The name says a lot
Left Field Cider Company is proof that given the right people and circumstances a successful business can come out of nowhere.
By Susan McIver
ive years ago, Kate Garthwaite attempted to make cider in a bucket in the kitchen of her Kitsilano apartment.
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“It was an overwhelming failure that went straight down the drain,” she says. Today, Kate, Theresa Pedersen and their parents, Gord and Debbie Garthwaite own a thriving cider business.
Left Field operates out of the family’s 1,200-head cattle ranch at Mamette Lake, located between Merritt and Logan Lake on Highway 97C.
Undaunted by her initial failure, Kate enrolled in Peter Mitchell’s cider-making course in Washington State.
Encouraged, she bought a basket press and with her father made the first batch of cider from neighbours’ dessert and crab apples.
“It wasn’t half bad,” said Theresa, who would eventually leave her career as a stock broker to join the family adventure. As the idea of the family building a cider business together began to take shape, Kate left her job as an events planner for BC Children’s Hospital and headed to England.
“We had decided to make traditional English-style cider, so it only made sense to go there and see how it is done,” Kate said.
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Gord Garthwaite and his daughters, Theresa Pederson, left, and Kate Garthwaite at Left Field Cider Company's tasting room.
The United Kingdom is by far the world’s largest producer of cider, with 75 per cent of it coming from the county of Herefordshire, where Kate worked at the Ross-on-Wye Cider and Perry Company for the better part of 2010.
Meanwhile, Theresa and Gord took Mitchell’s cider course and then joined Kate for a tour of the cider houses of Gloucestershire, Somerset and Herefordshire.
Left Field really got rolling in 2011. “We did a business plan, bought our first commercial press, and built our 2400 square foot cider house,” Kate said.
They also planted a 2.8-acre apple orchard on the ranch in cider varieties, including Norland, Parkland and North Battleford along with Kerr crab apples. “These are cold-hardy varieties we got from Advance Nursery in Grand Forks. They bloom late and ripen early, so are well-adapted to our 3100 foot elevation,” Kate explained.
The family also made lease T:4.75”
arrangements with orchardists in Oyama and Summerland to grow cider apples varieties such as Chisel Jersey, Dabinett, Yarlington Mill and Michelin. “It’s an awesome opportunity to
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