Rare apple varieties on display at Apple Affair event in Steamboat Island area

Rignall Hall in the Steamboat Island area of Olympia opened its doors to the apple affair on Sunday, a longtime event that welcomes visitors to taste and purchase rare apple varieties grown in North Central Washington.

Locally, the apple affair is organized by Building Earth Farm and its four partners, one of whom, Michael Manos, was front and center on Sunday, answering questions about the various apples and refilling boxes. The apples were sold for $2.50 per pound.

People began showing up a little after noon for the four-hour event. Plates were set out in front of each box and were filled with apple slices, corresponding to a particular variety. From there, everyone milled about the room, moving from plate to plate, toothpick in hand, tasting each before deciding what to buy.

Rick and Wendy Hardee, who live in the Steamboat Island area, filled a bag with six or seven varieties to eat as is. Wendy Hardee described it as a nice, neighborhood event. “It’s a fun thing to do,” she said.

They filled their bag with Pink Lady and Ambrosia variety apples, among others, but their favorite of the day was a box simply identified as a “mystery apple,” which had a mildly tart and sweet flavor.

The 200 boxes of apples don’t show up on the doorstep of Rignall Hall on their own. Manos said they drive to the Wenatchee area to get apples from longtime orchardist Jack Feil, whose family connection to growing apples dates to the turn of the last century.

Among the apple varieties on Sunday: King David of Arkansas; Blushing Golden of Illinois; Baldwin of Massachusetts; Mutsu of Japan, a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Japanese variety called Indo; Karmun De Sonnaville of The Netherlands; Kandil Sinap of Turkey; and the Rubinette of Switzerland.

And leftover apples do not go to waste, said Manos. They turns those into cider, hard cider and apple wine, he said.

One apple the Hardees missed this year was the Gravenstein, native to Denmark. Wendy Hardee said it’s a good cooking apple, perfect for pies, crisps and applesauce.

This story was originally published October 25, 2015 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Rare apple varieties on display at Apple Affair event in Steamboat Island area."