Gotta Have a Spy to Make a Good Pie

October 21, 2024

The 2024 14th annual Cider Fest was the most successful to date. On Saturday, October 19, 180 visitors sipped hot fresh-pressed cider. A record for attendance! We fretted all last week about the rainy, windy forecast. Knowing that the winds would be out of the south, we set up the Fairy Furniture canopy against the shed wall. Volunteers filled gallon milk jugs with water and tied them to the legs of the canopies. We gathered 32 paper weights. Luckily,we escaped rain, it was a little breezy but it was warm and very comfortable! There was something for everyone: hot cider, homemade pies, jam and salsa, a scavenger hunt, music, plants – native and ornamental, Fairy Furniture, hoola hoop, and the bean bag toss.

There is a tense side story to the Fest this year. Would we get Northern Spy apples in time for the Cider Fest pies? But we have a Northern Spy tree at the orchard! Yes, but it produced a huge bounty in 2023 and there were only three on the tree this year. There were three options: Marisha in Olympia had Spy, as did Darren on Bainbridge Island and, sometimes, Jones Farms at the Capitol Hill farmer’s market offered Spy. (You have to call them ahead of time.) For the first time, I had no certainty that I would have Spy for the pies! I was distraught. I was anxious. I was nervous.

Dianne

Back to the main story. Dianne and Jake, dependable ongoing volunteers, stepped up and made a powerful investment of time, energy, and creativity to ensure the 2024 Cider Fest would indeed happen. (Exhausted from the 2024 spring plant sale, I pleaded for someone else to carry the banner for the fall Fest.)

Jake

Northern Spy is a very old-fashioned American variety (New York, est. 1840) and retains popularity on small scale farms, especially in the Northeast. I can still picture my grandmother picking out a giant Spy at the farmer’s market in Lansing. Great eating, great baking and great storage!

When Jake and Dianne took the reins, it was a bit eerie at first. I wondered, why aren’t they asking how to set up the online volunteers sign-up program? Why aren’t there more questions? I didn’t get any emails for quite awhile. Then I emailed to ask if this or that was in process and they would just respond, “Covered.” And covered it was, en punto!

Would I actually see Spy apples? My stomach was a bit knotted up. Three days before the Fest, did I have time to travel to Bainbridge Island to pick up Spy apples? Noooo! Well, how about this: Erin, a volunteer who now lives on the Island, just happened to have an appointment in Seattle on the very day we needed the Spy! What a dream come true. When the apples arrived, I smelled them. Ahhh. Yes. Mmmm. I made my two pies, plus a mini. Delicious!  All is well.

Just after the lively Fest, it took me some time to to put back unsold plants in the nursery. When I finally finished, I walked back to the scene and, to my amazement, all of the equipment was taken down, wiped and either taken away or on the parking strip ready to be picked up. It was thrilling to watch all of the volunteers working above and beyond their assigned duties, all day long.

The next day, I looked in all the boxes for the plastic forks to wash. Dianne had already taken them home to wash them herself. Then I walked to the orchard to pull up the bamboo poles that were holding information signs. Nothing to be done; they had already been pulled and bundled by volunteers.

I felt so relieved that Dianne, Jake, and others were invested in the outcome of this event: thinking through all of the steps, offering suggestions, making lists of outstanding tasks and being available if I had questions or comments. Clearly, I am now out of a job!

Ruth

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Congratulations to the skillful, pleasant, courteous, and efficient 2024 Cider Fest volunteers –

Day of volunteers: Dianne C, Jake W, Nancy H, Jill B, Jamie R, Reid S, Jackie M, Sue H, Ingela W, Lee S, Micah A and company, Philippa L, Lynn P, Cathy D, Renee J, Amy K, Jennifer K, Becky C, Jane G, Joe M,

Musicians: Yoshi T, Keoki T, Johji T, Charlie S, Sydney P

Pre-Fest volunteers: Lee S, Lyr C, Nora L, Kate W, Charlie S, Dianne C, Jake W, Nancy H, Meg J, Erin S, Jana O,

Pie Bakers: Ruth C, Micah A, Cathy D, Jake W, Suzy W, Barb B, Jamie R, Sue H, Kate W, Marilyn, and Jill B

Extra canopy providers: Jen K, Masaaki S,

Extra yard waste providers: Brent C, Emily P