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CapitalPress.com
June 15, 2018
People & Places
Heirloom apples provide niche
Jim Freese and his
family grow rare
apples for making
hard cider
Western
Innovator
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
OMAK, Wash. — Jim and
Sandee Freese say they are
stewards of what God has giv-
en them — the small orchard
where Jim has lived all his life
that has been in his family 108
years.
But increasing financial
challenges have given rise to
innovation. A refocus initi-
ated by their son, Shea Saxe,
has made them one of the
state’s largest purveyors and
propagators of heirloom ap-
ple varieties for fresh market
consumption and production
of hard cider. So far, the heir-
looms represent only about 5
acres of their 45 acres of tree
fruit production.
They’ve rebranded as
“Iron Root Orchards — Forg-
ing a Bold Future. Rooted in
Tradition.”
Iron represents tenacity
and strength of their pioneer
roots and hearkens back to
the farm’s old anvil, manu-
factured in England the queen
country of cider making, and
still used today to forge and
repair tools in a barn that
dates to the 1920s.
An element of the new fo-
cus will be “historic orchard
tours” by appointment that
Sandee plans to begin during
harvest in October. She al-
ready has been selling fruit on
the farm.
The house and barn are
their own living museums. A
pedal-driven grinder, old hay
dump rake and other old im-
plements dress the yard and
an old shed houses a station-
ary system from which lines
ran to spray fruit trees in the
1920s, ’30s and ’40s.
Visitors walk up a country
lane through a wooded ravine
to the orchard to see conven-
tional and organic apples,
pears and cherries. There are
table grapes, stone fruit and
thornless blackberries. They
see nursery and younger and
older blocks of heirloom ap-
ple trees — old varieties no
longer in regular commercial
production.
“I think the biggest plus
we have going for us as a
small farm is that grandpa
chose a really nice site,” Jim
Freese says.
A bit of history
It all began with Freese’s
mother’s parents, Burr and
Rebecca Breshears, who
bought the orchard in 1910.
They came from Missouri. He
was a Church of the Brethren
minister and continued farm-
ing by horse until his death in
1941.
Their daughter, Hilda, and
her husband, Wilbur Freese,
Jim Freese
Age: 63
Born and raised: Omak,
Wash.
Photos by Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Jim Freese looks at a cluster of Golden Russet heirloom apples before thinning them in his Omak,
Wash., orchard, June 6. He and his son see heirloom apples as their future.
Freese with a 6-gallon carboy of hard cider made from a mix of
heirloom apple varieties.
took over in the early 1940s.
Wilbur was fatally injured try-
ing to stop a rolling tractor in
October of 1979. It happened
in the same part of the orchard
where Hilda’s brother, Ralph
Breshears, was killed in a me-
chanical accident while thin-
ning an apricot tree six years
earlier.
Jim Freese, now 63, took
over at the end of 1979 when
he was 25. He had received
a bachelor’s degree in hor-
ticulture from Washington
State University in 1977, an
associate degree in automo-
tive technology from Portland
Community College in 1978
and was working as an auto
mechanic in Portland at the
time of his father’s death.
Over time, Freese bought
out the interest of his sister,
Rebecca, in the operation,
known as J&B Orchards.
Many challenges
Through the 1980s and
1990s, Freese experienced
horticultural and marketing
ups and downs. The 1989 Alar
scare over the alleged cancer
risk of a plant growth regula-
tor damaged industry pricing
for a couple years.
By the late 1990s, the in-
dustry was in trouble from too
many Red and Golden Deli-
cious apples.
Idea for new focus
“The 1998 crop was a di-
saster. We lost $60,000 on
Reds and Goldens,” Freese
said.
After that, he sped up the
transition into a high-color
sport Gala, Granny Smith,
Fuji and pears.
“We had times when we
were kind of surviving. Dad
had done well so we were
kind of living off family mon-
ey to get through,” he said.
Freese’s step son, Shea
Saxe, now 45, was 15 years
old in 1988 when he read an
article in Mother Earth News
about heirloom apples.
“A little seed was plant-
ed and in my meanderings
through life I found myself as
a bartender at the first multi-
tap craft brewery in the North-
west, called Cooper’s in Se-
attle,” Saxe said. “It was the
beginning of the craft brewery
movement. I saw it grow rap-
idly. Cider seemed a natural
cousin and it’s really taking
off now because of the amaz-
ing flavors and, unlike beer,
it’s gluten-free.”
In 2003, Saxe began col-
lecting heirloom apple scion
wood and grafting it onto trees
to prove the varieties. Among
his scion sources were the
Portland Home Orchard Soci-
ety and Nick Botner, of Yon-
calla, Ore., believed to have
the largest private collection
of apple varieties in the coun-
try.
