UBC Botanical Garden Blog

I ate mostly apples all my life even the seeds which are a special delicacy until the Alar scare. Then I stopped eating them for a few years with the peel or at all. The russets I still eat with the skin as they arent shiny so I hope most of the stuff at the festival is uncontaminated by chemicals. The producers should really inform the consumers if the peel is edible or toxic.
Wild or crab apples from abandoned orchards should be safe as much as anything these days.
They actually make fabulous compote.
Finally if you are terminally ill other than boiled rice or rice water of it the only thing you can still eat is apple compote which is simply boiled peeled apple slices without any other additives.
Not apple sauce or juice as those have added or highly concentrated sugars which arent beneficial.
If you cant enjoy that then your hour has come.
An apple a day does keep the doctor away and a bowl of apple compote the grim reaper.

Sales at the apple festival, I think, are roughly 50/50 organic vs. non- (and if not that proportion, then no higher than 2:1 non-organic vs. organic). Some apples are only available as organic, and vice versa; this also varies year to year depending on when particular crops are ripe.

This isn't about the "write-up or photos", but about the Apple Festival itself. I was there with my husband and two visitors from England this morning, and I must say it was very disappointing. First, the parking is a horror story. By the time we had parked in the designated lot and waited for the free shuttle to take us to the Botanical Gardens, 45 minutes had passed. We had to pay $5.00 for the parking but the attendant assured us that this covered the entrance fee. When we finally got to the garden, we found there was an entrance fee of $2.00 per person, and that the parking fee was in addition to this fee. We then looked around amidst a HUGE crowd of people and found that, basically, there was virtually nothing to see that didn't cost more money. Want to sample apples? That'll be $3.00 please. Want to buy a small bag of apples? That'll be $6.00 please, $8.00 if they're organic (this, in addition to the entrance fee). They even had someone on duty at the entrance to the apple market making sure you had paid your $2.00 before they allowed you in to spend more money on apples!
Elsewhere, they featured apple pie...at $4.00 a slice! There were candied apples, apple juice, dried apples (small bag for $5.00), plus the usual hamburgers (with meat from a meat-packing plant in Alberta), kiosk of sandwiches, muffins, coffee, etc, all of which cost yet more money, of course. So what was there to see or do for free? There was a room with samples of many different kinds of apples, each neatly labelled and with big signs everywhere saying "Do Not touch the Apples". The man behind this display must have been there only to make sure no one touched the apples, because he wasn't able to answer my question (which was, why don't we see any of these varieties for sale, as none were familiar to me). He immediately pointed out that I WOULD see "Pink Lady" for sale. OK, but what about the other two hundred or so varieties? "Ah, well, there are many reasons........" followed by silence. Well, thanks for for such a complete explanation.
There was a further display of diseased apples, also neatly labelled. A man and woman were behind a desk answering questions about people's apple trees. Just outside a large group of people watched a man crushing apples in a bucket with a broom stick handle. There was a tent with a number of chairs in position for some sort of "talk", but that wasn't happening when we went by. That was it for anything free. We then stood in line, yet again, for 30 minutes to make our way back to the Parkade. Total spent: $5.00 (parking) $8.00 entrance fees, $5.00 (coffees) $5.00 (small bag of dried apples).
My husband described it as "Disneyland crowds, without any rides or anything to see." My English visitors, after asking me if I had ever been before, described it as "the worst of any English weekend outing, which we try to avoid when at home. There must be an awful lot of really bored Vancouverites," they said.
I have a suggestion or two, though. Why on earth the "apple tasting" tent is so far from the "apple selling" area, I can't understand. By the time you get to the "selling" area from the "tasting" area, you've forgotten the name of the ones you liked. I expected that we would get an opportunity to taste a particular apple (a small piece...it doesn't need to be expensive), ask questions about the orchard, how and why they grow the particular type of apple and, if we really liked it, buy a bag. We looked around the "selling area" but had no idea what any of the apples might taste like. Some of them described themselves in terms of other, more familiar, apples ("somewhat like red delicious, but sweeter with honey overtones" etc). That doesn't really give nearly as much information as tasting a bit would do. Besides, they all seemed to describe themselves as "juicy", "sweet" and "crunchy". Oh, really?
I'm afraid we found this apple festival a disappointment and a waste of time. One visit was more than enough, and I certainly won't be back next year.

Sorry to hear that you and your guests did not enjoy the Apple Festival. It is always very busy and the organizers do their best to make this fundraising event a great experience for everyone -- no small feat!! We hear a lot about people's good experiences over the weekend but feedback like your helps us to continually improve the event.

Yes, thank you Meg Smith for your honest comments. I too am sorry you did not have a pleasant experience. I have worked at the garden for four years and my experience of the Apple Festival has been so different. I had attended an apple festival where I had lived previously in the USA. There, after paying admission, there were only 5 or 6 apple varieties to purchase (the same local varieties that were always available), a bunch of arts and crafts vendors, festival food vendors and a stage for local performers. When I came to UBC and saw around 200 varieties on display and tasted 50+ varieties in the tasting tent and had the opportunity to buy incredibly rare apple varieties that I have never seen for sale anywhere before or since, I was truly impressed.

This year was a bit different. The $2 fee was added to cover costs (note the normal admission fee to the garden is $7.) The beautiful sunny weather brought people out in very large numbers and by around 2:30PM the second day the apples had sold out. For the people who came at the end, I think it would have been somewhat disappointing.

I like the suggestion of moving the apple tasting closer to the selling--although I see that as quite a logistical challenge. It would be really nice if there were a way to expand the tasting. Parking was more difficult this year as well, because the closer lots normally used were closed due to construction. But parking is rarely free or easy in Vancouver.

There seemed to be enough activities for children, but perhaps some more talks, slide shows or apple related contests could be arranged for future festivals. I am sure the organizers would love suggestions and feedback.

I must concur with Meg. Imagine - we had to pay a fee to buy some apples! That's like going to a supermarket and paying for the privilege of shopping. And on top of that, by the time we made it to the garden and back, most of the apples were sold. If the purpose is to fund-raise for the Garden, then I certainly don't mind paying to get into the events' section, but certainly not for the opportunity to buy apples.

This is the 3rd time we've attended. The first year my husband and I both remarked how nice it would be if the Garden worked with the Public Dreams people, or at least the Music and Theatre Department at UBC and really turned it into a festival that celebrated the apple. The next time, we only bought apples. This time we thought we would revisit the Garden section. I hate to say it but nothing has improved, except that you have more ways to cost me money. Certainly the use of the garden space has expanded, but those who attend are clearly looking for a way of celebrating community as much as the apple.

The displays are interesting but should be more interactive (booths rather than long lines of tables. The setup prevents much discussion). The apple has a long history and an interesting geography. Certainly there could be embassies or merchants that could donate toward their country/products promotion.

I would like to say that the volunteers should be commended for their devotion to the Garden. And, I would like add that I understand that there are some financial problems left behind by your previous university president, but I hope that the university's efforts to recover from that deficit aren't going to hamper the opportunity to truly develop community with events such as these.