Conservation of Heritage Apples. Sadie Barrett
Saturday, October 28th.
1 PM
Limited Space. Register today.
Members: $20. Non Members: $25.
Did you know that the first apple tree planted in Montana was planted in 1866 in the Bitterroot Valley? The apple tree is part of our food culture. We are very happy to wrap up 'Apple Camp Month' with a presentation by Sadie Barrett.
The Story:
Sadie Barrett has a life long history with apple trees. She spent her childhood years roaming an old apple orchard on a remote forest service homestead. And, apple trees came back into her life in her adulthood. Observing the alarming rate of old trees disappearing, she began grafting trees and eventually founded the Idaho Heritage Tree Project, eventually including Bitterroot apples. Having visited homesteads and orchards in remote and urban locations, sampling fruit from thousands of trees and grafting from about 75-100 of the best varieties, Sadie has been very active in education and conservation. From her work, about 1,000 grafted apple trees have been redistributed back into local orchards and back yards. Sadie believes that every apple has a highest and best use. "No apple should go to waste"
The Talk: In our 90+ minutes with this luminary in the field of apple tree conservation, we will:
Learn the historic significance of apples in our food culture
Discuss the characteristics of apples and how every apple has a purpose
Sample different varieties and place them in one or more category
Train our palate to recognize specific characteristics
Understand how we can help in the effort of conserving a crop that flourishes in the Bitterroot Valley
Turn the apple tree in your yard that currently just feeds the deer into a local, valuable resource! If you have an apple you would like to know what the best purposes are, then bring one gallon (ziplock bag) of your apples, label if you know the variety and we’ll sample and categorize it along with the rest of the samples.
