The Apple Core Project (ACP) is a local apple orchard with the goal of helping preserve the heritage of various types of apples that grow in Colorado’s West End. Founded by Melanie Eggers and Erik “Bodie” Johansson, along with Jen Nelson, former member, and operations manager Dave Hodges, their mission is to use their resources and knowledge to grow and harvest apples, as well as educate the community on the best ways to do so. The ACP is also a program of the Southwest Institute for Resilience (SWIRL), a nonprofit organization that promotes self-reliance, local food production and healthy communities by partnering with local businesses to help educate the public.
The ACP offers apple grafting workshops and products to the public; they sell apples, apple juice and apple sapling trees that individuals can take home and plant themselves. They recently hosted an all-ages workshop at the Flying Bear Pizzeria. The workshop consisted of a one-on-one grafting class of heirloom varieties taught by Johansson. The 13 people in attendance were able to read about the variety of scion collected from local orchards, pick the apple they wanted and learn to graft onto the rootstock the ACP provided.
Apple grafting is the joining of two growing trees, in order to create a stronger, more resilient apple tree to plant. The rootstock is the bottom part of the apple tree, that is close to the roots, and the scion is from the upper part of the tree, close to where the fruit grows. By cutting the rootstock and the scion and binding them together, the pieces will fuse and grow together, creating a grafted apple tree that is capable of surviving in harsher conditions. Grafting is Johansson’s favorite part of the process, and he thoroughly enjoys being able to share his knowledge with the community, saying he “loves the artform of grafting trees.”
While all of the trees that the ACP planted last fall have already been purchased, Eggers said there will be more trees available in time for the 10th annual Heritage Festival in October of this year.
There are more than 20 different types of apples the ACP is currently grafting in preparation for the festival. The varieties that will be available include Snow, York Imperial, Winter Banana, Chenango Strawberry, Arkansas Black, Rhode Island Greening, Old Time Delicious and many more. Eggers encourages the community to attend the festival to learn important information on how to grow their own apple trees.
There have been some crop issues across the Western Slope due to the rapid change in temperature that comes with the spring season. According to Eggers, the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project, as well as several farms in Palisade and Hotchkiss, have been experiencing unsuccessful peach and apple crop growth because of the sudden freezing temperatures, and the ACP is doing all they can to make sure their apple crop survives.
“The saplings we planted last fall woke up during the warm spell but didn't get damaged by the hard frost,” Eggers said. “Sometimes that abrupt change of temperature can kill the young sapling entirely. We are doing lots of moisture monitoring, irrigation and mulching, preparing for a dry summer.”
In the meantime, Eggers invites anyone in the community wanting to learn more about the apple growing process to visit the ACP’s “two-acre, deer-fenced, ‘food forest’” orchard, with more than 600 trees, shrubs, perennial plants and herbs.
“I will be printing out a map and placing plaques in the ground next to the plants in case someone wants a tour,” Eggers said. "Also, we love hosting school kids in the food forest. All are welcome.”
For more information on the Apple Core Project, future workshops, or growing apple trees, Eggers invites all to visit their social media pages, as well as their website: applecoreproject.org.
