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  • Visit the Farm
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    • Your Reviews
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Apple Bloggin'

Job Posting: Farm Store/Harvester

8/9/2019

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​Position: Farm Store/Harvester
Waddell Apples is looking for an energetic, outgoing and hard-working individual to work in our farm store and help with our 2019 harvest season. No experience required; will train.
We are a family-owned and operated apple farm in Kingston’s countryside, growing and selling apples, pumpkins and homemade specialties from our licensed on-farm bakery. Learn more about us at www.waddellapples.com
 
Responsibilities
  • Greet, serve and assist farm customers, building our reputation for quality and service
  • Cashier
  • Pick, sort and pack apples
  • Stock store coolers and shelves
  • Maintain cleanliness and organization of farm store and packing facilities
  • Work safely in a dynamic agritourism environment following all safety procedures
Requirements
  • Age 18 or older
  • Customer service oriented
  • Motivated to work hard with attention to quality and detail
  • Energetic, physically fit and able to do manual labour; able to lift 25 lbs
  • Reliable and dependable during our key farm harvest season
  • Ability to learn quickly, work independently and respond to changes in assigned tasks
  • Able to distinguish and select fruit based on colour, size, and quality
  • Legally able to work in Canada
  • Own transportation to and from our farm (Hwy 15, 10 min N of 401)
  • Clean criminal background check
Working Conditions and Compensation:
  • 15-30 hrs per week, including weekend days
  • $14 per hour
 
​​​​​​​Valuable experience:  Any of the following backgrounds will be considered an asset: farm or other manual labour jobs, customer service, cashier
 
How to apply: Visit our website at https://www.waddellapples.com/jobs.html to complete the online form and submit your resume. Work references required. 
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Apple Spinach Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

3/16/2019

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​This Apple Spinach Salad recipe is one of my all-time favorites. It’s made with a delicious mix of sweet and savory ingredients, it’s tossed with a tangy apple cider vinaigrette, and it’s always a crowd favorite!

​Feel free to sub in whatever greens, nuts, or soft cheese that you have on hand (see Tips below).
Ingredients

  • 10 ounces baby spinach
  • 2 large apples, cored and thinly-sliced
  • half a small red onion, peeled and thinly-sliced
  • 1 cup walnut halves, toasted
  • 2/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
  • a generous pinch of salt and black pepper
  • (optional) 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup, to sweeten
Tips
  • If prepping in advance, toss the apple slices in some lemon juice so they don’t brown
  • Feel free to incorporate or substitute the spinach with kale or other greens you have in the fridge
  • Substitute other nuts like toasted pecans
  • Any soft cheese like goat, blue or even brie can be used
  • If you don’t have apple cider vinegar on hand, substitute champagne vinegar, rice vinegar or balsamic
  • To make this salad into a meal, add baked chicken
 
Directions
  1. Add spinach, apples, red onion, walnuts, dried cranberries, and half of the feta cheese to a large bowl.
  1. Add all ingredients together in a bowl and whisk to combine.  Or, add all ingredients to a mason jar, cover, and shake to combine.
  2. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, and toss to combine.
  3. Serve immediately, garnished with the remaining feta cheese.
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Finni's Braised Cabbage

3/15/2019

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​This delicious, tangy red cabbage makes a great side dish with savoury beef dishes and was a traditional vegetable my mother 'Finni' served with stuffed turkey too.

Ingredients

  • 2 T bacon drippings or vegetable oil
  • 1 medium head red cabbage, about 2 1/2 pounds
  • 3 large apples
  • 1 medium onion, peeled
  • 1/2 C red wine vinegar
  • 1 whole clove
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 t salt
  • 1/8 t ground pepper
  • 1/2 t sugar
  • diced cooked bacon, optional

Directions

  • Remove outer leaves of cabbage; cut into wedges and cut out core. 
  • Using a food processor or sharp knife, shred the cabbage. 
  • Insert 1 whole clove into onion. 
  • Peel and quarter apples. 
  • Heat bacon fat or oil in a large saucepan over low to medium heat. Add cabbage and stir to coat. 
  • Add remaining ingredients; reduce heat to low. 
  • Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Red cabbage should be 'al dente' and apples should be softened and blended in.
  • Adjust vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.  
  • Toss with some diced cooked bacon just before serving, if desired. 

