1913 Kickapoo Orchard
Located in the hills of Gays Mills, WI, Noel Miller and Harrison Heilman's 1913 Kickapoo Orchard, 1913 West, and Roots to Fruits Nursery combine their shared decades of knowledge and passion for horticulture, pomology, and preserving productive farmland. Together they shape the present and future vision of the orchards and nursery. We interviewed them to learn more.
How did 1913 Kickapoo Orchards get its start?
Before becoming orchard owners, we started Urban Acres, which helps families, growers, and communities plant fruit trees throughout the Midwest, this became what is now Roots to Fruits Tree Nursery. When the opportunity came to purchase a historic orchard that could also be home to the nursery, it felt like the synergistic next step. Understanding the immediate need for large quantities of apples to make cider, while at the same time caring for the orchard's older mature trees that can be less productive, we made the decision to acquire our second orchard, 1913 West (formerly Westridge Orchard) in 2024. Today we're restoring and reimagining both properties by planting thousands of new apple, pear, peach, and plum trees, while carefully preserving many of the heirloom varieties that make each orchard so unique.
What makes Kickapoo Orchards Cider special?
Great cider begins long before the apples reach the press. It starts with healthy trees, healthy soil, thoughtful orchard management, and harvesting fruit at just the right moment. The choice of apple variety and quantity of each is key. This impacts the brix levels (sugar content) and flavor complexities. We choose the varieties that will create complex, deep flavors that taste as crisp as a fresh apple. Once handpicked and transported to the cider house, the apples are selected through quality-control sorting, washed, and pressed with great care.
The vast majority of apples we grow are processed as cider. It takes about 42 pounds of apples (approximately a bushel) to yield around 3-3.5 gallons of fresh cider; that is a lot of apples!
We combine careful fruit selection, modern sanitation practices, and precise pasteurization techniques to preserve the fresh flavor of the apples while producing a safe, shelf-stable product. We partner with a great Midwest bottling company that specializes in shelf-stable juices. Once the product is pressed, it flows into our tanks, is tested for quality by a third party, then loaded into tankers and sent for pasteurization, bottling, and labeling.
What's the story behind Drizzle and Dazzle?
We partnered with A&M Sugarworks & Maple Syrup of Dallas, Wisconsin, to handcraft these small-batch syrups, bringing together the best of our heirloom apples and Wisconsin maple syrup tradition.
We wanted to capture the pure essence of the apple and create a new delicious way to experience cider. That vision became our Limited Reserve Apple Cider Dazzle and Apple Maple Drizzle Syrup Collection. Dazzle is made of one ingredient, 1913 Heirloom Apple Cider, which is slowly “cooked” at high temperature and reduced down into a rich cider syrup (boiled cider). The result is an intensely delicious apple-forward syrup that is the key secret ingredient to THE best apple pies, and next level fantastic warmed and poured over pancakes, yogurt, ice cream, stirred into mocktails and cocktails, and paired with cheeses and roasted vegetables.
Drizzle is made of just two ingredients, blending that same 1913 cider syrup with Wisconsin maple syrup for a beautifully balanced finish that lets both flavors shine. It's a celebration of two local harvests in one bottle. Equally delicious as Dazzle, and great with pancakes, fantastic in your favorite granola recipe, drizzled over fresh apple slices, and stirred into beverages, warm or cold.
Is there anything else you would like to share with co-op shoppers?
We're proud to share that we've begun the multi-year journey toward organic certification at our 1913 West Orchard location. It's a significant undertaking, but one we believe reflects our commitment to growing healthy food while caring for the flora, fauna and land we all love.
When you choose our products at the co-op, you help to preserve a historic orchard, support local agriculture, create local jobs, help plant the next generation of fruit trees, and invest in food that's grown close to home.