The Apple Core Project

05/08/2026

If you are lookiing for some Heritage Apple Trees to plan this Spring. Look no further! Head over to MORP's sale this weekend, Saturday, May 9th. Get a tree for your favorite mom!

Mark your calendar for the second SAT in May for our annual Heritage Apple Tree Sale and Fundraiser from 10 am to 3 pm. No pets please. Directions to MORP’s Orchard Hub property are 13729 Road 29, …

04/23/2026

Reminder! Please join us for some heirloom apple grafting at Flying Bear this Friday, 4-6pm! Heirloom varieties to choose from our scion collection: Snow, York Imperial, Winter Banana, Chenango Strawberry, Arkansas Black, Jonathon, Rhode Island Greening, Old Time Delicious, Hawkeye, Summer Harvest, Transcendent Crab, Duchess of Oldenberg, Rambo, Gano, Golden Delicious, King of the Pippins, Wagener, Grimes Golden, Stayman, Gravenstein, Twenty Ounce, Wolf River, King David. Txt me at 970-708-3972 to sign up! $10 per tree you graft to take home to nurse.

04/06/2026

Please join us for some one-on-one grafting skills (or just to socialize) with Erik Bodie Johansson on Friday, April 24th. Take home up to three trees. If you are a skilled grafter, come hang out and graft for Apple Core Project! We have up to 50 Local heirloom apple varieties to choose from! Reach out to Melanie to reserve a spot or for more information at 970-708-3972 or [email protected]. P.s. The Flying Bear Pizzeria at Naturita Bicycle Company is a great place to hang out and enjoy great pizza, cider and more!

03/06/2026

We are out and about collecting scion (new growth) from the heirloom apple trees to graft new baby trees of the same varieties in the Spring. We have a grafting social on April 24th, more details to follow soon! If you are interested in us grafting a special tree for you or if you plan to partake in grafting class, please don’t hesitate to reach out now because scion collection will end soon as Spring is near. Call/txt me at 970-708-3972, DM here or email at [email protected]

02/10/2026

Before winter delivers its snowy promise, we decided to prune all of the 30 young trees in the Food Forest with the family this past Sunday. But, if anyone in the community wants to learn to prune, we still have some trees in the old orchard that are 5+ years old that need some pruning in addition to some dead wood from the 100-year-old trees. We are happy to have anyone observe and ask questions for free on February 27th (weather permitting). Please call me at 970-708-3972 or email: [email protected]. But, I highly recommend this formal workshop that Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project is offering: A hands-on pruning workshop on March 7th at the Montezuma-Cortez Middle School Orchard in Cortez from 10am-12pm. Sign up for their workshop here: https://montezumaorchard.org/product/workshop-event-registration-7/.

01/22/2026

SAVE THE DATES:
🪾Good Fruit Tree Pruning Dates: Feb 20, 21, 22 and Feb 27 & 28, 2026. Join the Apple Core for a fruit tree pruning demonstration of 3+ year old trees in the Pinion Farm Homestead Food Forest, Nucla on Friday, February 27 (weather permitting).

🌎🍎Apple Core Project Grafting Social. Learn to Graft Local Heirloom Apple Trees. Friday, April 24th at Flying Bear Pizza in Nucla. More to come!

💃🎊10th Annual Heritage Festival, Saturday, October 3, 2026 in Nucla Town Park. Celebrate the 10-year Anniversary with music, apple variety displays, apple pressing in Old Time Press, Vendors + Food, and cider tasting

Please email or call me if you would like more information about our events! Email: [email protected] or text 970-708-3972

01/20/2026

I wanted to share this beautifully written piece that our friends over at MORP shared from Pendragon Orchard and Vine:
Turning Landscape into Legacy. We have so many people ask about pruning their old apple trees, and the advice given in this piece is an absolute must read. Here are a few excerpts to entice you to take the time to read such a meaningful piece....
"Standing there among those trees, it was obvious this wasn’t going to be a “normal” pruning plan. There would be no opening of centers, no height reduction, no seasonal productivity targets. These trees are not problems to be corrected. They are elders—veterans of storms, salt winds, neglect, and care applied unevenly over generations."

"And sometimes, the philosophy demands something harder still: acceptance. Some trees will never stand again. Some will fruit lightly, irregularly, or not at all. Some are already in a long, graceful descent. That does not make them failures. They still hold soil. Still host life. Still carry genetics that no nursery can sell you. Still teach the land how to remember itself."

Heritage trees don’t respond to correction. They respond to restraint. Their energy is no longer spent on expansion but on maintenance—holding together what time and weather have already negotiated. When you prune them as if they were young, you don’t restore vigor. You trigger panic growth, b...

12/01/2025

Our (Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project) juice is available Moonflower Community Cooperative in Moab!

This 100% unfiltered, pure apple juice from the Apple Core Project and and is back in stock for the holiday season! 🍎🍏🍎 This is a great contribution to bring to a dinner party. Add some spices like cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and ginger, and heat up for a delicious spiced cider.

This juice was pressed from a blend of heirloom varieties of Colorado apples, part of the fruit growing heritage that the MORP and Apple Core Project aims to preserve and restore on the Western Slope! 🌳

11/23/2025

We made many deliveries the past few days! You’ll find this yummy heirloom apple juice at Walk In Liquor & Coffee in Naturia, Sawpit Mercantile in Sawpit, by the glass at The Butcher and The Baker in Telluride, restocked at Wild Gal's Market in Naturita as she sold out fast. Headed to Moab tomorrow to drop Moonflower Community Cooperative!

11/17/2025

We’ve got new packaging for our local, heirloom apple juice (3 liters) in easy to carry and drink pouches! The juice hasnt changed; it’s still very yummy and free of chemicals. We’ve started our deliveries to a few local spots including Wild Gal's Market in Naturita nd Mesa Rose Kitchen + Grocery. Next up, mid-week, The Butcher and The Baker in Telluride where they sell single serve. More locations to come! Thank you to Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project for keeping this tremendous project going! We had an off year for local apples so without MORP and their array of regional orchard owners supporting the juicing program and a small grant from the Telluride Foundation, we wouldn’t be able to offer any juice locally. Drink . Enjoy!