El Paso County Conservation Dist

A variety of apple tree once thought to be extinct was found in Colorado Springs. 🍎🌳

The two Walbridge trees, planted about 130 years ago, stand in front of the Western Museum of Mining and Industry, living remnants of the Reynolds farm that used to occupy the property.

Ten years ago, staff with a nonprofit focused on identifying and preserving heritage apple trees, the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project, visited the museum and took cuttings from the trees to get DNA samples. Early in April, the nonprofit announced the trees’ identity. 🔗 Read more: https://buff.ly/bADw2dT

A new project, Probing Our Country’s Soil Health, is seeking farmers and ranchers to participate in a national soil health research effort.

What Participating Landowners Will Receive:
Compensation for your time (approximately 1 hour)
• A personalized soil health report for your fields
• The estimated value of the laboratory analysis—provided at no cost—is approximately $1,000 per field.
• A complimentary hard-copy photo book, Probing Our Country’s Soil Health, highlighting soil health conditions across the country and project outcomes

To do this program click here: https://calendly.com/probing-our-countrys-soil-health/shape-survey?month=2026-02

Location Change for tonight's event!

El Paso County Extension Office
17 N Spruce Street C/S 6pm-7:30pm

*We are no longer able to fit in the McAllister House Museum!

Registration is required!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/apple-project-apple-heritage-history-in-the-pikes-peak-region-tickets-1977554135654?aff=oddtdtcreator

Friendly reminder that there is a new online course that is all about exploring your farm dream to equip yourself with the knowledge, skills and business strategies for a future in agricultural production. This is a self paced course is designed for learners who have limited experience in agriculture. To learn more and register click here: https://online.colostate.edu/courses/AGLL/AGLL2201.dot

Read about our composting project in the New Falcon Herald newspaper

Collaborations to encourage composting in the county - The New Falcon Herald By Jon Huang

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, but today’s apple tree workshop was postponed to January 31, 2026.

We apologize; we had to scrap the goal of zooming the presentation tonight because of technical issues. The audio is being recorded and we will share the summary and screens from the presentation later this week.

In addition to in-person, we are going to try to broadcast tonight’s presentation via Zoom. https://zoom.us/j/92552205418

Come see us at the McAllister House Museum's Harvest Festival this Saturday! We'll have info about our upcoming A.P.P.L.E. Project, including McAllister House Museum's very own Director, Eric Metzger, giving a lecture about Apple Heritage & History in the Pikes Peak Region on Wednesday, October 15 at 6pm. We'll also have info on rain barrels and native grass seed sales.