A History of our orchard
A Family History:
Five generations of McAfees have farmed land in Hobart. Dave McAfee, the 5th generation, had worked on the family farm as a boy but left it for college, the Navy and to earn a living. Marriage for both Dave and Bonnie resulted in their building their home in 1985-86. Their home sits along the south edge of the woods, and now overlooks the orchard. Dave had an increasing desire to return to the land and start his own business. Bonnie was appreciably more skeptical but a helpful partner nonetheless so they started planning.
The following things were investigated: location, varieties, method of
proceeding, marketing and type of orchard.
No location is ideal. Climate, topography, proximity to market, soil, water,
cost and availability of land, personal economics, knowledge and ambition
were all basics that were considered. Orchards are best located on a hillside
which allows cold air to roll off and settle in the valley or bottom land.
With that exception, all other indicators were positive. It was hoped that
lack of orchard knowledge would be overcome with study and exposure.
There is a line in a Beatle's song that says "I got by with a little help
from my friends" and both Dave and Bonnie would like to express their
gratitude to good orchard friends, especially Dick Hayden, Dave Doud
and Ed Fackler.
The following criteria for selection of apple varieties were considered:
The quantity of trees per acre was topic of serious consideration. Factors
such as tree size, growth rate, cost, return on investment and labor required
were all considered. Historically, thirty very large trees per acre was
standard. High density (but short orchard life span) called for planting
1000 or more trees per acre. We decided on 242 trees per acre planted in
rows 18 feet apart with the trees spaced ten feet apart in the row.
With 20/20 hindsight, we would have had 20 foot rows with trees spaced 12
feet apart. This would have been better for our location and selection of
trees. As a result, in most places we have had to remove every other tree.
In addition to soil building, rain water drainage was established. Ridges
were laid out and plowed into place to increase the amount of top soil the
trees would be planted in.
The orchard was carefully laid out with strings in both north/south and
east/west directions. Where the strings crossed, a tree was to be planted.
One large shovelful of dirt was removed at this location, then all the
strings were removed. A tractor and post hole digger with a large diameter
auger dug a two foot deep hole where the shovelful of dirt had been removed.
North/south strings were reinstalled and now at long last we were ready to
plant trees. Planting consisted of putting bare rooted trees approximately
thirty inches high and a half inch in diameter in the augured holes, lined
up with the string to keep the row straight. The hole was partially covered
with dirt, the soil firmed, water was added and when it had penetrated the
soil, the hole was slightly over filled with dirt and compacted. 1300 trees
were planted in the "front" field and the "church" field in 1988. The main
south field was planted with 1500 trees in 1989, 1200 in 1990 and the last
300 in 1991. The same system of preparation and planting was followed
each year.
As each section of the orchard was planted, a system of drip irrigation
from Israel was designed and pumps and header pipes were installed to assist
the young trees.
The first year we had no system of weed control or grass cover crop. Hoeing
some three miles of rows that first year convinced us of the merit of weed
control and of a grass cover crop. We contacted Michigan State University
who had completed a study of orchard floor management, and they recommended
a mixture of Penn Lawn and Manhattan II grass seed be planted. This was
followed with good results.
The old part of the barn is inside and came from Tom Gottlieb's barn in Boone
Grove, Indiana. The barn's useful life was over. Part of the roof had caved
in. The barn was dismantled by hand as completely as safety would allow. The
siding and haymow boards and stalls were all removed and cleaned of nails.
Only the ridged frame and roof of the barn remained standing. The frame was
made of hand-hewn oak beams and pinned and mortised together. This is the old
original method of barn construction. Although the barn structure was
unstable, most of the individual beams were strong and solid. A big crawler
tractor pushed and pulled until the frame and roof came crashing down.
Individual beams were then removed and brought to the orchard.
The "new" part of the barn is a conventional structure called a pole barn
building. It consists of six by six beams embedded four feet in the ground
on concrete pads. The old hand-hewn beams can be seen structurally holding
up the roof in the middle of the building. Handicapped-accessible restrooms,
septic systems, electrical wiring and concrete flooring were in place when
the orchard first started selling apples in the Fall of 1991.
During the winter of 1992/93, the barn was enlarged for our cider processing
equipment. At the same time, the office, kitchen and cold storage were added.
The barn was insulated, heating and interior drywall and old barn siding were
installed. The initial barn siding from the barn in Boone Grove can be seen
with the worn white paint. Siding from Dave's Grandpa McAfee's barn (thanks
to his brother Glenn) is at the north east portion of the barn. Barn siding
from a big barn located near Lakes of the Four Seasons appears red and can be
seen along the cider room wall. The siding on the back wall of the barn came
from Montemengi, Indiana.
The barn (and also the "New Barn" - see below) are the center of the
orchard's operation. The original barn contains a large cold
storage room for apples, kitchen, restrooms, eating area, an office and
storage.
After years of requests from our customers, in 1997 we converted the north
end of the barn into our donut room, where we make apple cinnamon donuts.
It wasn't long before we had to enlarge the donut room to keep up with demand!
In 1998, we stopped making our own apple cider. The scare of E. Coli was real,
and we didn't want to be responsible for making people sick. Pasturization
equipment was very expensive, so we decided to ship off our apples to a
nearby orchard and have them returned in liquid form. Our cider is now
pasturized, but you sure can't tell that from tasting it!
In 1999 we bought a fudge making machine and started making our own fudge.
The operation can be seen upstairs in the "Sweet Shoppe". We
also seriously began selling apples pies that year. They were so successful,
we had to build a walk-in freezer!
