Harvest & Heritage

Cherry harvest time means reunion time at Stemilt Growers. One of America's largest fruit tree orchards... workers return to bring in the fruit from these trees in central Washington State. If you like cherries, you've probably had some of these. Stemilt is the nation's largest shipper of these delicious delights. And in the midst of harvesting 150 tons of cherries from thousands of trees, the focus today is on family roots and a hill steeped in family history.

Kyle Mathison walks along the ridgeline of an important rise in this area, "We're standing and walking down Stemilt Hill? It's the Indian word for foothills. My dad started the packing and growing and the marketing on these hills in 1962. But we actually started growing cherries in 1893 when my great grandfather homesteaded here."

Kyle Mathison farms more than 10,000 acres of fruit, but this family business began with very humble beginnings. Kyle's father planted his first crop of cherry trees at the end of World War II. Kyle says, "Our families been here. I'm the fourth generation. We've just king of continued to build on the shoulders of our ancestors. You know, we found that we have a competitive edge in the cherry business."

The fertile soil of Washington's Wenatchee Valley provided perfect conditions for growing cherries as well as apples and pears. Looking closely at the trees nearby and you will see that they are loaded with cherries. They're only five years old and if you pull one of the cherry clusters back, you'll see tiny little buds in here that are set to become next year's crop. Meanwhile, the crop being picked today will be on somebody's table within two days.

The success of the Stemilt fruit shipping business began with Kyle's father Tom, a gutsy grower and a farming pioneer whose innovations changed an entire industry. He'll tell you, "In 1958 I got my returns from the co-op and I had a total credit of 88 dollars for my crop and so I was really upset. So I come up with a plan to improve the product, the handling of it especially. And that plan is alive today, on this orchard."

Tom's plan was an innovative method for processing that chills the fruit and preserves its freshness as it moves from the orchard to your kitchen. Tom's grandson, Tate, returned home from Los Angeles to help run the family business. He operates one of the farm's processing plants line after line, filled with cherries and apples. He points to stickers on apples being processed for shipping, "My grandfather felt that the apples were going to become a commodity. So he wanted to distinguish his apples and put his name on it to show these were grown at Stimelt Hill so we started doing it in the 80s and I guess it always stuck." That's not all that stuck. Tom's industry standards fill this place. From a machine that sizes cherries to bagging and selling cherries in plastic bags.

Back at Stemilt Hill, the orchard is being protected by a professional falconer to scare away birds that damage the fruit. Each day he sends his birds soaring over the land with the same protective spirit inspired by Tom Mathison. And just down the hill. Tate's brother-in-law, Robin Graham, runs the Stemilt's composting facility. That's not dust you're seeing, it's steam, from the 170 degree baking compost filled with apple cores and cherry pits. It's used throughout the orchard and on the 1,000 acres of organics; something Tom Mathison began doing 15 years before organic was the buzz.

Tom will tell you, "When you're farming, you have to look at the whole tree including the soil and environment in which it grows. And kind of like the human body, you don't want to treat just the symptoms. We just took a look at the compost pile. And that really highlights that you have to build the environment in which the tree grows." Tom's history and heritage is part of continuity here. Evidenced by a new baby in the family being named Thomas Kyle. Tom says, "I don't dwell on the fact that what's developed. I just feel the thankfulness more than anything else. And appreciation, for what the Lord has provided us."

Those Amazing Vegetables!
Those learning about agriculture may be surprised to know that pumpkin was once considered a good way to get rid of freckles and treat snake bites. Americans eat almost ten times more broccoli than we did a generation ago. And did you know that lettuce is a member of the sunflower family!