The fifth annual Festival of Fruit and Piper’s Orchard 120th Anniversary a great success!

On Saturday, September 24th we held a very successful festival, with over 200 visitors, great presentations, apple cider, apple pie, kids crafts, music and a visit to the orchard. The weather was the best we’ve ever had, in the mid 70′s and sunny. We even managed to make the festival very environmentally friendly, due to a total power outage at the park (and surrounding neighborhood) during the festival. Good thing we had a mechanical as well as an electric cider press! Thank you to all the volunteers who helped make the festival a rousing success.

Click here to watch a youtube video about the festival.

Susan Dolan, our keynote speaker, is a historical landscape architect for the National Park Service and gave a fascinating talk about historic orchards in America.

Meanwhile, many hands helped press cider through the mechanical press.

After Susan’s presentation, David Randal Gould, discussed fruit foraging in Seattle. Gail Savina of City Fruit talked about the Seattle Parks orchard stewardship program. And Ken Workman, a descendant of both Chief Seattle and Jesse Hiatt (who discovered the Hawkeye, which became the Red Delicious apple), described the historic Duwamish tribe diet.

Meanwhile, visitors were buying pie and cider at Tillie’s Cafe, apple pies were being judged, kids were making bee houses, music was entertaining the crowd, and visitors were learning the identity of their apples, tasting apples from the orchard, and learning about mason bees and other points of interest.

Finally, it was time to announce the winners of the apple pie contest. First prize was a $50 gift card to Swansons Nursery! Then everyone lined up to buy pie.

In the afternoon, many visitors head up to Piper’s Orchard, where they learned about orchard history, the heirloom variety grapes growing there, permaculture, and organic pest management.

Admittedly I also cleared the back row towards the low edge of the orchard of some brush that would constrict a lawn mower running in between the grapes and the two new trees just planted above the path.

The weather was fine, the buds were bustin’ and the air smelled sweet and strange.

Trent refreshed and rehung the Blue Orchard Mason Bee condo!

Hope to see you June 11 at the next work party.  Meanwhile  always feel  free to move a loose limb or two down the hill into neat stacks by the trail if you have the time and inclination.

The program started with Dr. Bob Norton (a reknowned western Washington apple expert) giving a talk on making hard (and soft) apple cider.

Dr. Bob Norton discusses making cider.

 Meanwhile, apple tasting and cider pressing were going on outside.

The MacLeans provide orchard apples for sampling

Will Morgan feeds the cider press while others examine the output

Kids enjoyed coloring fruit and planting it on the tree

 We also enjoyed listening to Blue Star Creeper.

Blue Star Creeper

Following Dr. Norton’s talk, the pie judging started, and we were introduced to Ken Workman, who is a descendant of both Jessie Hiatt (an Iowan who was the originator of the Hawkeye apple, renamed Delicious) and Chief Seattle.

Ken Workman got Chief Seattle's cheek bones

Next, it was time to announce the results of the pie judging contest. The jury awarded all pies a ribbon, and selected 3 favorites. People lined up to get their pick from Tillie’s Cafe.

After all the pie was gone, people headed up to the orchard to hear presentations about Piper family and orchard history, viticulture and the heirloom grapes planted at the orchard, organic pest management, compost tea at the orchard, and permaculture at the orchard.

Fran Clifton shares Piper family and orchard history.

Andy Zaborski describes what grapes have been planted

We were fortunate to have a group of Boy Scouts help with parking and directions. 

Security staff

Following was the day’s program.

not that there weren’t other distractions …

The grape vines have taken root and are protected and thriving.

It’s looking like there should be a good dozen trees full of apples come harvest!

It was a beautiful day in the orchard.

Time for work and relaxation in Piper's Orchard

May 15th proved to be a glorious spring day for a work party. Don Ricks, following his work with the Good Shepherd Orchard in the morning, led the work party. Volunteers put up pheromone strips and a few trichogramma wasp houses, placed footies on the few apples that were large enough, applied cardboard bands around tree trunks, netted one of the smaller trees, thinned some blossoms and apples, and cleared brush from around the developing grape plants. The 180 pheromone strips placed throughout the orchard will not touch the fruit, are not a pesticide, and only confuse male codling moths by scent.

Volunteers were rewarded by Lori Brakken, president of the Seattle Tree Fruit Society, who provided apple pie and beverages for everyone.

Following are some photos. Thanks to our volunteers.

Pheromone strips, footsox, and other critter deterrents

Don hangs pheromone strips from a tree.

No codling moth here yet

Foot socks / maggot barriers were put on some young apples.

The trichogramma house for wasps that help control codling moths.

Cardboard bands can capture codling moth eggs.

a vintner's tools

The grapes are thriving, they'll need some watering soon.

Andy clears brush away from the grapes.

Fun times in Pipers

We planted Black-eyed Susans, alpine strawberry, wooley yarrow, dark dancer clover, lupine, and more as a guild planting.

‘Guild Planting’ is a permaculture concept whereby one plants certain plants together to benefit each other, and the orchard tree they are planted under, by providing mulch, nutrients, and attracting beneficial insects to help with pollination and protection from pests.

Some of our "Guild planting"

We appreciate Lori Brakken, President of Seattle Tree Fruit Society, for her donation of some of our new plants.

Over the fall and winter months, Andy Zaborski planted several varieties of grapes, all of which were in the Pacific Northwest during the time when Piper’s Orchard was planted. They’re now leafing, and are now accompanied by a bat box with a Mason bee house on it.

New grapes with bat box and Mason bee house

We were able to use the new trail that is being completed from the entrance to Carkeek Park to just north of Piper’s Orchard. The STARS work party was busy Saturday morning graveling the trail.

Gil Schieber Conducting Pruning Workshop

Gil in situ

Looking up from the trail

Pruning the orchard

The Sign Tree

Ladder Trees

Master Apple

The Bat House