Nikki Conley has a passion for old apples. They're the central focus of Athol Orchards, a family-owned orchard north of Coeur d'Alene.
"I grew up around apples and immersed in a town that loved apples and supported apple history. We came here in 2016, established our farm in 2016. We’ve added apple trees every spring up until this year; we’re adding more,” she said.
It’s the perfect place to establish a new orchard, given its previous history.
“The original homestead orchard that used to be here included this plum here, the old apple trees out front. There were a few other apple trees. This was an old Rainier that we lost last year, cherry tree. And then there’s an old Bartlett pear out there," Conley said. "The neat thing is if you were to walk out there, there’s basically an old stump field where they used to be an old homestead orchard. I didn’t tear out the stumps because, to me, that’s part of history and it reminds you of what used to be here.”
You’ve heard of barn raising parties. On Earth Day, Conley and her husband and daughters invited friends and neighbors over for an apple tree planting party. They put in 100 trees that grow older varieties of apples.
“A lot of these trees we’re growing go back as far as 400 years. So some of the varieties are from the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s and they all have specific uses for them," Conley said. "Planting apple trees back in the day wasn’t just for fun or to have some fruit. People actually grew them for very specific reasons. The qualities of these apples may not be the prettiest and the flavors might be different and what people don’t recognize, but there’s a lot of characteristics that we miss out on because the commercial growers won’t grow them. They just aren’t financially feasible.”
Conley had to carefully choose the types of trees that would do well in her farm’s microclimate, cooler than Coeur d’Alene to the south. She says some of them came from Maine, which has a similar climate.
Conley has developed a friendship with Dave Benscoter, an apple enthusiast from Chattaroy, Washington. He’s taught her how to graft branches of other apple varieties onto her trees. He brought her rootstocks of older trees to plant in her orchard. They share the mission of preserving forgotten varieties.
“You go to the store and pick up an apple, there’s no history behind it and it doesn’t really matter," she said.
"What we aim to be is a living history farm. We want to do some educational elements out here; have kids learn about the history of apples, learn about how to make an apple pie, where the ingredients come from for an apple pie. We even do some sugar-making here. We have some maple trees and we tap our own maples and make our own maple syrup. It’s pretty amazing,” she said.
They also make apple cider syrup, which is sold in local farmers markets and shipped around the country. It’s the product that helps to finance the farm. But it’s more than a commercial enterprise for her.
“I think, for me, this is kind of like an apple museum. That’s the way that I look at our farm," Conley said. "I’m wanting to share that history with the community.”
You can learn more about Athol Orchards on their Facebook page.