Serves 6. Braised red cabbage freezes well, thaw and heat in microwave to serve.
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Job Posting: Agritourism Retail Operations

7/17/2018

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​Position: Agritourism Retail Operations
Waddell Apples is looking for an energetic, outgoing and hard-working individual to work in our farm store during the 2018 harvest season. We are a family-owned and operated apple farm in Kingston’s countryside, growing and selling apples, pumpkins and homemade specialties from our licensed on-farm bakery. Learn more about us at www.waddellapples.com
 
Responsibilities
  • Greet, serve and assist farm customers, building our reputation for quality and service
  • Cashier
  • Sort and pack apples by hand
  • Stock store coolers and shelves
  • Maintain cleanliness and organization of farm store and packing facilities
  • Assist with on-farm events as required
  • Work safely in a dynamic agritourism environment following all safety procedures
Requirements
  • Age 18 or older
  • Customer service oriented
  • Motivated to work hard with attention to quality and detail
  • Energetic, physically fit and able to do manual labour; able to lift 25 lbs
  • Reliable and dependable during a key farm harvest season
  • Ability to learn quickly, work independently and respond to changes in assigned tasks
  • Able to distinguish and select fruit based on colour, size, and quality
  • Legally able to work in Canada
  • Own transportation to and from our farm (Hwy 15, 10 min N of 401)
  • Clean criminal background check
Working Conditions and Compensation:
  • 15-25 hrs per week, including weekend days
  • $14 per hour, plus 4% vacation pay
 
​​​​​​​Valuable experience:  Any of the following backgrounds will be considered an asset: customer experience, cashier, retail, tourism
 
How to apply: Visit our website at http://www.waddellapples.com/jobs.html to complete the online form and submit your resume. Work references required. 
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Job Posting: Bakery Worker

7/17/2018

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​Bakery Worker
Waddell Apples is looking for someone who has experience and passion for baking and/or cooking to join our farm bakeshop team during the 2018 harvest from mid-August through October. We are a scratch bakery, known for our high quality homemade baked goods and preserves made with farm-fresh ingredients! No formal training required; duties, training and compensation will be adjusted according to prior experience in a similar role.
Responsibilities:
  • Preparing and baking pies, crisps, tarts and cookies using recipes provided
  • Packaging and labeling completed baked goods for sale
  • Preparing and packaging preserves and dried fruit snacks (cooking, canning, dehydrating)
  • Operating and maintaining safe and sanitary food preparation areas, storage, equipment and utensils
  • Other kitchen duties as needed and/or assigned
  • Work safely in a food premises environment following all safety procedures
Requirements:
  • Age 18 years or older
  • Experience with baking and/or cooking in a culinary or home kitchen environment
  • Motivated to work hard with attention to quality and detail
  • Energetic, physically fit and able to do manual labour
  • Reliable and dependable
  • Legally able to work in Canada
  • Clean criminal background check
  • Own transportation to and from our farm (Hwy 15, 10 min N of 401)
Working Conditions and Compensation:
  • 20-30 hours per week, 4-8-hour daytime schedules; may include weekend days
  • $14.00 per hour, plus 4% vacation pay. 
How to apply: Complete the online form at http://www.waddellapples.com/jobs.html  and submit your resume. Work references required.

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Job Posting: Harvester

7/17/2018

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​Position: Harvester
Waddell Apples is looking for an energetic hard-working individual to help us harvest our apple and pumpkin crops for the 2018 season.  The position is part-time seasonal, starting approximately first week of September for 3-6 weeks. No experience required; will train.
 
Responsibilities:
  • Picking apples
  • Sorting and packing apples for sale at our Farm Store
  • Cutting pumpkins and lifting them in and out of harvesting bins
 
Requirements:
  • Age 18 years or older
  • Motivated to work hard with attention to quality and detail
  • Physically fit and able to do manual labour for extended periods; able to lift 25 lbs
  • Hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity
  • Reliable and dependable during our key harvest season
  • Legally able to work in Canada
  • Own transportation to/from our farm (Hwy 15, 10 min north of 401)
  • Clean criminal background check
  • Work safely in a farm agritourism environment following all safety procedures
                                                          
Working Conditions and Compensation:
  • 3-6 days a week, working 6-8 hours per day as weather permits
  • $14 per hour, plus 4% vacation pay
  • Outdoor environment, variable weather and temperature conditions
  • Standing for extended periods of time. Climbing ladders. Walking, bending, crouching and kneeling
  • Able to distinguish and select fruit based on colour, size, and quality
How to apply:  Visit our website at http://www.waddellapples.com/jobs.html to complete the online form and submit your resume. Work references required. 
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10 Things to do with Apple Cider Syrup!

