Home(r)-grown apples a healthy treat on the Kenai Peninsula

Homer gardener Tina Seaton’s two apple trees produce Norland and Parkland apples that are perfect for pies but just as tasty when eaten as soon as they’re picked. McKibben Jackinsky photo

By McKibben Jackinsky A n apple in the toe of my stocking Christmas morning? It didn’t get any better when I was a kid growing up on the Kenai Peninsula in the 1950s. It was a bit mushy, not crisp, and bruised after traveling in Santa’s sleigh from some orchard outside of Alaska to my family’s house, but that didn’t matter. A fresh apple was a treat.

Now it’s possible to pick apples from trees in my stepdaughter Tina Seaton’s garden in Homer. Those gems of juicy freshness go into sauces, butters and pies, but the most enjoyment comes from eating one fresh off the tree.

Apple trees have increasingly been popping up around the southern Kenai Peninsula.

Greenhouses and high tunnels have lengthened growing seasons and provide a warmer indoor climate, while climate

Louis Maurer of Bear Creek Winery in Homer harvests apples to be used in winemaking from Dave Schroer’s apple orchard. Photo courtesy of Bear Creek Winery

change is increasing what is possible to grow outdoors. And that means more of a local healthy fruit option for residents.

The benefits of local-grown stretch far beyond the convenience of picking an apple directly from a tree. For starters, there’s improved taste, as the thousands of shoppers at Homer Farmers Market will attest.

Dr. Rob Downey, a functional medicine specialist in Homer, said the shortened time between harvest and consumption also means better nutritional value than what’s found in fruits and vegetables sitting in supermarkets. “Another really important benefit is that there’s a community aspect of knowing the farmer, making the human connection with the person that raised and harvested our food,” Downey said. “There’s lots of data now that social connections are one of the most powerful determinants of health, that the lack of social connection is just as problematic as smoking.”

Core support from the community Committed farmers and evolving methods of farming are part of the equation for an expanding list of locally grown fruits and vegetables on the southern Kenai Peninsula. Homer’s maritime climate is a plus, giving the area its reputation as Alaska’s “banana belt.” Opened in 1999, Homer Farmers Market draws growers and consumers together, the market doing double duty as an incubator for businesses and boosting awareness and appreciation for local food production, according to a 2018 “Growing Local Food” survey done by the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District, HSWCD.

Only 5% of the food Alaskans consume is grown in Alaska, which creates shaky ground in terms of food security, but “if local foods are supported, then there’s the possibility of more producers being here. It has to be economically viable. So we have to support them to have food security,” said Kyra Wagner, Soil and Water Conservation District manager. South Peninsula Hospital does its part to support local growers of apples and other fruits and vegetables. The hospital is Homer’s largest eatery, feeding 300 patients, long-term care residents, staff and members of the public every day.

Produce from a wheelchair-accessible peoples garden in the hospital’s long-term care facility was introduced into the hospital’s menu 10 years ago. That has expanded to

For more information:

Homer Soil and Water Conservation District https://www.homerswcd.org/

Homer Farmers Market, http://www.homerfarmersmarket.org/

Alaska Pioneer Fruit Growers Association https://www.apfga.org/

Alaska Division of Agriculture http://dnr.alaska.gov/ag/

A Twitter Creek Garden farmhand arranges produce at Homer Farmers Market. Photo courtesy of Homer Farmers Market

include produce from area farms, including lettuce, carrots, potatoes, radishes, beets, tomatoes, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower — and apples.

“It has been such a great step in a direction we would like to continue going,” said Rhoda Ostman, assistant manager of the hospital’s nutritional services. “Our desire is that in purchasing the quantity of produce we require, it will continue to support the growth of (local) farms and the continued flow of such quality products served in our community.”

While farms in the Lower 48 have declined 3% in the last five years, farms in Alaska increased by 30% and Kenai Peninsula farms increased by 60%, according to the soil district. Offerings now include such exotic crops as corn, artichokes, cucumbers, melons, arctic kiwis and apples.

“You’ll find fruit growers everywhere,” said Mark Wolbers of Alaska Pioneer Fruit Growers Association. “Growers are just limited by climate and growing conditions.” He pointed to Dave Schroer of Homer as “the most knowledgeable grower in Alaska and a fine gentleman to have a conversation with.”

Schroer got his first apple tree in the 1970s, but he estimated the fruit has a harvesting history in the area dating back to at least the 1950s. He now has 24 trees producing 11 varieties of apples. He also has cherry trees that produce six varieties of cherries, both sweet and pie varieties.

“It’s too many to be a hobby, but it is a hobby,” he said.

At 325 feet above sea level, Schroer’s orchard is on a south-facing slope protected from southwest winds by alders and other trees. It is, Schroer said, a “perfect location.”

Kindergarten and first-grade classes occasionally help with Schroer’s harvest, and he’s sold some fruit at Homer Farmers Market. The apples go to Bear Creek Winery in Homer.

“We like to support growing fruit in Alaska and we’re lucky that it makes really good wine and is available,” said Louis Maurer of Bear Creek Winery. In 2019, winery staff harvested an estimated 1,900 pounds of Schroer’s apples. A Southern Fruit Growers Association, with as many as 50 members, was formed in the Homer area about 15 years ago. It has since disbanded, but Schroer estimated “there are a couple hundred people at least with a couple trees each. (Apple growing) has just taken off.”

That is music to this apple-lover’s ears.

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