New hope for historic apple farm

COCHITI LAKE, N.M. (KRQE) - There is new hope for Dixon’s Apple Orchard.

The famed orchard in a canyon above Cochiti Lake was devastated by fire and then flash floods two summers ago.

The back-to-back disasters in 2011 turned the fresh, crisp apples into what looks more like raisins.

Dixon’s Apple Orchard has been a New Mexico tradition since 1944, known for its one-of-a-kind Champagne apples.

The family that ran it for years still has the lease, but they have moved away.

Now a nonprofit group that helps disabled people hopes to get the farm going and growing again.

"This is devastation but not total devastation. The trees are still here and that's the heart of the land,” says Mike Kivitz, president and CEO of Adelante.

The nonprofit group is rallying for $1.9 million from legislators and the governor to bring the apple farm back to life.

The Mullane family, which started the farm, leases the land from the state. But they would give up their lease and sell their trees to let someone else take over since they have moved out of New Mexico.

In the meantime the State Land Office has been trying to do some irrigation before it's too late.

“Time is very important because we are working hard using our resources to keep those trees alive, but what we really need is somebody on the ground every day,” Commissioner of Public Lands Ray Powell told KRQE News 13.

Kivitz’ organization will have to make a bid for the land competing with a few others interested in it.

If successful, Adelante hopes to bring its work supporting New Mexicans with disabilities to the orchard by hiring many to work there on growing much more than just the apples.

“Come out and let the land heal them while they restore the land,” Kivitz says.

He says he also has plans to open up the land to events like weddings and retreats, maybe even a site for equestrian therapy.

He estimates it could create 30-40 jobs and bring back more money to the state through tourism.