10/08/2026
Growing up in New Dominion, there were no apples orchard near us but my sister and I had a few wild trees that we would get a sour snack from.
Our Nan and Pop would some times take us apple picking in Tryon, at the farm of Betty and Everett Howatt.
Betty and Everett were a special breed. Community leaders, environmentalists and renowned farmers, who operated Willowshade Farms for over 50 years, a farm that had been settled by their family, over 200 years prior.
The trees were large and we relished the chance to climb a ladder, to pick the delicious fruit, knowing that my Grandfather was behind us to ensure our safe endeavors and our Grandmother was watching, waiting to turn our prizes into pies and sauce, for the coming winter.
It was a social outing and my Grandparents seemed to know everyone, stopping frequently to talk with other pickers. My pop always made a habit of talking to Everett, as he must have known him. In those days, of tight communities and smaller family farms, the harvest was always in the conversation and news of "the crop", traveled far and wide, on the tongues of the rural population.
Speeding ahead 20 years, there I was. Just out of the Culinary Institute, with a piece of land and an idea. It was 1988 and I was looking for a way to farm my land.
Leaning on my memories and with my father having a small orchard in West Prince, I decided that growing apples, was the way to grow. It was social. It was environmentally sustainable and it filled a need in me, to produce a product. Not just grow food but make something that was high quality and nutritious.
That's where the idea for a Upick and C***r Orchard took root. Varieties were chosen for their unique flavors, blending sweet and sharp notes, with tart and spices, to make a premium flavored drink that would stand out, among other c***rs.
We haven't stopped. Although we have planted some more modern varieties in the last several years, we have also planted some gastronomic types, that will allow us to take our adventure to the next level and we look forward to the future, experimenting with flavors, to bring even more taste to the market.
Being a c***r orchard, means that we can leave our trees to grow to their potential, reduce our use of pesticides and have a blend of larger and smaller apples, growing along side each other, to suit different needs.
Our orchard offers a more tranquil, sheltered and whimsical experience, where a family, a group of friends or a couple on a date, can find quiet and privacy, to enjoy their own company and the opportunity to gather, share their time and make some lasting memories, as my sister and I did, so many years ago.
