By Alline Anderson
Dan and Nancy Kelly run Blue Heron Orchard in Canton, Missouri. Located about an
hour east of Dancing Rabbit, the five acre orchard is perched on a bluff above
the Mississippi. Kurt and I got to know the Kellys when they came to Dancing
Rabbit's annual Land Day celebration and other parties at Sandhill. When they
invited us to visit their farm last year we jumped at the chance. That visit
became what we hope will become a biannual tradition. Kurt and I just returned
from a pruning weekend at Blue Heron. Here's a little taste of what a spring
weekend there is like.
On Friday at noon Dan Kelly rolled his van into Dancing Rabbit to pick up me,
Kurt and Mark. He had already stopped by Sandhill to pick up future pruning
master Chad, with Pomology book in hand. The rest of us had more humble
aspirations- to get through the weekend without seriously damaging any apple
trees. Kurt and I had been tutored by Dan last spring, and could throw around
snappy phrases like "hey, better get rid of those water sprouts". However, we
were eager for a brush up, and Mark and Chad were ready for a lesson. As soon as
we arrived and were greeted by Nancy, three cats and six dogs (including an
exuberant puppy we nicknamed 'Dogzilla') we armed ourselves with clippers,
loppers, and pole pruners, and headed out to the orchard.
But first, let me get you some visual help. Dan is tall and lanky, with shaggy
gray hair, a constant grin and more quips than Groucho Marx. Nancy is a bundle of
energy with a big smile who is always juggling twelve projects at once. Together
they own the homestead part of what was once a large farm (someone else now owns
the rest of the acreage) and live in the original farmhouse. As you come up the
gravel drive the house is on your left, under the shade of a hundred-year-old
maple. On the right is the barn and the field where the ewes and the latest batch
of lambs frolic (well, the lambs frolic, and the ewes just lay around, but...).
Further down the drive is the machine shed on the right and the new apple
processing building (complete with HUGE cider press and commercial kitchen) on
the left. Nancy's greenhouse peeks out from behind. Straight ahead, sloping
slightly down and away, is the orchard. The trees are planted in an organic
circular-style design which seems somehow friendlier, more natural and prettier
than the stiff, straight rows of larger commercial operations.
We spent Friday afternoon learning Dan's latest pruning theories and starting on
the trees. What seemed like a humble orchard suddenly became huge when we
realized that we were to prune, by hand, each individual tree. Whew! About 2:00
we went in for dinner which included Nancy's quiche (yes, real men do eat it).
Like much of the food at Blue Heron, it was filled with fresh organic
ingredients, in this case eggs plucked minutes before from the chicken coop and
fresh organic kale from the greenhouse. The salads at the Kelly's are always
amazing, too. Nancy has a contract with a local restaurant to provide baby
greens, and her houseguests are always the benefactors of the leftovers. Yum!
One of the nice things about the weekend was the cooperative spirit that
surrounded us all. We took turns helping with cooking and cleaning up
voluntarily, which felt fun and reinforced for me that I really like living this
way. Dan and Nancy don't pay us for our help, but feed us well and are
tremendously generous with apples, apple butter, apple cider and other farm
goodies. It's an age-old system that I'm delighted to be a part of.
Saturday proved too cold (below freezing) and windy for pruning so we turned to
other tasks. Mark and I helped Nancy in the greenhouse where it was warm and cozy
inside as the wind howled and whipped outside. We planted new greens and picked
those ready to eat. Then it was off to the commercial kitchen to wash and weigh
the greens, and nibble on a few, too. Chad, Kurt and Dan played with power tools
and made more spacer bars (used to encourage a different direction of growth when
two branches are too close). After another amazing dinner, we sat around in the
evening talking about everything, with the fire roaring and the dogs snoring at
our feet. Dan brought out Blue Heron's latest product, fire roasted jalapenos,
for us to sample. Beautiful bright red, these peppers are hot, smoky and
addictive. Chad and Dan slurped them down whole, but the faint of heart (the rest
of us) nibbled more slowly, with chips and sour cream.
Sunday was sunny, so we spent the day pruning again. I also got to collect eggs.
The chickens at Blue Heron are Aracanas, which produce blue-green beauties that
inspired, I'm certain, Dr. Suess among others. In the afternoon Kent and Mary Jo
Kattleman and Larry and Betsy Ayers stopped by. Kurt, Kent and Larry are all
helping Dan this summer with a strawbale apple storage building and had some
planning to do. The cool thing is that they aren't just getting together and
building it - they're leading a hands-on timber frame/strawbale construction
seminar. We're all excited about it - with Kurt's strawbale experience, Kent's
years of construction, and Larry's wood expertise, it's going to be an excellent
opportunity learn a lot! After yet another great meal (we love to eat at Dan and
Nancy's - the food is always so good!) and lots of fabulous conversation, the
Kattlemans and Ayers departed.
The next morning it was time to leave. Along with our muddy boots and sore wrists
we took home memories of laughter, lots of new knowledge, and farm fresh eggs and
greens. We're looking forward to our next visit (for the seminar) and then to
fall, when we'll get to harvest the (literal!) fruits of our labor.
(For information about the strawbale seminar, contact Dan at
blueheronorchard@centurytel.net)
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