FILER, Idaho — Robin Kelley and her sister, Gretchen, own a small orchard in the Snake River Canyon near Filer, a small town in southern Idaho.

They are fourth-generation orchardists. The orchard was established by their great-grandfather, John Steel Gourley, in 1908.

John’s father, the Rev. John Gourley, came to the Magic Valley from Pennsylvania in 1906 to establish the First Presbyterian Church of Twin Falls.

John Gourley realized the climate in the nearby canyon was ideal for fruit trees. He borrowed money from his father and brother to obtain a piece of land along the canyon and water for it, under the Carey Act.

“He cleared away sagebrush and rocks and planted peach trees,” Robin said. “We have the original receipt from Stark Brothers, when he purchased his first Elberta peach trees.”

Stark Brothers Nurseries and Orchards Co. in Missouri is the oldest continuously operating U.S. nursery, providing gardening products for more than 200 years.

John eventually planted groves of apple, peach, and cherry trees along the banks of the river, where canyon rocks provide warmth after sunset, and the river helps stabilize springtime temperatures. This micro-climate — about 3 degrees warmer than the surrounding area — helps protect early fruit buds from April and May freezes.

“We utilize water that runs through the property. This creek is a collection of water from farms above the canyon — from the Twin Falls Canal Company,” she said. The water tumbles down a waterfall that is visible from the orchard.

“For 112 years the orchard collected the water for flood irrigation in corrugations. Three years ago we worked with (the Natural Resources Conservation Service) to change this and now have five points of filtration, and micro-sprinklers in our orchard, to filter that water before it goes into the river,” Robin said.

The orchard was passed down through the generations.

“It went from my great-grandfather to my paternal grandmother. Her eldest child was my father, Richard Kelley, who ran the orchard for most of his life and loved the place.

Richard Kelley was an orchardist and horticulturist and also owned and operated Kelley’s Garden Center in Twin Falls, Robin said.

Richard expanded the orchard and added plums, apricots, nectarines and vegetables. Today, Kelley’s Canyon Orchard is owned by his daughters, Robin and Gretchen, the great-great-granddaughters of the Rev. Gourley.

“We recently celebrated our 115th season, and are honored to carry on the family legacy of growing fresh, ripe produce for the Magic Valley,” Robin said.

A Century Farm Award was presented to Kelley’s Canyon Orchard in 2019. The Century Farm designation honors families that have continuously owned and farmed the same land their ancestors did 100 years ago or more.

“Our orchard is relatively small with less than 15 acres in trees, but grows every kind of fruit, selling direct to consumers who appreciate ripe, fresh-picked fruit,” Robin said.

The orchard continues to offer visitors the pick-your-own experience or the option of already-picked produce at the onsite orchard fruit stand.

“We have generations of families that continue to share this experience. My great-grandfather allowed the public to come to his orchard and we follow the model he established,” she said.

“We specialize in picking ripe — at just the right time. We don’t pick to pack, so we let fruit ripen on the tree a bit longer than anyone else. I’ve worked a lot of farmers markets and people who buy fresh fruit want something they can eat today or tomorrow; you need it picked at just the right moment to get it to market.

“We value the people who make the trip out here, because they can experience our story and experience their own food in the place it was grown,” Robin said.

“We grow all the different varieties based on seasonality: sweet red cherries, Rainier cherries, sour pie cherries and multiple varieties of each,” she said. “We have apricots, and nine varieties of peaches — early ones, and all the way to late ones. We have six varieties of plums, four varieties of nectarines, 11 varieties of apples, and two varieties of pears.”

They also have a small garden with watermelons, cantaloupes and tomatoes.