Diversity comes in the form of 450 varieties of organic apples in one place as the Salt Spring Island Apple Festival returns Sunday to Fulford Hall in Ganges.
It’s the 17th year of the event, which organizers tout as a chance for mortals to visit apple heaven while still on earth. The island’s connection with apple orchards dates back to the 1860s, when it supplied Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island markets.
“We have the biggest selection of apple varieties in Canada in one place,” said Harry Burton, founder of the event.
Tables at Fulford Hall will groan with the weight of the many displays. About 20 farms will be open to the public on the day of the festival, where visitors will have a chance to sample many of the varieties they saw at the hall
Looking for a particular variety? A photo of each will be shown on the Apple Festival website, and organizers can connect apple-lovers with the tree that grows that particular variety.
People can buy the trees from the apple farmers. Some dwarf varieties are already potted and available immediately, while others must be ordered for pickup in the spring.
Trees can take up to five years before they produce fruit.
“I call it the five-year itch,” said Burton, owner of Apple Luscious Organic Orchard. “Because I am itching to find out what it will taste like.”
He is also on a mission to get people to try less-than-perfect-looking apples.
“Some apples might look ugly, but the taste will blow you away,” he said.
Apple experts will be on hand for consultation, and can help identify apples brought to the festival.
If you like apple pies, you are in luck. The Pie Ladies will offer a wide selection of baked apple pies made with specific varieties. Last year, there were 26 varieties to choose from. Buy by a slice or a whole pie or mix and match six slices to make up one pie.
Other desserts, such as apple tarts and cookies, will also be available.
If you get tired of tasting apples, you can purchase lunches prepared by island chefs or savour other locally produced food, such as cheese, wine, beer and, of course, cider.
Face painting, even for adults, is available.
Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students and free for children. The event runs from 9 to 5 p.m. Oct. 2 at Fulford Hall, 2591 Fulford Ganges Rd. and at various orchards (a map of participating farms is not released until 9 a.m. Sunday). Tickets are available at Fulford Hall and the Ganges Tourist Information Centre, 121 Lower Ganges Rd. For more information, go to saltspringapplefestival.org.
You’re invited to try fresh-hop beers at Centennial Square
Fresh to Death kicks off B.C. Craft Beer Month with an opportunity to sample 20 fresh hop beers from around the province, on Saturday at Centennial Square.
Fans of craft beer typically salivate as fall nears, because it signals the annual harvest of the mighty hop. Craft breweries travel to hop farms all around the province to collect fresh hops still wet and juicy from the harvest. They then race back to their breweries to brew a batch of special fresh-hop (or wet-hop) beers.
“Using fresh hops can add a really distinct character to the brew,” said Joe Wiebe, the host of the event, in its second year. “It can vary greatly from brewer to brewer, and the hops also come from different farms.”
He said that the event is an opportunity for various breweries to showcase their skills in creating this seasonal beer. The brew can range from the popular India Pale Ale to other ales.
Participants include local, Vancouver Island and mainland breweries: Bomber, Dageraad, Dogwood, Driftwood, Fernie, Four Mile, Hoyne, Lighthouse, Longwood, Old Yale, Postmark, Spinnakers, Steel & Oak, Strathcona, Tree, Wolf and others.
This is the first year the event is to be held at Centennial Square and Wiebe believes that it will lead to more walk-ups. More than 300 people attended last year’s event.
The event is put on by the Victoria Beer Week Society and sponsored by Liquor Plus.
Tickets are $25 and include entry, a four-ounce glass sampler and three drink tickets, each good for one serving. Additional samples are available for $1.75 each. The event runs from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday in Centennial Square. Tickets are available online at freshtodeath2016.eventbrite.ca.
Youngsters can get free stamps at VICPEX show
Children are eligible to receive free stamps just by attending the VICPEX 2016 Stamp and Postcard Show, Saturday and Sunday at the Comfort Inn.
This is the 77th year of the event, hosted by members of the local stamp-collecting community. It is one of a number of events hosted annually by stamp-collecting clubs from Greater Victoria and Vancouver Island.
Members at this weekend’s event will set up displays of their collections to compete for one of 11 trophies awarded at the show, including Most Popular Exhibit and Junior Trophy.
Dealers from Alberta and B.C. will also be on hand to buy, sell or appraise stamps and postcards.
Admission is by donation. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Comfort Inn, 3020 Blanshard St.
For more information, go to vicstamps.com.
Park walks look at birds, spiders
Learn about spiders and birds during guided walks offered by CRD Parks at two regional parks Saturday and Sunday.
Geoffery Newell is a CRD guest naturalist at Birds of Beechey Head, a guided hike for participants age nine and older on Saturday. Walk up Beechey Head at East Sooke Regional park to observe raptors during their fall migration.
The event is free and runs from 9 a.m. to noon at the East Sooke park. Meet at the Aylard Farm parking lot off Becher Bay Road.
Don’t tell anyone suffering from arachnophobia (fear of spiders) that anywhere they walk in B.C., they will always be less than a metre away from a spider.
Arachnophobes probably won’t be anywhere near Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park on Sunday as CRD Parks presents Spectacular Spiders, a guided walk for those five and older.
The walk will be hosted by guest naturalists Claudia and Darren Copley, who will take people on an hour and a half expedition in search of spiders — and more.
The activity is free to join — meet at the Beaver Lake Nature Centre, off the main parking lot of Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park at 2 p.m. The park is on B.C. Transit route #70 and #72.
Participants are advised to arrive 10 minutes before the start of the program and leave pets at home. For more information, go to crd.bc.ca/parks.
Royal B.C. Museum hosts family night
The Royal B.C. Museum is offering themed events in October that showcase the diversity of its collection.
October kicks off with Night at the Museum, a family sleepover that allows participants to explore the Mammoths! Giants of the Ice Age exhibition without the crowds, go on a midnight behind-the-scenes tour and wake up with morning yoga. Tickets are $80 (10 per cent discount for members). The event starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
On Sunday, museum biologists Claudia Copley, Darren Copley and Robb Bennett go into the field on a search for local spiders during Fieldtrippers: Spider Sunday! The event is by donation. It runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Beaver Lake Nature Centre, (located next to the main parking lot) at Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park.
On Wednesday, drop in for a free lunch-time lecture, Live @ Lunch: Invertebrate Collections. Heidi Gartner, collections manager for the museum, will share what she discovered while researching in the field during the summer.
The event is free. It runs from noon to 1 p.m. Oct. 5 in the Community Room (right behind Sequoia Coastal Coffee) at the museum, 675 Belleville St. For more information, go to royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
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