Published 2:00 pm Monday, June 15, 2026
By Heather Thomas/ For the Capital Press
This unique orchard near New Meadows, Idaho, is owned by YaVonna and Gautam Komminani. They named it Mountain Roots Orchard because of its history and the heirloom apples that still exist on the property.
It was an old homestead with the remnants of an orchard when they bought it in 2011. “We’ve been able to date it back to the early 1920s when the Little Salmon River Road was constructed,” says YaVonna.
The homesteaders cleared the forest enough to plant apple, cherry, pear, and plum trees to create an orchard in the winding canyon of the Little Salmon River. The original house and outbuildings are long gone; new homes and sheds were added over the decades by later owners.
YaVonna was familiar with the property because she lived here as a child. Her parents took care of the property for the owner at that time. Some of the original layout was still evident and more of the trees were alive, but the orchard became more neglected by the time YaVonna and her husband purchased this property.
Some of the original trees were still alive but needed a lot of care. A trial-and-error adventure began, to preserve the heritage trees and bring back the orchard.
Heirloom apples are rare varieties with historic origins. Many of the modern apple varieties are grown for storage and appearance rather than flavor.
“We’ve been working with a group called Lost Apple Projects who are interested in our orchard and determined the names of almost all these old trees. “We were trying to keep them alive until I could learn how to propagate and do grafting. We also planted some additional fruit trees and cold-climate blueberries,” says YaVonna.
They realized restoration of the orchard couldn’t happen without a way to help with the cost.
In 2016, they started selling plants and produce to the local farmer’s market in New Meadows.
“My plant nursery is for our local community. Growing these plants is challenging. North of us the elevation is 1,800 feet, and to the south it goes up to 5,000 feet. I provide hardy plants for people here, and not just orchard fruit. We grow flowers, herbs and garden starts,” she says.
“I found a cold-hardy peach called Contender that I planted last year, and it is still alive this year! Pears do fairly well, but we are limited on space for fruit trees. Our property is in a canyon and we grow fruit on a mountainside. Elevation varies from 3,300 feet to 4,000 feet at the top of the property. We just plant where we can; it’s not a typical layout for an orchard, and focus on things that will survive,” says YaVonna.
“We make a lot of fresh pressed cider every fall, bringing people together to do it. Many people have a few fruit trees; we combine their apples with ours for a fun event, just trading apples for cider,” she says.
“Our mission is to preserve the existing fruit trees and grow as much as possible to be self-sustainable, to provide beyond our own needs.” No pesticides or herbicides are used because those can be harmful to important pollinators.
Some of the heirloom apples still growing on their place are Jonathan, NewFane, Hog Island Sweet, Dudley, Doyleston, Randolf, Harlared and Haas. “Some of these older varieties are great for eating and some for cooking,” she says. There’s also a large crabapple they use for apple butter.
“I did plant some newer apples–a couple State Fair (a cold-hardy, early-season cultivar introduced by the University of Minnesota in 1977-1978) and Firesides.” Those are large, cold-hardy apples developed in Minnesota in 1943.
Her husband is a beekeeper. “We took honey to the farmers market last year and a display about beekeeping. We want to help people become aware of what goes on in the world of bees.” Agriculture depends on these pollinators.
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