First Orchard In the Okanagan Father Pandosy, (Charles John Felex Adolphe Marie Pandosy) arrived in the Okanagan in 1859 and planted the first orchard in 1862. A successful apple orchard, the seeds were supplied from St Mary Mission from the Fraser Valley. He died in Penticton in 1891, the same year Lord Aberdeen bought thirteen thousand acres of land in Coldstream, B.C. and moved there to pioneer fruit farming. Lord Aberdeen also bought 480 acres of land near Okanagan Mission, previously McDougall Ranch, and planted apricots, peaches, apples, crab apples, prunes, cherries, plum, raspberry canes, and strawberries. More people were encouraged to plant commercial orchards and, by the year 1900, the Okanagan had one million fruit trees planted. For a photo of the Coldstream Ranch Fruit Orchard of Lord Aberdeen in 1895; http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/community-stories_histoires-de-chez-nous/advance-with-courage_avancer-avec-courage/gallery/coldstream-ranch-fruit-orchards/ courtesy the Vernon Museum and Archives.
This tree was the first apple tree to be planted by Father Pandozy in Okanagan mission in 1859. It was still standing in the 1950s.
For more information, check out the following links for varying aspects of the Valley's orchard history.
A very good pdf on the early history of apple orchards in the Okanagan:
A digitized booklet from the Lake Country Museum "Apple Valley: A century of fruit farming in the Okanagan" gives a good account of the development of orchards in the Okanagan. It can be found at bcrdh.ca/islandora/object/lake%3A2178#page/1/mode/2up
The process and impetus of turning the Okanagan Valley into an Orchard Landscape https://www.bcpl8s.ca/thesis/chap1.htm Father Charles Pandosy was characterized as an oblate priest who often got in trouble with the local authorities of the time. He was told to leave the United States due to him favouring the First Nations of Yakima, Washington. He sought asylum with the Jesuits in Colville and was told to go to British Columbia to set up a mission in the Okanagan Valley. In 1859 he arrived in the Okanagan but things were not so easy for him and his team. The first couple of years were hard since they had to start the mission from nothing. Many people who had tried to settle in the Okanagan had died during the first year because of a lack of supplies. Supplies ran thin and they eventually had to eat their horses to survive the winter. By 1862, he had planted the first fruit tree (apple) in the Okanagan which stood well into the 1950s. Eventually the Okanagan Valley became known for its fruit production, having fruit shipped in boxes on trains and ships across the world to compete in World Faires. For more information, check out the Okanagan Historical Society Reports!
Fruit was not the only crop that was produced in the Valley. Oliver became known as the Cantelope Capital; tobacco was grown and processed in Kelowna and Vernon; onions, cabbages, and zucca melons were among other crops that brought money for farmers and freight for wagons, trains, and lakeboats.
Zucca melons, for those who have not heard of them, were extremely large melons used in fruit cakes or for filler in fruit jams. Zucca is a bland tasting melon which took on the flavours of the foods it was mixed with. When I say 'large' melons, I mean three or four feet long... big enough to stack like cord wood!
Tobacco was grown for the British North American Tobacco Co. who had a cigar making factory in Kelowna.
To keep all of the orchards and agricultural crops thriving in this semi-arid climate, irrigation was a priority. The following article is from the OK Falls Review from Dec. 30, 1999.
Over the years, fruit and vegetable production has been supplanted by grape production for wineries. We still see some areas with producing orchards, but many have been replanted with grape vines for wine production. Hot days and cool nights make it great for grape growing. Oliver, once known as the Cantaloupe Capital, now considers itself the Wine Capital of B.C.
Comentários