Meet Melanie Eggers | Co-Founder of the Apple Core Project

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melanie Eggers and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melanie, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Staying true to our hearts and our vision of the project which means you need to keep our heart aligned with your values so that the community in which you serve will trust you and also see value in what you do.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The Apple Core Project is a non-profit located on the Western Slope of Colorado in Nucla, CO, in-between Telluride & Moab, UT. Essentially, we save rare heirloom apple genetics. As you might know, apples do not come true to seed and that apples have double the human genome, that’s around 57,000 genes, the largest of any plant. So, in order to propagate the heirloom apple varieties in our region, we need to take new growth from the tree (called scion) and graft on to rootstock to get a baby! What sets us a part is that we’ve always been a heart-based project. Whether we are getting grant funding or not we’ve kept our project alive because we love the mission, and we love building our community by planting heirloom trees to keep it thriving. It wasn’t necessarily easy. We had to build trust with the orchard owners and help them understand they had apples in their backyard. Now, our project is thriving. We graft, nurse, sell and plant heirloom apple trees, educate children and adults on how to graft and plant trees, press 800 boxes (5-liters) of amazing heirloom apple juice to donate and sell and we organize a Heritage Harvest Festival in October (Oct 7th this year) in Nucla where we press apples with kids, showcase all of the varieties of apples we find in our area, have music, dancing and hard cider tastings.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, if in Nucla, CO. I’d say you should stay at the Vestal House in Nucla, go to The Flying Bear Pizzeria in nearby Naturita (5 min away), visit Miramonte or Buckeye Reservoir for some swimming, fishing or camping, go to the Rimrocker Museum, do the Rimrocker Trail tour with a side-by-side or bring your mountain bike for a ride on the Paradox Trail, float the Dolores or San Miguel and visit Bedrock in Paradox Valley and hike to the ancient art. Oh, and visit the Apple Core Project (Pinion Farm Homestead on Hipcamp) on main street where you can also stay in our cabins or park your RV/campervan. The Naturita Walk-in Coffee & Liquor Shop is great for burritos, pastries and coffee to go along with your favorite beverage for the campfire. If you need grocery supplies, visit WildGals Market in Nucla. If you need a bike mechanic, Paradox Cycles on main in Naturita.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project

Website: www.applecoreproject.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/applecoreproject

Image Credits
Aurelie Slegers Photography & Films 970.708.2484 www.aurelieslegers.com