Above Ground Tour

Wealthy, Tompkins King, Dutch Mignone, Roxbury Russett apples harvested from Pipers Orchard in Carkeek Park   2020 will undoubtedly be the year that shatters fruit harvest records in Broadview if such records are actually kept.  City Fruit recently harvested apples at Pipers Orchard in Carkeek Park for the #GreatSeattleFruitHarvest and a local backyard tree produced over 576lbs of apples.  Fall in Broadview has meant apple harvests since the 1890s when the Piper family homesteaded here. The Pipers originating from Germany planted European Apples Bietgheimer, Gravenstein, Tompkins King, Dutch Mignone also American varieties Esopus  Spitzenburg and Wealthy. European apples have complex flavor profiles such as Beitgheimer which is slightly sour. Esopus Spitzenburg originated in New York and was Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple. The commonality between these original apples at Pipers could be their use in baking as they had both a bakery and confectionery in downtown ...

  2019 Festival of Fruit Pipers Orchard Over 300 people attended the 13 th annual Piper's Orchard Festival of Fruit in Carkeek Park Seattle, Washington on October 5 th 2019. Attendees enjoyed Master gardeners, fruit tasting, cider pressing and orchard tours. For the first time in many years two apple trees were planted in the orchard. After volunteering at the Festival since 2008, I was excited to become a member of the tree planting committee until I found manual labor was involved as Paul Brookshire handed me a shovel indicating where to dig. Soil in the orchard is a hardpan glacial till similar to quick dry concrete. While digging a nearby anthill boiled ants while squirrels dropped horse chestnuts from a nearby tree! Ah these are the joys of volunteering. Our first tree, donated by Bob Baines, was an Ashmead Kernel in a 10 gallon pot. Soon a crowd formed to witness this auspicious occasion and discussions on planting apple trees and soil amendments ensued. Bob’s theory is...