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1702 8th St. & Louise | 3330 8th St. E. | 705 22nd St. W. | 1204 Central Ave. | 802 Circle Dr. E. | 519 Nelson Road. Volume 14, Issue 14, Week of April 11, 2016
Saskatoonʼs REAL Community Newspaper
Apples to Apples Local company producing cider From left to right, David Thiel, James Dawson, Tyler Kaban and Les Morrison in the cidery at Crossmount Village (Photo by Sandy Hutchinson) Cam Hutchinson Saskatoon ield to cork. That is the phrase Duncan McKercher uses to describe the cidery that has sprung up at his Crossmount Village development just south of the city on Lorne Avenue/ Highway 219. When the trees mature, apples will be picked in the village’s orchard and turned into a cider that can be sampled and purchased on site — field to cork. For now, it’s B.C. apples, but the cider is almost ready to pour. As he was putting the pieces to the Crossmount development together, agritourism was always part of McKercher’s plan. He was thinking greenhouses, a u-pick fruit-and-vegetable area, and a farmers’ market. The idea for a cidery was added to the list by chance. It started to take root when McKercher approached someone about running the greenhouses. That person had to decline, but they recommended Tyler
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Kaban for the job. Kaban arrived at Crossmount with a master’s degree in horticulture from the University of Saskatchewan and a wealth of knowledge in the field of wine and grapes. “All of a sudden, it was, ‘Holy mackerel, this is the guru for grapes,’” McKercher said. “I said, ‘OK, let’s do a winery.’” Kaban was on board with that. “We started playing around with the winery concept because I didn’t realize they had been growing grapes in Saskatoon for 15 years and in Saskatchewan since the ’30s,” McKercher said. So a winery it was. Well, it was until Kaban pitched another idea to his boss. What about a cidery instead? “So we looked at the numbers on cider, the market, the opportunities, the competition ... I said, ‘You know what, that looks neat’ and away we went.” Kaban knew the U of S was testing cider apples.
“The university has 80 years of experience breeding and growing apples, so I suggested apples were a better choice, with the market for cider exploding right now,” Kaban said. In three or four years, cider produced at Crossmount will be made from apples grown on location. “The apples we’re growing, probably 90 per cent of them were bred at the U of S,” he said. “Some of them have never been named. They were never suitable for fresh eating, but they make great cider ... world-class cider I would say.” Kaban came on board three years ago. In the interim, James Dawson, another expert in the field has been added to the staff. Dawson has a master’s degree in horticulture from Dalhousie University in Halifax and is working on a PhD at the U of S. Dawson is the orchard manager and chemist at Crossmount, and Kaban is the cider master. The two previously shared office space as undergrad students at the U of S.
“In terms of horticulture jobs, this is probably the best job in the province for my field of study for sure,” Kaban said. “(McKercher) basically gave me free rein and we’ve built it from the ground up. We started with the orchard and then designed the cidery and bought the equipment. It is very fulfilling to see it go from an idea to a building to seeing the actual product.” Dawson, a native of Newfoundland, is enjoying the work as well. “The work is nice; we’re out in the pristine openness, so there are a lot of things to like about working out here. I won’t go as far as saying it’s relaxed, but it’s enjoyable work. It was this or academia for me, and this is much more enjoyable.” Dawson said growing apple trees in this climate is tricky. “We’re approaching the northern limit for apple production, as you might imagine,” Dawson said. “It takes a level of ingenuity.” (Continued on page 14)