Adrienne Mitchel/Los Altos Town Crier
It’s no secret the Los Altos Heritage Orchard has seen better days.
“Any farmer who had an orchard like that would be laughed out of town, and that’s the way I feel about those historical trees – they’re a laugh,” said Charles Bodine, a Los Altos resident since 1965 who was raised on an orange farm in the San Joaquin Valley.
Worn down by disease, pests and drought, the state of the protected historical site, located in the Los Altos Civic Center along San Antonio Road, is a far cry from its condition in 1987, when a survey said the apricot orchard reached its maximum health of 444 trees. Approximately 60% of those trees have died, and this summer’s crop was only one-tenth of last year’s, according to Jane Packard, chairperson of the Los Altos History Museum’s Orchard Commons Committee.
The museum established the committee in 2019 to...cont.
The Los Altos Heritage Orchard has seen better days, and its supporters look to embark on a plan for restoration within three to five years. Adrienne Mitchel/Town Crier
