Spring is here, and that means heirloom fruit trees are being planted as part of the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project.
Last year, a historic orchard in McElmo Canyon owned by Philip and Vivenne Kenyon was recognized as a historic site by Colorado’s Most Endangered Places Program.
Five historic fruit trees have survived on the Kenyon’s “Gold Medal” orchard, and last week an heirloom apple and peach tree were added.
“It’s a descendent of the remains of a 100-year-old tree,” Vivienne posted on Facebook. “Much of the history of the orchard was from my Dad growing peaches there between 1930 and 1970.”
The plan is to graft and clone 25 apple, peach, cherry and pear varieties that once grew in McElmo Canyon and plant them on the Kenyon’s 3-acre plot.
The goal of the restoration project is to diversify the local agriculture market with fruits, says project coordinator Jude Schuenemeyer. In the early 20th century, McElmo Canyon was famous for its truck orchards. Fruit from the Kenyon orchard won a gold medal at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904.
The city of Cortez is considering incorporating a Community Heritage Orchard as part of the city park system. Supporters are urged to voice their opinion on the idea on the Cortez Master Plan Survey at http://bit.ly/1oLigha.
To date, the orchard project says it has identified 436 varieties of apples that were once grown in Colorado by early fruit-growing pioneers. Fifty percent have been lost, and some of the varieties survive on trees more than 100 years old.
The project has rediscovered two lost varieties: the Colorado orange and Cedar Hill black.
The orchard market crashed in the 1950s after the railroads left, and monoculture crops took over. The project wants to bring the famous local fruit market back along with the jobs and sense of agricultural pride.
“This great diversity disappeared from our orchards not because those varieties did not grow well here, rather because they simple were not the shiny red apples that had become the standard,” Schuenemeyer said. “To be successful we need you to plant diversity in your orchards as was the tradition 100 years ago.”
Schuenemeyer is offering grafting workshops:
April 9 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Mancos School Cafeteria.April 16 from 2-4 p.m. at Cliffrose Garden Center in Cortez. April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Old Fort in Hesperus.Cost is $35 for Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project members and $45 for others. To register for a workshop, email morp@montezumaorchard.org and let them know which one you plan to attend.
