Visitors to the Everett Family Orchard near Fredericton on Saturday picked apples amidst rows of trees, played on nearby toys, or stopped to take a picture. It was a sunny, busy day for owner Chuck Everett, and likely the last weekend of the farm’s apple season. “The apples are doing better than last year. Quite a bit better. We had a drought last year,” he said. He had worried that growing economic concerns would hit the number of customers he had this season compared to last year, but that fear bore no fruit. “I think we have just as many or maybe more and we always see new faces, which is surprising,” he told CTV News. At the Fredericton Boyce Farmers Market, Thanksgiving weekend proved a busy one. “Thanksgiving, I always think of it as the farmer’s Christmas because that’s when everybody’s trying to get their stuff and that’s your biggest day of the year basically for us and our sales this year,” said Daniel Boudreau, Silver Valley Farms owner. His business this year is comparable to last year, but he is seeing an increase spurred on by the “Buy Canadian” sentiment. “Everybody wants to buy local. They don’t want to buy the American stuff anymore.” Local shopper Mallory Kelly said her habits have been influenced by the Canada-U.S. trade conflict, and she tries to go to the market every week. “Definitely just trying to pay more attention, especially at the grocery stores, as to where my produce is coming from, and then try to buy more locally at the markets here as I can,” she said. “Come out and support the market if you can.” For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
