Peshastin, Washington
The Nicholson Orchard’s story goes back almost one hundred years. Pioneers to the Wenatchee Valley came to mine gold, harvest timber and eventually to plant and cultivate what would become one of the most famous apple and pear, growing region in the world. Because of the remoteness of the Wenatchee Valley, one hundred miles from Seattle, over some very curvy and dangerous mountain passes, apples and pears were shipped by rail cars, cooled with blocks of ice.
The first generation of Nicholsons used a team of horses to pull sled loads of freshly picked apples from the orchard to the packing shed. The timber mill cut local pine trees into half-inch planks that were made into bushel sized apple boxes. Most of the grower’s wives worked seasonally in the packing sheds, sorting, grading, and packing fruit into pine wood boxes bound for markets on the west coast and eventually to the east coast.
The Nicholson story evolves when the current generation took over as third generation orchard growers in an era when tree fruit prices were falling below the grower’s break-even point. After several years of falling prices some growers gave up, sold their orchards and left their land. Seeing their livelihood and ability to continue farming threatened by forces they couldn’t influence or control the Niocholson’s started looking for alternative ways to sell their delicious fruit. They’ve found that by create direct relationships with consumers and enlisting the help of trustworthy distributors they can continue their family’s agricultural heritage.