“I had a patch of Bisbee
Red and they were not going
anywhere, so I let him graft
onto those,” Freese said. “He
was ahead of the curve on the
hard cider craze.”
Saxe now has more than
500 varieties and has proven
about 300.
Golden Russet is a popu-
lar one for fresh eating and “a
champagne-type hard cider,”
Freese said. “Sandee sold
some to a local market and ev-
eryone wanted Golden Russet
over other heirlooms.”
Macoun is another popular
variety.
A Western Washington ci-
dery “comes over and pays
top dollar and hauls it off,”
Freese said. They sold 10 to
12 bins of heirloom apples
last year.
Sharing a vision
Costs, labor, regulations
all increasingly take their toll
on Washington’s small tree
fruit growers, who once ruled
the industry.
Even Freese’s sport Gala
did poorly this past year be-
cause of internal browning
and general Gala oversupply.
“I was at 36 percent pack-
out, $15 per bin. So I was
losing my shirt,” Freese said.
Family: Wife, Sandee,
retired school teacher; son
Torrence Saxe, 47, soon to
become general in charge of
Alaska Air National Guard;
son Shea Saxe, 45, somme-
lier, bartender and heirloom
apple guru.
Education: Graduate Omak
High School, 1973; bache-
lor’s degree in horticulture,
Washington State University,
1977; associate degree in
automotive technology, Port-
land Community College,
1978.
Work history: One
year auto mechanic, KP
Automotive, Portland, then
owner-operator of the family
orchard.
Saturday-Sunday
June 16-17
84th
Annual
Glenwood
“Ketchum Kalf” Rodeo. 12:30-10
p.m. The Glenwood, Wash., Rodeo
Association is a nonprofit, all-volun-
teer organization that sponsors this
rodeo. Cost: $10 for adults, $3 for
ages 4 to 12.
Wednesday, June 20
Forestry Shortcourse. 9 a.m.-
noon. Sandpoint Orchard, 10881 N.
Boyer Road, Sandpoint, Idaho. This
is the second session of a six-ses-
sion course on forest ecology, silvi-
culture, wildlife habitat, and other
forestry topics. Cost: $38 Email:
cschnepf@uidaho.edu
Saturday, June 23
2018 Washington State Dairy Am-
bassador Coronation. 5 p.m. Bellevue
High School Performing Arts Center,
10416 SE Wolverine Way, Bellevue,
Wash. Five candidates are vying to
become the Washington State Dairy
Ambassador for the coming year. The
doors open at 5 p.m. and the program
begins at 6 p.m. Tickets ordered by
June 12 are adults $20, students $10
and 6 and under free. Tickets pur-
chased after June 12 or at the door
will be adults $25, students $15, under
6 still free. Tickets will be available for
pick up at the door. For ticket informa-
tion, please contact Gloria Edwards by
email at gloria.wsdw@hotmail.com or
360-273-7313.
Saturday-Sunday
June 23-24
Aquaponics in Oregon: Discover
the Growing Potential Conference.
Western Oregon University, Smith
Hall, 345 Monmouth Ave., Mon-
mouth, Ore. Aquaponics is the mar-
riage of hydroponics (growing food
in water) and aquaculture (growing
fish) in a sustainable closed system.
This highly sustainable closed-loop
ecosystem creates the optimum en-
vironment for fish and plants to thrive
naturally, therefore, growing pure,
chemical-free food. This weekend
workshop is intended for anyone in-
terested in learning more about how
we can grow this emerging green in-
dustry here in Oregon. We will hear
from some of the top commercial
growers, innovators and educators
in this emerging green industry and
discover the challenges and oppor-
tunities aquaponics presents. Cost:
$75 for Saturday or Sunday; $135
for entire weekend. Website: https://
bit.ly/2KdDXSM
Tuesday, June 26
Get Ready for Market Work-
shop. 5-7 p.m. OSU Extension Li-
brary, SOREC, Research Building,
569 Hanley Road, Central Point,
Ore. Learn everything you need to
know to get your produce and crafts
to market. This class will walk you
through market preparation and
presentation. Experienced farmers,
crafters jury committee chair and a
site manager from the Rogue Val-
ley Growers and Crafters Market
will review the rules for entry into
markets. They’ll also share tips and
tricks learned over the years to
make bringing products to market
easier and more profitable. There
will be some handouts for reference.
A sample booth will be set up. Cost:
$10 Website: http://bit.ly/JacksonS-
mallFarms
topics. Cost: $38 Email: cschnepf@
uidaho.edu
Snake River Pest Manage-
ment Tour. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Aberdeen
Research and Extension Center,
1684-1698 2700 West Road, Ab-
erdeen, Idaho. The tour will feature
several weed-control trials in pota-
toes including targeted herbicide
programs in potatoes, Sonalan tank
mixtures and sulfentrazone-formula-
tion comparisons. Researchers will
also discuss their work on herbicide
mechanism of action, quinoa her-
bicide screening and Litchi tomato
herbicide management.
