Lawrence Orchards

History:

In 1921 Dale Lawrence bought our present farm at a sheriff's sale. At that time the farm consisted of a large dairy barn and approximately 100 acres of general farm crops and pasture. The concept of milking cows for a living was short lived as in 1922 a tornado came through taking with it most of the barn. In the spring of 1923 Dale planted the first apple trees as well as a large strawberry acreage. Lawrence Orchards was born!

From 1921 until 1950 Dale and his wife, Mildred, increased the apple and peach acreage to almost 70 acres and the strawberry fields to nearly 15 acres. All of the crops were either sold directly from the field or stored in the 'common storage' for later sales to small mom and pop groceries.

Shortly after his service in WWII John Lawrence and his wife, Dorothy, bought the orchards from his Uncle Dale. To satisfy the needs of marketing such large crops, John worked with other Ohio orchardists to form Fruit Growers Marketing Cooperative, which allowed access to the newly forming "super"market chains. With the help of his wife he began an on-farm market to sell directly to consumers.

George and his wife, Vickie, brought more diversification to the farm with newer varietal plantings and new marketing plans. Applefest began in 1984 with about 200 people attending. Last year nearly 5000 enjoyed the orchard's primary festival.

Presently the orchard consists of approximately 1500 apple, peach, and plum trees. There is also a large Christmas tree planting, strawberry and horseradish plots, seedless grape vineyard, and fields for vegetable crops.

Recognizing that we are all to be good stewards of what God has gifted, we utilize an integrated pest management system and sustainable agricultural practices throughout the orchard. This lowers chemical inputs to the lowest possible level and causes the lowest possible impact on our environment.