PORT ONEIDA, MI – Sleeping Bear Dunes volunteers are on a mission to save historic apple trees within the National Lakeshore.
Settlers arrived here on the shores of Lake Michigan in the 1850s, and over time they planted apple trees on the glaciated farmland. Today, much of the farm and land is preserved in the Port Oneida Historic District.
The trees behind Kelder House Farm are weathered and gnarled from more than 100 years of Michigan weather.
Circular cages have appeared on this farm and have continued to proliferate over the past decade. Inside the cage is an apple tree sapling, which the National Park Service hopes will save cultural history.
read more: Sleeping Bear on a mission to save a rare 19th century apple from extinction
“We’re in the eternal business when it comes to national parks, and we want to preserve everything that’s in this park, including the apples,” said Matt Morman, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore volunteer coordinator. says Mr.
In 2014, as the old tree began to crack, a new approach took hold and a grafting project began.
Just like the settlers in 1854, volunteers nurtured the old orchard by grafting and replanting twigs.
Last spring, more than a dozen volunteers grafted 100 trees, and with an 85% success rate, the project is starting to take hold. Across the park there are now 86 new antique apple trees.
A rarity in national parks, Sleeping Bear lets you pick antique apples to take home in Port Oneida.
Kouki values kindness. Visitors are reminded not to over-pick these rare fruits and to consume only one bushel.
Related: Hike through century-old farms and glacier-formed cliffs in the Sleeping Bear Historic District
Moman and his team have been championing this cause for the past decade. Kimberly Mann, Historic Architect of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore; Tom Adams, orchard grower at Leelanau Preserve. and Jim Kelderhaus, a descendant of Port Oneida farmers.
The Port Oneida Historic District is located approximately 3 miles from Glen Arbor.
Across from Kelder House Farm is the trailhead for the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, which passes historic farmhouses and cemeteries.