Cultural Exchange

The rare Saorit apple; a basket full of heirloom varieties; a variety called Young America; a sunset view of the orchard.

Three longtime friends started the Temperate Orchard Conservancy in Molalla, Oregon, to pursue their passion for finding and preserving heirloom apple varieties that have mostly been forgotten. In 2011, they began grafting trees from mutual friend Nick Botner’s private collection. Today, the 40-acre farm grows about 4,000 different varieties of apples.

“The complexity of apples offers much diversity—taste, smell, sweet or tart or acidic, texture, juiciness,” said cofounder Joanie Cooper. The conservancy often receives queries about unidentified ancient apple trees on aging homesteads. The nonprofit Lost Apple Project—devoted to exploring Oregon, Washington, and Idaho for heirloom varieties—also sends its apples to the conservancy for identification. “There are very few people in this country who do apple ID, but it is our commitment,” Cooper said.

She also noted that Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where the orchard is located, is ideal for growing fruit. The region has “enough heat in the summer, [and] cold enough winters that offer apple trees enough ‘chill hours’ to go into dormancy and come out and grow happily in the spring and summer,” she said. • Lee Walker Sr., the 90-year-old patriarch of the family that runs Walker Apples, still works at the orchard as much as he can. The 40-some-acre farm in Graton, California, has been in the family since 1910 and weathered its fair share of challenges, from labor shortages to stiff competition from China’s juicing industry, but Walker said that the family has managed to keep it going through dedication. Today, the orchard grows 27 apple varieties and is primarily run by Walker’s children, its third-generation operators.

Walker said that he is especially proud of growing the Gravenstein, a “great all-around apple.” It has a unique sweet and tart flavor that works well for pie and apple sauce, he said. The orchard was named the Sonoma County Farm Bureau’s 2017 Farm Family of the Year, in honor of the farmers’ passion for growing apples. The orchard’s products are sold directly to customers at the farm and in local markets. •

The orchard grows 27 apple varieties. Lee Walker Sr., pictured with his wife, Shirley, is 90 this year and still works at the orchard as much as he can.

An apple orchard along the road in Clintondale, New York.