sawdust for individual baseball cards.
Sometime after I left for university, disease destroyed Applejack Orchard. But I am so grateful for the experience.
Whenever I look at apples (good, organic apples…not waxy McIntoshes. Never waxy McIntoshes), I’m reminded that they taught me the following:
- that physical labour, in the fresh air, feeds the human spirit
- that the soil is incredibly bountiful
- that russet apples, though ugly as sin, are the best tasting
- that you have to work for money
- that my dad is a very dedicated and enterprising man
- that Billy The Kid was shot down….in a blaze of glory
Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, it taught me to not fear scab. Seriously people, just bite right into that crap.
In remembrance of Applejack Orchard, here are a few recipes that the BC Tree Fruits has graciously shared with us.
I just made this delicious Apple Fruit Stew with Vanilla Essence (my pic shown above). It’s great with ice cream or yogurt, or on its own.
These Apple Breakfast Bars also look yummy, but Thai Peanut Dip definitely triumphs in the “weird things to do with apples” category.
If you have a favourite apple recipe, I’d love to hear about it!
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