Every Fall the UBC botanical Gardens hosts the Apple Fest, a celebration of the hundreds of different varieties of apples, the people who grow them, and the people who eat them.
There were many different trees on hand for sale, but the botanical garden also had some beautiful specimens planted around the paths, this one is part of an espaliered "wall" around the vegetable garden.
There were also many apple experts around to answer questions, with lectures and demonstrations on many subjects. I attended this speech on grafting, which is when you fuse a branch of a desired type of tree onto the trunk of an existing tree. I learned that if you grow apples from seed, you have only a 1 in 20000 chance of the apples from your new tree being nice and edible. So almost all apple trees are branches from proven edible varieties grafted onto compatible, existing root stock (like local crabapples trees, or perhaps a dwarf apple tree, if you lack a lot of space.)
The most incredible thing about the apple fest was the tasting tent, where they had dozens of different types of apples to try...
...along with the histories of those apples and friendly volunteers to slice them up so we could taste them. Just look at some of these varieties.
And the absolute winner, in my eyes, for being the most distinct and lasting with its impression...
If you ever get a chance, GO! to this festival, but get there early, or you may miss out on the tasting.
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