It's late fall and time to pick apples. The Master Gardeners were given a tour of an orchard's 200-plus trees by Eloise James.
King James Orchard, on Highway 88 near Buckhorn, was started by James' father around 1915. James still lives in the family home and seems to know each tree personally. Many varieties are no long available commercially, and some are known only to a very few small or backyard growers.
The mission of Amador County Master Gardeners was two-fold. First, they identified and recorded the locations of as many varieties as possible. Second, they tagged trees that scion wood can be taken from during dormancy for their grafting class in February 2010. Scion wood is used to clone fruit trees to maintain 100 percent of the plant/fruit from the "mother tree."
The public is invited to visit the orchard and may contact James at 295-4886 for directions and more information.
For those who like apples or enjoy a little history of Amador County, visit King James Orchard. After sampling the apples, some of which many have never heard of, those interested can attend the public education class in February, and learn how to graft an apple of choice for gardens. Check out all of the Master Gardener public education classes at http://ceamador.ucdavis.edu.
