October 2018 – Chester Garden Club

Apples Anyone ?

By beh6134 | October 26, 2018

We all enjoy apples for attributes like great flavour, crunch and versatility. Have you ever wondered where apples come from?

Dr. David Maxwell had members and guests full attention as he described his passion to help ensure heritage varieties continue to grow and produce.

He guided us along explaining the botany and history, as well as the factors determining the ascendance and eclipse of particular cultivars using visual examples of treasured varieties, many that he grows.

Apples originated in Kazakhstan where they grow as small as grapes and as large as pumpkins. They need to be humanly grafted on suitable root stock to reproduce. There are more than 12000 named cultivars that have been selected for climate, purpose, season, keeping, disease resistance, resistance to shipping, taste and modern marketing. For example a recent cultivar, the Honey Crisps, were created by market demand for large size, sweetness, colourful appearance and, of course, crispness. We all have our personal preferences for eating and cooking and some were surprised to learn that Bramleys are the premier cooking apple of the world.

Click on any picturefor a slide show

After his informative presentation on the attributes of apples, Dr. Maxwell treated members to a variety of tastes of apples, apple crisp, apple sauce, apple jelly and apple cider. Members enthusiastically took up the challenge to discover which apple tastes they preferred, choosing from over 15 varieties.

Apple anyone?

Opportunities

By beh6134 | October 14, 2018

The Nova Scotia Association of Garden Clubs is an organization made up of Garden Clubs, Horticultural Societies, and Speciality Plant Societies from 7 districts across Nova Scotia. Chester Garden Club is one of seven clubs in District 6, the south shore. Each year, one club in each district takes a turn and hosts a meeting, inviting members of all clubs in the district to attend.

On October 13^th, two members from our club were among 25 guests of Liverpool Garden Club. In a warm, friendly, relaxed atmosphere we were welcomed and enjoyed and challenged by two excellent presentations.

Speaker Emily Liot’s topic was Composting. Her passion is Red Wigglers. – Vermi-culture.

Mary Lou White spoke passionately about the needs in Nova Scotia regarding Food Security. She described the issues and her support and work building and encouraging Community Gardens, providing education and giving families hope for more in the future than food banks.

IMGP8183 Door prizes included garden produce and other gardening related items.

Following a delicious lunch we were encouraged to visit Cosby’s Garden Centre and take a walk through the fall foliage to view the incredible work of Nova Scotia sculptor, Ivan Higgins.

Thanks to Liverpool Garden Club we had fun,we learned and we were challenged to create and also to support ways to make a difference for others in our communities and province.