Fourteen years ago, my wife and I decided that big city life was too hectic for our liking. So we moved from the big city to the rural countryside to start a new lifestyle farming fruit. We purchased 10 acres of property. We are currently growing 1 acres of apples, and 7 acres of cherries (4 different varieties).

Our orchard sits high on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River in North Central Washington State. We're approximately half way between the source of the Columbia River (in the Canadian Rockies) and the mouth of the river (in Astoria, OR). Grand Coulee Dam is 30 miles up river from our orchard.

The climate here is perfectly suited for growing superb quality apples and cherries along with other pome and stone fruits (pome fruit contains multiple seeds in its core, like an apple for example; while stone fruit contains a single seed or "pit" in its core, like a cherry for example).

The combination of rich soil, hot summer days and cool nights, along with the abundance of clean water for irrigation makes this region of Washington State one of the best places in the world for growing stone and palm fruit.

The fruit industry has undergone drastic demographic changes during a relatively short period of time. Less than 20 years ago, families took pride farming quality fruit on a manageable scale of 10 - 20 acres. Today, there are several very large orchards that dominate the entire industry and have turned fruit production into a commodity. This change has led to mediocrity in the fruit quality and continues to squeeze the small family farmer out of existence.

Even though the odds are stacked against us, we continue to adapt the small family "take pride in growing the highest quality fruit possible" attitude which is quite different than the "economy of scale" mentality. Instead of farming large quantities of sub quality fruit and treating the fruit like a commodity, we grow small quantities of high quality fruit. All the work on our orchard is performed by my son Oren and me.

The work can be strenuous and in some cases tedious. Each one of our trees receives all the TLC it deserves. The pride we take in farming is reflected in the quality of the fruit we grow.

We are in the transition of breaking our ties with the current fruit industry mind set. Instead of sending our fruit to commercial packing sheds on consignment, we are going to market our high quality fruit directly to a more appreciative clientele over the internet .

Our quality standards are considerably higher than those of the industries. If our fruit does not meet our strict quality requirements, we will not ship it. Our reputation depends on your satisfaction.

Steve & Jennifer Cox
Buckskin Orchard