6/11/2017

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Apple Cider Syrup is a colonial recipe popular in New England.  Like maple syrup, it is made by boiling down a sweet natural nectar (in this case, pure apple cider) until it thickens to syrup consistency that can be preserved and enjoyed for many months.  Unlike mellow maple syrup though, Apple Cider Syrup is an elixer with the concentrated tangy rich flavour of apples  has an unexpected tangy. Once a kitchen staple, Apple Cider Syrup has regained popularity with gourmet cooks and foodies alike.  Brace yourself for a unique culinary experience!

Curious about the background?

I'm not sure how or where I first came across the concept of Apple Cider Syrup. To be honest, I have never tasted or even seen it anywhere else!  As a fan of traditional slow cooking, I have always been fascinated by the creative ways cooks and colonists used to preserve and enjoy bounty from their fields, pastures and gardens. Some focused internet research has helped provide insight and history into this fascinating product, like this Ark of Taste summary from Slow Food USA.  Interestingly, I have not (yet) found Canadian pioneer or current examples of Apple Cider Syrup production. 

10 things you can do with Apple Cider Syrup

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  1. Use as a sweetener in recipes in place of sugar, honey, or maple syrup...everything from baking to salad dressings and marinades
  2. Stir into oatmeal or plain yoghurt
  3. Drizzle over pancakes or waffles (use just a little!)
  4. Glaze meats like poultry and salmon. For ham and pork, mix with equal parts of whole grain mustard. 
  5. When you can't get fresh apples, toss a tablespoon or two with the sliced apples for a pie or apple crisp for a fresh apple-y taste
  6. Whisk into cream cheese icing to add flavour and colour
  7. Spoon over vanilla ice cream
  8. Pour a tablespoon over ice, fill the rest of the glass with seltzer water, and stir. Voila! Healthy apple cider soda!
  9. Make “instant” hot cider: stir 1-3 tablespoons into boiling water (add a little rum or brandy to make a hot toddy!)
  10. Stir into your favourite hot tea to sweeten and brighten the flavour

Did I say 10? The list keeps growing!

  1. Add a teaspoon to add colour and brightness to a meat gravy
  2. Mix with icing sugar to glaze cakes and tarts
  3. Add to your favourite brines for meat and poultry
  4. Use as a glaze for winter vegetables like carrots, squash and parsnips
Buy Apple cider syrup now!
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Apple Glazed Ham

3/4/2017

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Baked ham is an easy, versatile and economical entree to prepare and serve at family dinners or special occasions throughout the year.  This recipe combines full-flavoured Apple Cider Syrup and Dijon mustard for a sweet-tangy glaze that will be sure to please!
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Ingredients:
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  • 1 cooked bone-in half-ham (7-8 pounds)
  • Aluminum foil
  • 15 whole cloves
  • 1/4 cup Apple Cider Syrup
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Directions:
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  1. Preheat oven to 325°. Cut off the tough, leatherlike skin from ham (if it has it; some hams will not), and score the fat in a crosshatch pattern. Stud ham all over with cloves, put in a large roasting pan, and loosely tent with foil. If pan has a roasting rack, pour 2 cups water into bottom.
  2. Bake until a thermometer inserted in center of thickest part (not touching the bone) registers 135°, about 20 minutes per lb. or 2 to 2 1/2 hours total, basting occasionally with any accumulated juices.
  3. While ham is baking, whisk together the Apple Cider Syrup and Dijon mustard until smooth.
  4. When ham has about 40 minutes left to bake (internal temperature will be 120° to 125°), brush generously on all sides with glaze. Continue baking until ham reaches 135° and glaze is well browned.
  5. Baste with remaining juices and allow foil-covered ham to rest 15 minutes before slicing.

