A spring rainbow lights up the sky over the Kiyokawa Family Orchards, May 18, 2024. Parkdale, Oregon.
Jeff Kastner / OPB
In the fruit orchards of the Hood River Valley, spring means rolling fields blanketed with blossoms and a view of Mount Hood that looks so close you could reach out and touch it. And at the Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Parkdale, the apples are beginning to grow. The family-owned farm was once called the best apple orchard in America, and is known for its wide selection of 125 apple varieties.
Randy Kiyokawa shows off his smallest and largest apple varieties during the annual apple tasting event at Kiyokawa Family Orchards, October 4, 2024. Parkdale, Oregon.
Arya Surowidjojo / OPB
The family also has an incredible local history dating back three generations to when a vibrant community of Japanese American orchardists established itself in the Hood River Valley in the early 20th century. The Kiyokawas have worked as fruit orchardists in the area since 1911. They’re also one of the few Japanese American families from the valley that was able to return and work the land after surviving forced relocation and incarceration during World War II.
Michiko Kiyokawa née Jinguji holds a picture from her wedding day in 1945, when she married Mamoru Kiyokawa. The two met while incarcerated at Tule Lake War Relocation Center in Northern California.
Jessie Sears / OPB
Video producer and cinematographer Jeff Kastner and his family have been eating the Kiyokawas’ apples for years, and followed the family last year for a full growing season. He recently shared their story for OPB’s “Oregon Experience” and “Superabundant” series. This week, we head out onto the farm with owner and third-generation orchardist Randy Kiyokawa, meet the family’s 101-year-old matriarch Mich, and learn all about how the Kiyokawas created an apple paradise in the shadow of Mount Hood.
Listen to all episodes of The Evergreen podcast here.
