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CapitalPress.com
Friday, April 9, 2021
Thomas Orchards: Remote area a perfect spot
By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
For the Capital Press
KIMBERLY, Ore. — The
roots of this operation go
back 105 years, when Orrin
Kimberly planted a small
orchard near the banks of the
John Day River in Central
Oregon.
Then, in the 1920s, Kim-
berly — the nearby town
was named after his family
— expanded and planted a
U-pick orchard that sold fruit
to area residents.
Jeff Thomas’ grandparents
were among his customers
and often drove from nearby
Mount Vernon to buy canning
peaches and cherries.
“Then in 1947 my grand-
father was looking for a new
adventure. He already had
honey bees and grew ber-
ries to sell to local stores
but wanted to try something
new,” Jeff said.
W.B. Thomas purchased
the orchard at Kimberly, but
continued to live in Mount
Vernon.
“In the 1950s their oldest
son, my Uncle Bill, got out
of the Navy and came back
to help. ... Then my grandpar-
ents sold their place in Mount
Vernon in 1965 and moved
here,” Jeff said. “By then my
Dad (John) was out of college
and my Uncle Jim was out of
the military. They worked at
the orchard along with Uncle
Bill.”
In 1965 they bought the
orchard next door, and put it
all together.
By the early 1970s John’s
older sister, Alice, had also
come back to help.
“My parents (John and
Linda) were married in 1971.
Bill and his wife, Janet, and
Jim and his wife, Carolyn,
were all working full-time
at the orchard. My grandfa-
Thomas Orchards
Jeff Thomas with his wife, Laura, and their children
Josh, Kaycee and Olivia.
ther and my dad built a fruit
stand in Great Falls, Mont., in
1971 and my Aunt Alice has
been running it since 1972,”
Jeff said.
Bill’s
youngest
son,
Chuck, also worked at the
orchard.
“Then in 2011 my wife,
Laura, and I took it over. My
Dad and Jim are still helping,
along with my mother and my
aunt; our family has been in
the orchard business here for
almost 70 years.”
The climate at Kimberly is
perfect for fruit, with an eleva-
tion of about 1,800 feet.
“Our desert climate makes
our fruit a little sweeter. The
hot days and cooler nights
increase the sugar level,” he
said.
The orchard today has
cherries, apples and peaches,
along with a few pears, nectar-
ines, and plums.
“Between the two fruit
stands — here and in Montana
— we market 35% of our fruit.
The rest is sold wholesale, and
through many businesses and
stores,” he said.
Most of the people who
come to the fruit stand at Kim-
berly are from Central Ore-
gon, though some come from
as far away as Portland, the
Willamette Valley and the
coast.
“We have a lot of custom-
ers from La Grande, Baker
City and the Pendleton area.
We are about the only orchard
in this area,” Jeff explains.
The fi rst orchard had fl ood
irrigation and was less than 10
acres.
“Today we have under-
tree and over-tree sprinklers
on about 100 acres, but when
we were at our peak in the mid
1990s we had had 225 acres of
trees,” he said. “My children
are still young but are inter-
ested in the orchard.
“We hope they want to
eventually take over, but at the
same time we don’t them tied
to something they can’t make
a living doing. My oldest son
is 12 and says he wants to do
it but I tell him to talk to me
about it when he is 20!”
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