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Summer Chickpea Salad with Chive Blossom Vinaigrette

8/1/2016

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On these hot summer days, it's great to enjoy a meal of easy, no-cook salads.  Chickpeas are a great source of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals.  Buy them canned and just rinse and add to this delicious salad!
Chickpea Salad with Chive Blossom Vinaigrette

Salad Ingredients:
  • 1 - 19oz can chickpeas
  • 4 cucumbers - chopped
  • 2 small red bell peppers - chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh dill
  • 1 tablespoon shelled hemp seeds
  • 1/4 cup pepita seeds (shelled pumpkin seeds)

​Vinaigrette Ingredients:
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 4 tablespoons Chive Blossom Vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon liquid honey or maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
  • ​Combine salad ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
  • Combine vinaigrette ingredients into a jar.  Cover, and shake vigorously to blend.
  • Pour vinaigrette over salad ingredients and mix well.  Cover and chill for 1-2 hours before serving to let flavours blend.
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Your BFF (Bee-Friendly Farm)

5/1/2016

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Bee savvy

Like other apple growers, we understand the the importance of bees and other pollinators to successful fruit production. Did you know:
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  • ​For most apple varieties to produce fruit, the pollen from flowers on one apple tree must be transferred to flowers on another tree? (called 'cross-pollination')
  • It takes 8 to 24 pollinator visits to a single apple blossom just to produce 2-3 nice apples?
  • Most of the pollen exchange done by honeybees happens when they rub against each other in the hive and then go back to the orchard to gather pollen and nectar from other trees in the orchard​

Show & Tell

​To help educate our customers about the important relationship between honeybees and apple-growing, we invited local  beekeepers from Bee-Happy Honey to talk about pollination in this video about apple blossom time on our farm.

This video helps us 'show and tell' our farm visitors about the the importance of honeybees to sustainable apple farming, but for us it's more than just talk....

Walking the talk

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As part of our approach to sustainable farming, we work behind the scenes to foster an orchard environment that enables strong populations of honeybees as well as other pollinators.  In fact, we recently became certified 'Bee-Friendly Farmers'!
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What is BFF? It's a program that provides guidelines to help North American farmers and growers incorporate pollinator-friendly land management practices while also achieving farm production goals.

10 ways we protect and foster bees

​​We use responsible and ecological farming practices that blend organic and conventional methods, including these bee-friendly practices:
  1. Managing our orchard to proactively minimize and mitigate pest and disease issues, eg: pruning, mowing, thinning
  2. Using a minimal spray program using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as recommended by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture
  3. Investing in modern sprayer equipment including low-drift spray towers to direct the spray horizontally into the apple trees providing better coverage and reducing the amount of product applied 
  4. Monitoring pest levels using special insect traps and lures to determine when and how to use control methods
  5. Combining organic and synthetic products, selecting those with lowest impact to the environment, beneficial insects and pollinators.  We do not use any products containing neonicotinoids
  6. Building relationships with local beekeepers and notifying them in advance of spraying insecticides so they can take precautions with their hives
  7. Never spraying any insecticides during blossom time
  8. Spraying only during low-wind conditions, generally early in the morning between 5:30 - 7:30 am before bees and other pollinators get active
  9. Mowing the grass under the apple trees to avoid the use of herbicides in our Pick-Your-Own area and provide food for bees and beneficial insects
  10. Farm-scaping to encourage ample forage and natural water sources for bees and other pollinators like building farm ponds and leaving meadows and hedgerows around the orchard with ground covers, wildflowers and plantings.

Plus a new Bee-Garden!


A couple of years ago, we added a new feature in our orchard - a 'Bee Garden'.  It's nestled in the sunny hillside overlooking our orchard and we've planted and sown pollinator-friendly flowers that provide nector and pollen for bees after our apple blossoms are done.  These include  perennials like Chives, Mint and Phlox, and  annuals like Cosmos, Zinnias, Marigolds, Coneflowers and Black-eyed Susans.
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Visit Us this Fall!
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Contact Us

613-546-1690
info@waddellapples.com

1345 Washburn Road
Kingston, Ontario K0H 2N0
(Hwy 15 & Washburn Rd)

Hours

As a farm business, our products and hours change with the Harvest season:
  • ​Farm Store: Closed for 2019
  • ​​PYO: Sold out for 2019
  • Online Store: Open off-season

Methods of Payment

  • At our Farm: During the harvest - Cash or Interac; off-harvest: Cash only.
  • Online: Visa, Mastercard, American Express 

Committed to Farming

Member of Ontario Apple Growers
Member of National Farmers Union Ontario
Foodland Ontario Partner

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