Lodge Pole Holds Community Apple Harvest and Encourages Joining One of Montana's Crunch Off Events

 

October 20, 2021

In an apple taste test at the Lodge Pole Orchard, Louwanna LongFox-Flying awarded first place to Honeycrisp, second place to Frostbite, and third place to Ginger Gold.

On Sunday, October 10, the Wasay Wakpa Orchard located in Lodge Pole played host to a harvest day. Several families attended with approximately 50 people served. Beyond the apple picking, the community also harvested the garden and attended Talking Circle or prayer gatherings on the nearby rodeo grounds.

Posters advertising Community Apple Harvest not only encouraged community members to bring their families to pick some fresh apples from 2:00 until 3:30 but offered apple cider floats and a Jump House. Although apple cider floats were served, none of the community's seven Bounce Houses were erected.

"We wanted to be mindful of the windy weather conditions and of COVID restrictions," one event organizer, Randi Wing explained. "Because of the recent spike in county cases, we asked families to wait in their cars until they were called up for their tours. We also had an apple picking demonstration, and some healthy eating facts and recipes were shared."

Addressing health related concerns, Ramona King, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Educator and MSU-Extension Nutrition Education Programmer (NEP) for the Fort Belknap area in Blaine County, also helped to coordinate the apple harvest.

After their orchard tours, attendees drank apple cider floats. "These are similar to a root beer float, only you add ice cream to your cider-be it warm or room temperature," King explained.

Pickers on Sunday reported most enjoying the Honeycrisp and Frostbite apples. Hillary Maxwell, an agent with the Fort Belknap Reservation Extension Office offered this suggestion: "Canning pie filling is a fun way to preserve apples that are abundant right now." She added that she would share the recipe on their Facebook page. Another preservation method, drying apples was described, and Wing said the apple chips can be used to make Apple Nachos by drizzling them with caramel and chocolate sauces.

Maxwell called King and Wing the "two orchard fairies" since they have served as the orchard's most popular spokeswomen.

King explained that the apple-picking day was a Montana Crunch Time event. Montana Crunch Time is a statewide affair intended to celebrate National Farm to School Month by crunching into locally and regionally grown apples in October.

With this event, NEP and SNAP-Ed joined local food enthusiasts in celebrating Farm to School Month. Montana participates in the Mountain Plains Crunch Off each year with Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming to determine who will be crowned the Mountain Plains Region Crunch Champion. The state that gets the most "crunches" into a local apple, or other local produce, per capita will win.

"On October 10, we had a smaller Crunch event at the Wasay Wakpa Orchard in Lodge Pole. Thirty eight community members, from toddlers to grandparents, were able to taste the varieties of locally grown apples," King reported.

King went on to say that this Crunch event encourages healthy eating, supports local agriculture, and helps students and community members gain a deeper understanding of the food system. "We will have a virtual event on our Fort Belknap Extension Office Facebook page on October 20. If you would like to join, please watch our updates so you can help Montana win the Crunch crown by participating in our event," King encouraged. For more information, or to take part in the Crunch, interested people are asked to contact King by emailing ramona.king@montana.edu.

Located in Lodge Pole at an elevation of 3,432 feet, the Wasay Wakpa (Red Paint Creek) is one of several Montana State University research orchards. The orchard is home to eight varieties of apples: Frostbite, Ginger Gold, Goodland, Honeycrisp, Mutsu, Spartan, Sweet 16, and Zestar. Of the thirty two trees initially planted in 2015, four were recorded as dead in 2019: two of the Spartan apple trees, a Ginger Gold, and a Mutsu. Wing recently completed the orchard's research on bloom data, foliar conditions, tree health, and other data points like tree height, trunk circumference, and canopy spread.

Besides apple trees, the orchard features four varieties of pears: Golden Spice, Parker, Patten, and Ure; and two varieties of plums: Mount Royal and Toka. One of the Patten trees and two of the Mount Royal plums have died since planting, but the remaining nineteen trees occasionally produce fruit. Maxwell reported that no pears or plums reached maturity this year due to the drought and proclaimed: "Next year!"

According to Maxwell, approximately 80 trees currently thrive in the orchard. "We are trying two varieties of peaches, Red Haven and Reliance. We'll see if they make it through the winter." A solar-powered pump operates a drip system that delivers four gallons of water to each fruit tree every evening.

In other gardening related business, the Fort Belknap Extension Office reminds all gardeners that now is a good time to obtain a seed catalog to plan for next year. Maxwell shared her recommendation last week: "Request your free 2022 Seed Savers Exchange catalog. This is a great one! And it arrives in December, so you can plan next year's garden during the long, cold winter."

The garden grounds at Lodge Pole has both a walapini (a sunken or pit greenhouse) and a high tunnel greenhouse. Traditional tobacco and other medicinal plants grow in the Community Garden, as well as various vegetables. Fruits like wild raspberries, strawberries, and grapes are also planted here. Near the rodeo grounds, these spaces lend themselves to gathering places.

The Seed Savers Exchange features 25 new varieties and more than 600 other strains of untreated, non-hybrid, non-GMO seeds, including rare seeds from their seed bank. To request a copy, interested persons should visit http://www.seedsavers.org/catalog; catalogs will arrive in mailboxes in December 2021.

This catalog also supports the notion of seed keeping. "We're developing a Seed Bank of our own," Wing stated. "People can make deposits or withdrawals from the Bank. We're also looking for seeds of our ancestral foods. Anyone who wants to help or to share ideas and information, we welcome that." Wing can be reached via email (randi.wing@yahoo.com) or phone (406-301-4494).

Wing further described the garden Wasay Wakpa grounds as a truly community place. "Our goal is to bring people together and to promote good feelings. Good spirits help the plants grow tall and strong. We want people to come to this sacred nurturing place and leave their pain behind."

"With everything from nutrition education, to measuring growth, to irrigation best-practices, you can see we have a real team out here," Maxwell concluded.

Anyone wishing to tour the Wasay Wakpa Orchard should call the Fort Belknap Extension Office at 406-353-2656 to schedule a time.

 
 

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