Thank You for a Wonderful Harvest!

Thank you to the many friends who returned to the orchard this year, and a heartfelt welcome to all the new guests who joined us!  Our thirteenth season brought our most bountiful apple crop, our largest number of students on field trips, and our greatest opportunity to give back through donations to the foodbanks.  We are so grateful you took time out of your busy schedule to share in the harvest. We look forward to seeing you again soon!

We were blessed with 21 varieties of apples this season and nearly every variety was plentiful and beautiful, especially Honeycrisp, Blondee, Gala, McIntosh, Jonathan, Cortland, Fuji, UltraGold, Braeburn, Super Red Fuji, CandyCrisp, Enterprise, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Goldrush and new favorites, Pixie Crunch, Ludacrisp, Sweet Zinger and EverCrisp. The Empire and Liberty seasons were cut short a bit by 90+ degree weather in September.  But the dry and pleasant October made up for it all.  

One of the greatest joys of our season is hosting field trips. This year, we were thrilled to welcome over 1,000 energetic students from local schools and preschools! Our young visitors included Kindergarten classes from three Edwardsville schools, plus many other groups, and we were pleased to also host the Edwardsville CEO high school seniors.

The “Going Gold Kids Fest” benefit for American Cancer Society on October 11 was very successful. The children loved the pony rides and petting zoo, face painting, pumpkin painting, cider-making and bee demonstrations as well as many other lively activities.  Thank you to all who came out to show their support for this worthy cause.

Serving you throughout the season wouldn’t have been possible without the commitment of our team of 18 dedicated employees. Through challenging weather—from August heat to November freeze—this fantastic group of young adults and retirees worked tirelessly. They maintained the orchard, expertly guided our guests, and picked apples, all while keeping a positive attitude and a smile on their faces. Your generous recognition of their hard work has meant the world to us.

We were fortunate this year to significantly expand our work with St. Louis Area Foodbank, Operation Food Search, Food Outreach, and the Glen-Ed and Maryville pantries. Volunteers from these non-profits visited the orchard a number of times to harvest apples.  Through the dedication of these volunteers and our employees we were able to donate over 23,000 pounds of apples to families throughout our communities.

We continued to serve the Triad School District with fresh apples each week under an Illinois program that fully reimburses the school district for the cost of fruit. We expanded our partnership with 222 Artisan Bakery who brought mini-apple pies to the orchard every week.

The orchard is quiet now, with the evening sun catching the last golden leaves as we transition from autumn to winter. Though the season ends, the spirit of autumn remains with us all year long. We treasure the memories of your smiles and laughter, wagons filled with children and apples, and family photos on the pony cart or with the scarecrows.

Until we meet again… Thank You!