An early harvest has prompted the Grist Mill and
Gardens to pick a different date for Apple Day and
scrambling to find heritage variety apples.
Christ Mathieson, manager of the Grist Mill
said because harvest is about two to three weeks
early he’s decided to move Apple Day up from
Thanksgiving Monday to September 20 the same
day as the Heritage Fall Fair.
“Everything is insanely early. It’s not a bad thing
but it’s weird,” he said. “For us it creates a problem
because our Apple Day is usually the middle of
October but there won’t be a lot of heritage apples
in their prime at that time.”
There are about 40 different varieties of heritage
apples in the Grist Mill orchard but only about 20
made fruit this year.
Mathieson said Apple Day is a chance to educate
people about all the different apples that were once
grown, so he’s hoping local orchardists or even people
that might have a tree or two in their backyard
might contact him so their apples can be on display.
“Nowadays you only see a few varieties of
apples in grocery stores, the commercial varieties
that everyone knows. We want to educate people
about kinds they’ve never even heard about before,”
he said.
Although changing the date means Grist Mill
goers will have an apple jam packed day September
20, Mathieson said he needs to find some new volunteers
to help that day.
“A lot of the people that would usually help will
be out in the orchards,” he said.
Activities that day include delicious apple pie
contest, the apple race down the creek, apple displays
and maybe even bobbing for apples.
The second annual Heritage Fall Fair will be held
the same day.
Judges will be busy inspecting entries in categories
from preserving, baking, produce, flower
arrangement and more.
“It’s a fun day. It’s a chance for everyone to
showcase what they do,” he said