Canyon orchard yields bumper apple crop

COCHITI LAKE, N.M. (KRQE) - Tucked away in a rugged northern New Mexico canyon is an orchard, but not just any orchard. Welcome to Dixon's.

"This crop is huge, and it's better than we've had in years," orchard owner Becky Mullane told KRQE News 13. "The apples are just beautiful this year."

Dixon's Apples started out as a family business 60 years ago by pioneer Fred Dixon. Today the orchard in the Jemez Mountain foothills west of Cochiti Lake is still very much a family business.

Fred's granddaughter Becky and her husband Jim now run this place. Like clockwork, you can always tell when fall has arrived.

When the golden globes are just right, crisp and juicy, they are plucked from the trees, washed, sorted, bagged and set out in the apple shed ready to be carted away by apple lovers all over the state.

What often resembles a stamped begins at 8 a.m. Friday.

"We're going to be opening with the Champagne and with the red delicious," Mullane said. "The Champagne is not grown anywhere else, so that is special to this canyon."

Dixon's also offers plenty of other varieties: the sparkling burgundy and the red Rome.

Mullane called this year's apple crop is one of the best in recent memory. Unlike last year, when a short crop sold out the first weekend, she said she expects to have plenty of apples available for several weeks.

Then there's Dixon's famous apple cider. The recipe is simple: take a mountain of Dixon apples, chop them up, squeeze the juice and bottle it up. No preservatives, no chemicals, just apples.

As the Mullanes prepared for opening day, this year's harvest was be bittersweet. Fred Dixon, Becky's grandfather, passed away in June at the age of 89.

“He left us with a legacy, and we are so grateful for that," Mullane said. "It's good, it's all good because look at when he left us with. Look at this crop; it's incredible."

The secret to success between the towering canyon walls, but is it the hard work, the water, or as others think, something in the soil.

"Like granddad always said, a lot of TLC," Mullane said. "These trees, just taking care of these trees.

"He always said be good to the canyon and the canyon will take care of you. I think that's the best advice he gave us."

Dixon's apples are not sold in stores and are only available at the orchard about six miles west of Cochiti Lake. Daily sales hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m.