By Sunday afternoon, about 1,700 people strolled through festivities of the seventh annual Durango Apple Days in Buckley Park, celebrating autumn’s harvest by cooking and eating apples about every way they know how.
There was apple ice cream, apple crêpes, apple cider, apple pies, caramel apples and more. By the cup or by the gallon.
Erin Jolley of Cooking Matters, a program that teaches healthful eating and cooking, was overseeing the apple juicing on three old-fashioned presses, hand cranked by kids of all ages, turning a 3,000 pound pile of apples into a few bucket loads by mid-afternoon.
Darrin Parmenter, with Colorado State University’s Extension Office, said it all began in 2008, as a way to glean unharvested apple trees across Durango and La Plata County. Turns out, people aren’t the only locals who favor apples – bears like them, too. And if a bear knows you have an apple tree, you just made a friend – a fuzzy, several-hundred-pound one that can rip apart an apple tree like we move stuff around in the fridge.
“We hope that gleaning some of these trees we can also reduce those human-bear interactions,” Parmenter said. “Bears aren’t the nicest thing to trees. They usually destroy them.”
What began as a way to take advantage of a late harvest has turned into an crispy, popular festival. Among the falling leaves and autumn sun, fathers danced with daughters barefoot on warm grass to live music. There was a pie-eating contest for kids and adults. People picnicked, reunited with old friends and ate lots and lots of apples.
Celeste Greene, event coordinator for Growing Partners of Southwest Colorado, puts on the event.
“I think it says this is what we’re all passionate about,” Greene said. In addition to Apple Days, she’s involved with the Durango Farmers Market, the Homegrown Food Retreat at Fort Lewis College and the Iron Horse Food Competition.
With support from Durango’s Business Improvement District, she also promotes agritourism with Tour de’ Farms, showcasing local agriculture and cultivating a budding new kind of tourism.
“I just feel so lucky that I can plan events like this,” Greene said. “We’re promoting eating healthy and how to feel empowered in our community with the resources we have. Connecting with local food and local farmers, I think, is really important.”
How do you like them apples?
bmathis@durangoherald.com
