Every year, people around Fredericton grab their friends, their red flannels and a camera to go apple picking. It’s an autumn staple. But what they may not know is the long and illustrious history of apple orchards around the city.
Everett Family Orchard is a U-Pick farm just outside of Fredericton. Owned by the Everetts, the farm has existed for over 200 years.
“It’s interesting, I can name my great grandfather’s and their brothers and sisters right back to the 1700s,” said Chuck Everett. “And, that is satisfying to have that memory or history of what they did and where they went.”
Everett inherited the farm from his father Fred and remembers driving the farm machinery in his early teens in the mid-1960s. He is the eighth generation in his family to own the farm.
“My father who had worked with horses and he flew in the war … he used to tease us about how he would plow fields in his bare feet in spring behind a horse,” he said. “So things have changed a lot since then.”
Maintaining the farm has always been a family affair. Everett’s wife Wyn works in the orchard’s store and their children currently help out at the farm in various ways.
Although he recalls teasing his son-in-law for being “a city guy,” Everett recognizes his contributions as an engineer and the amount of work his family puts into the farm.
“They’ve worked tireless hours to try to pull things together and make unique things happen,” said Everett.
Much like Everett and his family, Vincent Gilmore, the owner of Johnny Appleseed U-pick Orchards, knows what it means to work tireless hours.
Gilmore runs the orchard solely with his wife Crystal and their son helps out when he can. With only two people running the orchard, it can be difficult during peak apple picking season.
“It gets pretty hectic,” said Gilmore. “I’m a delivery driver … I get 40 hours a week just doing that, even in apple picking time, so it’s quite a challenge.”
Johnny Appleseed Orchards dates back to the 1940s. The trees that make up the orchard were planted after the Second World War. Gilmore grew up on his father’s farm which was just down the road, where he recalls picking apples as a child.
Then, in 1984, Gilmore and his father bought the Johnny Appleseed Orchard together — and the rest is history.
“It’s been something I’ve been doing all my life. I probably will until I can’t do it anymore,” said Gilmore. “It’s just a real enjoyable hobby.”
For Gilmore, his experience running the orchard has been “rewarding and challenging.” In the past, Gilmore has had challenges with deer eating his apples and once in 2013 he lost nearly the entire 10 acres of apples due to cold temperatures. This year, the main challenge was Hurricane Lee.
Like Gilmore, Everett experienced the same weather challenges this season. But for Everett, the satisfaction of producing a hearty apple is what matters most.
“It’s really unique when you can look at that fruit and say ‘look how good it looks’ or ‘look how attractive it is for people to pick.’” he said.
Although apple picking season has now come to an end and farmers are preparing for the next picking season, Everett finds enjoyment in looking to the past.
“The history of apple production goes way back and the innovators and things they did in those days are also being practiced today,” said Everett. “There’s a lot of history and it’s really nice to read up on it and understand that.”
