Did you know that Montezuma County was once renowned for its apple orchards? Local farmers once cultivated nearly 50,000 fruit trees and more than 50 varieties of apples. Today, only bare fields remain. But orchardist Jude Schuenemeyer and the Montezuma Orchard Preservation Project hope to restore the county’s fruit economy. Watch news story at Durango Local News…
By Durango Local News | April 21, 2016
“Colorado apples” isn’t a phrase you hear too often, at least not anymore. But in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the southwest Colorado landscape was much different, renowned for its vigorous and diverse orchards. Varieties from the state even won two gold medals in the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, according to Jude Schuenemeyer, owner of Let It Grow Nursery and Garden Market in Cortez, CO. Now, Schuenemeyer and his wife, Addie, are working to preserve and restore the region’s rich fruit-growing history.
“I could probably rattle on about this all day. I’ve been known to,” Schuenemeyer says of his Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project. The thing is, you sort of want him to, because it’s just so interesting. Read more in Growing Produce…
By Growing Produce Staff | November 15, 2011