Apple Library Takes Root at the Lyle Center
The Lyle Center is providing students with opportunities to learn, taste and grow through its most recent endeavor: the Apple Library.
This past February, students, faculty, staff, College Corps participants and community volunteers planted 210 apple trees on eastern-facing terraces at the east mesa of the Lyle Center. Of those trees, 150 are for cider production, while the remaining 60 are part of the Apple Library, which will allow students and faculty to study the resilience of different apple varieties in Southern California.
Twenty-five heritage apple varieties were purchased from Trees of Antiquity through a philanthropic donation. Heritage apples are older varieties that are typically preserved and passed down through generations rather than grown for large-scale commercial sale. According to Associate Dean Andrew Wilcox, College of Environmental Design, planting these apples will help regenerate the orchard culture that once defined the Pomona Valley.
“It really is an experiment about what will succeed in Southern California,” Wilcox said. “We’re always told that we don't have enough chill to grow apples, and the experiment here is set up to test whether that’s really true.”
By testing dozens of apple varieties in a changing climate, the Apple Library will serve as a hands-on example of the regenerative, long-term approach that the Lyle Center takes to environmental problem-solving.
“The idea from a resilience model is that if any of the varieties fail on us, we’ve got 20 other varieties. We can look to see what succeeds and then graft that wood back onto those rootstocks, and we don't have to start the orchard from scratch,” Wilcox said.
A Lesson in Resilience
During the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the vegetation at the Lyle Center died due to limited maintenance, staffing shortages and irrigation issues. However, apple trees proved to be surprisingly resilient.
Nathaniel Satrape, a master’s student in plant science and site technician at the Lyle Center, said that some apple varieties proved more drought-resistant than others, sparking the idea for an Apple Library where multiple varieties could be observed and compared over time.
“Looking forward, we are trying to create a more resilient system that works with nature,” Satrape said.
From Seedlings to Cider
According to Wilcox, the Lyle Center team hopes to collaborate with local breweries to make cider from these future apples, including hard cider.
Because the trees are still young, the orchard is not expected to reach cider production levels for several years. In the meantime, the Lyle Center is focused on educating students in preparation for future harvests.
The Lyle Center team also hopes that the orchard will support multiple on-campus initiatives, such as the Poly Pantry and the Farm Store, lead to potential partnerships with the different colleges, and even help bring together Southern California communities by creating learning opportunities during future harvests.
According to Wilcox, the orchard is about more than growing apples, it’s about creating opportunities. The project uses regenerative practices, which can create revenue by using meaningful future employment in a circular economy model.
“The project is a place-based approach that links business, regenerative orchard culture, science and even biology with the support of our western bluebirds on trellis posts to help with integrated pest control,” Wilcox said.
As the orchard continues to grow, so does its potential. What began as a lesson in resilience will soon become a resource that benefits the campus community and others for years to come.