Heather Elizabeth Apple

Heather Elizabeth Apple (born 1948) is a Canadian writer, artist, and educator, with an interest in organic horticulture. She was awarded a 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal[1] in 1992.

Heather Elizabeth Apple
Heather Apple demonstrates carding wool, March 2013
Born1948
Toronto

Early life

She attended Branksome Hall, and graduated in 1967,[1] then earned a B.Sc. Honours degree in 1972[1] in biology [2] from the University of Toronto.

Heritage and organic agriculture

In 1984, Canadian Organic Growers (COG) organized a conference on the loss of genetic diversity in food crops, with Kent Whealy the director of the U.S. organization Seed Savers Exchange as keynote speaker. Inspired by that conference, COG's Heritage Seed Program (HSP) was initiated to help salvage Canada's crop-plant heritage, with Alex Caron as coordinator. In late 1987, after the HSP had lain dormant for about two years, Heather Apple, as a long-term organic gardener, past president of the Durham, Ontario chapter of COG, and a Seed Savers Exchange contributor, responded to a request from Alex Caron and volunteered to reinitiate the programme.[3] Her aim was to develop it as a grass-roots seed-saving organization modelled after the Seed Savers Exchange,[4] and beginning with an announcement in August 1988, she produced a separate newsletter for the program[3] which became a magazine by December 1988.[5]

The Heritage Seed Program/Semences du patrimoine grew to become Seeds of Diversity Canada/Semences du patrimoine (SoDC), incorporated and renamed in 1995; Apple served as president of SoDC thru 1993. She also served as vice president of the Society of Ontario Nut Growers (SONG), 1990–1991.[6]

Art

Heather Apple has been a member of the board of directors of the Gibsons Public Art Gallery in Gibsons, British Columbia, and of the Gibsons Landing Fibre Arts Festival. She is an active member of the Sunshine Coast Spinners and Weavers Guild,[7] and the Sunshine Coast Fibreshed.[8]

Writing

Heather Apple began writing seriously about gardening for the Heritage Seed Program, and this grew into freelance work as a garden writer, primarily for magazines.

Selected appearances
  • hosted by David Maybury-Lewis; written by Adrian Malone; produced by Michael Grant and Richard Meech (1992). Millennium: tribal wisdom and the modern world. Episode 4. an ecology of mind (videotape). Toronto: Biniman Productions Ltd.

Selected works
  • Heather Apple produced the first two editions, 1990 and 1992, of the Seeds of Diversity publication How to save your own seeds: a handbook for home seed production.[9]
  • Heather Apple (December 1999 – January 2000). "Simply Sprouts: growing healthy sprouts is easy, and quick: seeds take an average of six days to grown into succulent shoots". Canadian Gardening. 10 (7): 49. National Magazine Award Winner 2000, Honorable Mention, Category 18: How-to[10]
  • Articles in The Organic Companion: Gleanings from Canadian Organic Growers. Janet Wallace, Canadian Organic Growers Inc. 2005. ISBN 0969585187.
  • 17 articles in Primeau, L., ed. (2003). The cook's garden: 100 favourite recipes and expert growing advice from Canadian gardening magazine. Toronto: McArthur & Company. ISBN 1552783472.

References
  1. Charters, S. (2012). "Canadian Who's Who". Third Sector Publishing. (subscription required)
  2. Ann Rhodes (1995). "Saving older seed varieties may avert global disaster". Ecological Agriculture Projects, McGill University.
  3. "From Our Archive: Heather Apple introduced the Heritage Seed Programme in her first newsletter in August 1988". Magazine of Seeds of Diversity Canada. 18 (1/2). 2005.
  4. Susan Haldane (1990). Photography by Peter Sibbald. "Apple's Seeds: Back to the future in the Heritage Seed Program garden". Harrowsmith. 89 (78–83).
  5. "Magazine Article Index: Heritage Seed Program 1988-1995". Seeds of Diversity. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04.
  6. "SONG News Fall 1990". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  7. "Sunshine Coast Spinners and Weavers Guild". Archived from the original on 2013-09-28.
  8. "Sunshine Coast Fibreshed: Local fibres, local dyes, local artisans on BC's Sunshine Coast".
  9. Diane Joubert; Bob Wildfong, eds. (2005). How to save your own seeds: a handbook for home seed production (5th ed.). Toronto, ON: Seeds of Diversity Canada.
  10. "National Magazine Award Winners 2000". Sources:International Guide to Expert Sources & Media Spokespersons.
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