There are almost 300 organic apple varieties grown on Salt Spring Island. In the late 1800s, Salt Spring was the first apple producing area in British Columbia, and fruit trees outnumbered residents ten to one.

In the 1920s, the Island’s fruit production was overtaken by the Okanagan’s cheap irrigation and hotter summers, and it has continued to decline since then.

But, there has been a resurgence in appreciation for the old varieties, which were grown by settlers from English seeds, and splices nestled safely inside potatoes brought from Ireland.