Apples, cider and pumpkins: Celebrate fall at Ciderfest

By Anneli Fogt • October 3, 2017 1:30 am
hildren from Vashon’s Creative Preschool press apples into cider during a field trip to Limping Duck Farm last Thursday. There will be multiple places to press apples during Ciderfest on Saturday. The Vashon Island Fruit Club will have presses, including a children’s press, at Vashon Village; the Vashon Island Growers’ Association (VIGA) will have a bring-your-own-apples press at the Vashon Farmers Market, and Limping Duck will have its press available. (Anneli Fogt/Staff Photo)
hildren from Vashon’s Creative Preschool press apples into cider during a field trip to Limping Duck Farm last Thursday. There will be multiple places to press apples during Ciderfest on Saturday. The Vashon Island Fruit Club will have presses, including a children’s press, at Vashon Village; the Vashon Island Growers’ Association (VIGA) will have a bring-your-own-apples press at the Vashon Farmers Market, and Limping Duck will have its press available. (Anneli Fogt/Staff Photo)

Over the past week, Vashon Island Fruit Club members and volunteers have gathered nearly 5,000 pounds of apples in preparation for Ciderfest — Vashon’s annual celebration of all things cider.

This Saturday, a variety of activities from cider pressing to hard cider tasting and an apple identification booth will be offered throughout the island. Vashon Island Fire & Rescue will also offer an open house with hot dogs, bouncy houses and a chance to see fire trucks up close.

The annual autumn event is one Vashon -Maury Island Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jim Marsh says is a celebration of not just the apple, but local, sustainable agriculture.

“It’s one of those things that’s really home-spun, — really Vashon-spun,” he said. “It was kind of grown out of the fact that we have three world-class cideries and a very active fruit club that has a huge orchard. It’s really what each group wants to bring to it.”

Groups participating in the event include the fruit club, Vashon Island Growers’ Association (VIGA), The Lodges on Vashon, Nashi Orchards, Dragon’s Head Cider and Vashon Winery.

Many of the Saturday events will begin at 10 a.m. Near the Lodges and Vashon Village, members of the fruit club will press those 5,000 pounds of apples and sell an assortment of apple-related goods. Fresh cider will be available for $5 for a half-gallon, homemade apple crisp slices will be $2 and cups of hot mulled cider will be $1. Apple and pear trees will also be available for purchase. The activities are a fundraiser for the club that now has more than 170 members. Children can also press apples themselves at the Kids’ Press.

A pumpkin patch will also be set up at the Vashon Village with pumpkins provided by VIGA farmers.

Meanwhile, during the Farmers Market at the Village Green, fruit club members, including former professor and “king of apples” Dr. Bob Norton, will help islanders identify the apples growing on their property. Those interested in getting apples identified should bring a few samples of each kind.

Also at the market, there will be a free cider press where islanders can bring their own apples and turn them into cider. It’s the last time the press, which has been at the market since late September, will make an appearance at the market this year.

“There is vast expertise of apples and apple-growing available to all of us amateurs,” Marsh said. “Ciderfest is a good way to get in touch with that.”

Taking a break from the apples, also at 10 a.m., Vashon Island Fire & Rescue will open its doors to the public. Children can meet firefighters, sit in a fire truck and play in a bounce house. Additionally, Airlift Northwest will provide a helicopter for a demonstration.

In the world of hard cider, Nashi Orchards owners Jim Gerlach and Cheryl Lubbert will offer tours of their property on Wax Orchard Road, where they grow six to seven tons of fruit each year, and make cider and perry. The tour begins at 10 a.m. and their tasting room is open until 5 p.m. At Dragon’s Head Cider, a tour of the orchard and cidery just west of town on 107th Avenue will begin at 11 a.m. with tastings until 5 p.m.

At 2 p.m., hard cider tastings will begin at the Lodges. Six Washington cideries — Dragon’s Head Cider, Nashi Orchards, Vashon Winery, Alpenfire (Port Townsend), Snowdrift (East Wenatchee) and Liberty Ciderworks (Spokane) — will pour samples of their ciders. There will also be live music by Fendershine and Som’tet, and Vashon’s Pink Tractor Farm will be offering food for purchase. Entrance fee is $15, which includes a Ciderfest tasting glass and five tickets for cider tastings. The event is a fundraiser for VIGA.

For Vashon Island Fruit Club’s Ron Weston, the festival is a community-wide event that continues to grow from its beginning as a simple fruit club show and highlights what both the fruit club and local producers offer.

“When we first did cider pressing 10 years ago, we thought 1,000 pounds was a lot, but our expectations have risen,” he said addressing the fact that more than 5,000 pounds of apples have been collected both this year and last year. “Cider has a long history and is coming back now after a long hiatus and now we have wonderful ciders being made right here on the island.”

For more information about Ciderfest see vashonchamber.com/pages/VashonCiderFest.