Apple Talks

Zoom talks and presentations seem to be here to stay - at least for awhile. Although they lack the energy and spirit of community gatherings, the benefit is that most of them are recorded, turning a one-time event into something you can listen to at your convenience. Here are links to talks about apples in Maine and other parts of the country.

  •  2020 Heritage Orchard Conference. Listen to the webinars recorded from The Heritage Orchard Conference hosted by the University of Idaho’s Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center. The conference attracts a diverse group of heritage tree fruit enthusiasts for presentations ranging from heritage fruit exploration to apple identification. You can find them all here.

  • Apple Identification 101, a talk by by John Bunker, live streamed from the 2020 virtual Common Ground Fair. Find it by visiting the MOFGA website here. The talk took place at 1:00 pm Friday so you’ll have to fast forward through some other Friday talks to find it..

  • An Apple History of Maine, a talk by John Bunker for the Maine Historical Society’s “Maine at 200” Series recorded on October 14, 2020. John’s presentation draws from the published and unpublished writings of Mainers over the past 200 years to connect the dots between the agricultural history of Maine and the importance of the apple in that history. A different kind of presentation than John usually gives. Listen here.

  • The Maine Heritage Orchard: What is it and Why Should We Care?, a talk by John Bunker for the Skidompha Library”s “Chats with Champions” series, recorded October 29, 2020. In this talk you can hear John read Sufi poetry, talk about saving old apples, and sing. That ought to melt the snow in your orchard. Click here.

  • Grandma’s Apple Orchard: The Perfect Orchard With Only Twelve Trees. How did she do it? - a talk by John Bunker for the Palermo Library, recorded on February 24, 2021. Click here.

  •  Pointed Firs, a conversation with John Bunker: apple historian, author, co-founder of FEDCO Trees, and founder of MOFGA's Maine Heritage Orchard, a 10-acre preservation and educational orchard located in Unity, Maine, home to over 360 varies of apples and pears traditionally grown in all 16 counties of Maine dating back to 1630. This discussion is scheduled to air Friday, September 1, from 4-5pm. The audio file can be downloaded at https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kp6z2kifqy6mcc0xqjzd5/PointedFirs_2023-09-01.mp3?rlkey=k91r9xouunew27gp7fcpfc3cs&dl=0.