Join the Harris Center and Slow Food for a special evening event focused on the conservation and celebration of America’s incredibly rich fruit culture.
When: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Where: Harris Center for Conservation Education, 83 King’s Highway, Hancock, NH
Our presenters will include:
Tom Burford from Virginia. Also known as “Professor Apple,” Tom is an orchard consultant, fruit historian, and nurseryman, whose books include “Apples: A Catalog of International Varieties.” Tom’s family has been involved in the Virginia fruit industry for seven generations, since the early 18th century. He serves as a horticultural advisor to Monticello and other historic sites and museums. Twenty years ago, Burford rediscovered the once-famous “Harrison” cider apple, long considered extinct, at a site in New Hampshire. He is truly a national treasure and a walking encyclopedia on fruit growing.
Roger Swain, the former science editor for Horticulture magazine and for 15 years served as host of the PBS show “The Victory Garden.” Like Tom, Roger has forgotten more about plants than most people will ever know. He splits his time between his home in Newton, MA and his family farm in Greenfield, NH, where he leads tours of his amazing ornamental and edible gardens, including an extensive home orchard. Roger is the author of several books, including “The Practical Gardener” and “Field Days,” and he is a founding member of the Slow Food Monadnock chapter. Roger will talk about how the modern half-high blueberry was developed nearby, at Dr. Frederick Coville’s farm in Greenfield, on the flanks of Crotched Mountain.
Ben Watson, co-leader of Slow Food Monadnock and Chairman of Slow Food USA’s Biodiversity Committee, which nominates special and endangered, place-based foods to the international Ark of Taste program. Ben is the longtime Senior Editor for Chelsea Green Publishing and a freelance writer whose books include “Cider,” “Hard and Sweet” and “Taylor’s Guide to Heirloom Vegetables.” A former Yankee Books editor, Ben has lived in the Monadnock Region for most of his adult life and continues his garden preservation work, maintaining heirloom bean varieties through Seed Savers Exchange and operating the not-for-profit Monadnock Heritage Nursery, which specializes in growing rare, endangered, and regional fruit varieties for homeowners and small commercial orchards. He is a Director of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, based in Italy, and a consultant for the RAFT Alliance (Renewing America’s Food Traditions), which is actively working on a Heritage Orchard Initiative to identify and conserve historic apples and other American heirloom fruits.
Following the presentations, Tom and Ben will conduct a heritage apple tasting, showcasing a wide variety of amazingly delicious, rare, or just interesting varieties. There will also be a fruit dessert and coffee reception prepared by members of Slow Food Monadnock.
Sponsored by Sponsored by Slow Food Monadnock, admission is free, but donations are encouraged to assist the work of Slow Food Monadnock, which promotes and supports local growers and food producers and mounts educational programs such as this one.
Preregistration is required. Call (603) 525-3394 or email Jacobs@harriscenter.org by November 2.