A brief description of an initiative that we hope will provide an incentive
to owners of neglected orchards to restore them.
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Salt Spring Island Community Apple Press Project:
An Agricultural And Cultural Restoration Initiative
With the sponsorship of Seeds of Diversity Canada, the Salt Spring Apple
Cooperative, and other local groups, we are working to install a
non-profit, community apple pressing facility on Salt Spring Island.
The facility will have both large and small apple presses, and a
state-of-the-art flash pasteurization unit for those who wish to sell their
juice, and, eventually, equipment for drying fruit as well. User fees will
cover operating expenses.
This is a project in Agricultural Restoration, a revival of the historical
role of Salt Spring Island, when this island supplied apples and other
produce to the capital city, Victoria (capital, successively, of the Crown
Colony of Vancouver Island, the Crown Colony of British Columbia, and the
Province of British Columbia), and beyond.
There are some 350 varieties of apple growing on Salt Spring Island at the
present time. This aspect of the local economy diminished in the 1920s, but
the time is right to bring it back. The new Apple Coop and the Community
Apple Press facility are the expression of this revival.
With Apple Festivals, we will bring people to the orchards to experience
first-hand the natural, social, and cultural aspects of orchards. Apple
celebrations can take place around taste testing days in September and
October, apple pressing days in October, and apple blossom time in April.
We are extending the concept of experiencing and exploring nature to
include cultivated areas. On Salt Spring, most orchards are maintained with
safe organic methods.
Terry J. Klokeid, Ph.D.
Amblewood Organic Farm
Fulford Harbour BC
E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
