Apple picking in Prince Edward County, October 2007Even I, a newcomer to the County, recall that days when locals could wake up after a windy night and race over to the nearest orchard for $4 per bushel windfall apples. How I miss those days! Many of the orchards are now "bigger business" than they used to be; and often associated with the rapidly expanding viticulture industry in the area.
For those who are not aware, Prince Edward County is "the new" Niagara region, after some entrepeneurial sort noticed two things; that the county has been blanketed with wild grapes for decades, and that the soil (in the Hillier region especially) is pretty much identical to the soil in high wine-producing areas of France. I highly recommend the book "A Fool and Forty Acres" by Geoff Heinricks for those who want insight into a small winery start up by a fellow from TO. It is warm, inviting, informative and replete with county gossip and lore. Here is the publisher's short for the book:
About this Book
foreword by Jamie Kennedy
A Fool and Forty Acres is Heinricks’ beautifully written account of leaving behind the rat race, slowing life down, and establishing an intimate relationship with one small parcel of land in a magical corner of Canada.
You won’t find Prince Edward County on any map of the world’s great wine regions. Yet it is to this dollop of rolling limestone in eastern Lake Ontario that Geoff Heinricks brought his young family in pursuit of a dream of creating a truly world class wine. The County, as the locals call it, is a long way from the Niagara Peninsula, and three thousand miles from Burgundy, yet Heinricks and a few hardy souls like him claim that their wines will one day rival those of the legendary French province.
A self-described 21st-century peasant, Heinricks follows the seasons in his vineyards with exquisite attention, from digging the earth, to grafting and planting the vines, to trellising and pruning, to tending the young grapes, to harvesting the fruits of his labours. Along the way, he sketches the human history of the area, the native peoples whose tools and clay shards are heaved up by the soil, and the United Empire Loyalists, whose tidy barns and farmhouses still dot the landscape today.
He also presents a cast of his colourful County neighbours: from old-school farmers to refugees like him from the city, convinced in the wisdom of producing and consuming locally the very best food and wine in harmony with the land.
Anyway, back to apple picking and things of family concern :). We joined our friends the Cylka family and the MacKay family the weekend before Thanksgiving for our traditional hike into the orchard. Here are some photographs:
Claire and her best friend Angie digging in!
"A-tisket, a-tasket, fresh apples in a basket ..." Alison and Brenna.
"He did it!" Iain and Ben.
Alison and our buddy "Eli"
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