Goats/Sheep Parasite Man-
agement SIPM. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. OSU
Southern Oregon Research and
Extension Center Auditorium, 569
Hanley Road, Central Point, Ore.
This one-day class on Sustainable
Integrated Parasite Management
(SIPM) will include learning about:
managed grazing, 5-point checks,
fecal egg counts, body condition
scoring, condensed tannin feeds,
nutritional management, culling/
selection and copper-oxide wire
particles. Cost: $45 one-day event.
https://extension.oregonstate.edu
Wednesday, June 27
Forestry Shortcourse. 9 a.m.-
noon. Sandpoint Orchard, 10881 N.
Boyer Road, Sandpoint, Idaho. This
is the third session of a six-session
course on forest ecology, silviculture,
wildlife habitat, and other forestry
Snake River Pest Management
Tour. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Kimberly Re-
search and Extension Center, 3806
N 3600 E, Kimberly, Idaho. The tour
will include broadleaf and wild oat
control in spring wheat, clover cover
crop in wheat, safflower tolerance
to sulfentrazone and weed-control
comparison between direct seeded
and conventional tillage sugar beets.
Research into potato psyllid, Colo-
rado potato beetle and aphid and
wireworm management in potato will
also be featured.
Saturday, June 30
Sunday-Wednesday
July 1-4
Molalla Buckeroo Rodeo. 5 p.m.
Buckeroo Rodeo Grounds, 815
Shirley St., Molalla, Ore. Join us in
celebrating our nation’s birthday
with non-stop rodeo action, mutton
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To Reach Us
“The only saving grace for me
since the late 1990s is that I
grow more pears than apples.
Farming is like being out on
an ice flow and jumping from
piece to piece.
“We’re more on the ragged
edge right now than we’ve
ever been. It’s pretty tough.
The downturn in apples is
pulling everything down.”
Beside pears, his late sea-
son Staccato cherries can do
well.
Rather than follow the in-
dustry into planting the new
state apple variety, Cosmic
Crisp, Freese has planted
SugarBee, a new proprietary
variety of Chelan Fresh Mar-
keting.
But he and his son also
share a vision of finding a
niche, moving more into heir-
loom varieties, selling the
fruit, nursery trees and scion
wood.
They have 10,000 to
12,000 heirloom nursery trees
that needed to be sold this
spring but they didn’t have
their state nursery license yet.
They say they will have it for
fall.
Saxe comes home to the
orchard on weekends, but oth-
erwise is a craft bartender and
sommelier in the Seattle area.
He hopes to open a craft ci-
dery there. He wants to prop-
agate rare heirloom apple
varieties and promote them
throughout the country.
People his age and young-
er, he said, are becoming more
interested in cider than beer.
Flavor combinations are
endless from pairing heir-
loom varieties that have bitter
sharp, sharp and sweet cate-
gories.
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bustin’, a carnival midway, food and
vendors. A fireworks show, live mu-
sic and dance follow each evening
performance. Website: http://www.
molallabuckeroo.com
Tuesday-Saturday
July 3-7
St. Paul Rodeo. 7:30 p.m. Rodeo
Grounds, Main Street, St. Paul, Ore.
The 83rd annual St. Paul Rodeo
runs July 3-7 and celebrates Inde-
pendence Day with five days of fun.
Website: http://www.stpaulrodeo.
com
Eugene Pro Rodeo. 5 p.m. Ro-
deo Grounds, 90751 Prairie Road,
Eugene, Ore. Rodeo, dances and
fireworks are featured. Closed
Thursday, July 5. Website: http://
www.eugeneprorodeo.com/
Wednesday, July 11
Caneberry Field Day. 1-5 p.m.
OSU North Willamette Research
and Extension Center, 15210 NE
Miley Road, Aurora, Ore. This is
the annual field day for commercial
and backyard caneberry growers.
Sponsored by Oregon State Univer-
sity. Website: http://oregonstate.edu/
dept/NWREC/
Forestry Shortcourse. 9 a.m.-
noon. Sandpoint Orchard, 10881 N.
Boyer Road, Sandpoint, Idaho. This
is the fourth session of a six-session
course on forest ecology, silviculture,
wildlife habitat, and other forestry
topics. Cost: $38 Email: cschnepf@
uidaho.edu
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Index
Fieldwork Report .................... 3
Opinion .................................. 6
Dairy ...................................... 8
Markets ............................... 12
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