A unique feature in the packing shed is the raised viewing area. This
elevated platform with child-proof safety railing is designed to allow
visitors, especially children on school tours, to see the apples emptied
from large twenty bushel boxes, washed, dried, polished, inspected,
culled, separated by size and packaged.
In 1999 the straw storage building was completely redone, and began
life anew as our chick house.
We've had chicks hatching in it every single day we're open.
2003 saw the biggest and most obvious changes of nearly any
year at the orchard. The Biggie, of course, was
The Barn. This project lasted
from early spring until the very day before the orchard opened
for business that fall. (Literally! The parking lot was paved the
day before customers started arriving. Talk about cutting it
close!)
Also of note in 2003: The field of new apples that's on the way
back to the pumpkin patch (we call it the Gibson field) bore fruit.
However, it was picked clean on the one weekend it was opened!
The Maize this year was an apple
tree and barn, and proved particularly challenging. The apple
crop overall was quite good.
The big new attraction of 2004 was the
Trail of Fears, our haunted trail
in the woods. The folks that made it out alive seemed to really
enjoy themselves, so it looks likely that it will be back for
years to come.
Other items of note for 2004: The MAiZE was a picture of an
elephant and a donkey, with a message of "VOTE 2004". The donut
room got a "C200" donut maker, capable of making 200 dozen donuts
per hour. It mostly kept up with demand. The weather in September
and early October was outstanding, with some rains coming in
mid-October.
Planning:
The amount of land and money were not sufficient to start farming in the
traditional way in Indiana with corn and beans, so they investigated
alternative farming. Their studies pointed to an orchard.Location:
The land on County Line Road was not part of the original family farm, now
lived on by brother (deceased) Glenn McAfee's family, but is located about
one-half mile east. The land had been purchased by Warren McAfee, Dave's
father, in the early 1960s with the intent to someday subdivide it.
Dave is purchasing the land from a family trust.Varieties:
The choice of which apple cultivars (variety) to plant is crucial. If you
plant the wrong type of pumpkins, tomatoes, corn or beans, next year you can
plant something else and all you've lost is one year. Orchards are different.
What you plant is what you harvest for years and years. There are thousands
of kinds (or cultivars) of apples to choose from. Finally seventeen
varieties of apples were chosen.
The orchard has apples ripe from early August to early November. Cultivars
selected came from Europe, Japan, New Zealand as well as America. A sample
tasting will speak for itself. More about the apple varieties we chose
can be found here.Marketing:
Growing apples with no way to market them is a recipe for economic disaster.
A marketing plan was critical. It was determined that a U-Pick orchard
combined with fresh-picked fruit would appeal to a wide cross section of the
huge population within an hour's drive. The decision to not allow cars in
the orchard would be the safest and most enjoyable for all concerned.
Of course, cider processing and sales capability would be required.
(An aside: we soon learned that educational school tours are an excellent
marketing tool. In 1993, we tested the school tour market and had about
2000 kids come. In 1994, 9000 kids, teachers and parents came and gave us
rave reviews. This was easily doubled to 18,000 in 1995, to over 22,000 in
96, and over 25,000 in 1997). The year of 2005 saw some 38,000 teachers,
kids, aides and chaperones tour the orchard.
How to Proceed:
The next question is: how to proceed? The first step is to prepare the
land. This took the entire year before the planting of any trees (1987).
The first step was to plant and raise Sudan grass. Sudan grass
grows some eight feet high in one year. When the grass was mature,
it was not harvested but rather plowed into the soil.
This process is called green manure. Tons and tons were incorporated into
the ground. This is the natural way to build up humus in the soil.
Another good friend, Tom Gottlieb, was instrumental in making this happen.Our growth
Some orchard planting systems will produce a crop the year after the trees
are planted. The drawback with such a system is that the orchard must be
replaced every ten years. Our orchard was slow to start producing fruit,
but will last many years. In 1991, we were open for only two
days. In 1992, we were open on Fall weekends. In 1993, we were open
everyday from August until Christmas. In 1994, due to a very small crop,
we were open everyday from August until Halloween. 1995 was an excellent
year, and we were open everyday from August 19 to December 23. The crop in
1996 was very small, so we were open from August 21 through October 31.
After that year we decided that it was better to close at Halloween, and
have been doing so ever since. In 1997, we had about 60-75% of a full crop.
1998 was a good year, and 1999 was mediocre. 2000 and 2001 were both quite
good years. 2002 saw the crop hurt by an early spring frost.
The history of our buildings:
Our Apple Barn:
The apple barn at County Line Orchard
is either an old new barn or a new
old barn, depending upon how you look at it. The Packing Shed:
The apple packing shed
is located behind the main barn. It was constructed
in 1995. The packing shed is where apples are brought to be washed, dried,
sorted, packed, bagged or separated out for use in making our delicious
cider.Our "Vintage" Buildings:
In late 1996, we learned that a shopping center was going to be built at the
corner of Route 6 and County Line Road, the site of a great old farm. We
hated to see some of those buildings being bulldozed, so we bought and had
moved 5 old buildings and tore down and re-built a sixth (the machine
shed.) We have restored these buildings, and they are now used as the
Welcome Shed, the
Check-Out building, the
Bee Barn, the
goat house and a
straw-storage building.Our New Barn
In 2003 we adopted a barn. This was a momentous enough event that
it has its very own history page.
Updates
2003
2004
A hard frost on May 3rd hurt some of the crop, but many apples
pulled through unscathed. The major landscape change for 2004
was that the open ditch between the Church field and the Gibson
field was finally filled in. (Don't ask why the ditch was
there in the first place...) Now there's a broad vista open from
the front to the back of the orchard.