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Orchard + Kitchen + Store = On-farm Enterprise

Date: 08/03/2012
Time: 9 a.m.-noon

Hosts:                                           

Maury and Mary Wills

Wills Family Orchard

33130 Panther Creek Road

Adel, IA 50003

515.993.5151

info@willsfamilyorchard.com

Description:

Tour the Wills family’s 4-acre organic apple orchard, pumpkin patch, commercial kitchen and retail store. Maury will talk about how he raises organic apples, from disease-resistant varieties to organically-approved pest controls. Different deer fencing methods will be shown. There is one licensed kitchen on their property: their current commercial kitchen is housed in the basement of their home, with a larger kitchen under construction in the retail building. Maury and Mary will explain kitchen requirements and talk about their decision to scale up the size of their commercial kitchen. They’ll also talk about the value-added products they make from scratch, including organic apple butter, apple sauce and pies, how they sell their products and how they attract on-farm customers.

Topics:

·         Organic apple production

·         Licensed commercial kitchens

·         On-farm stores and sales

Speakers:

Dr. Kathleen Delate from Iowa State University will speak about research conducted at Wills Family Orchard.

The Farm:

Maury and Mary Wills and their six children operate Wills Family Orchard. They planted their first apple trees in 1992, and have been certified organic since 2000. They have 4 acres of apples and hope to increase their orchard to 10 acres. They also raise pumpkins, winter squash and gourds using Integrated Pest Management. They are in the process of finishing construction on a larger commercial kitchen inside their on-farm retail store. The orchard hosts a fall apple and pumpkin festival, sells products through their on-farm store on weekends in the fall, and hosts group tours. Maury is also Bureau Chief for Agricultural Diversification & Market Development at the Iowa Department Agriculture and Land Stewardship. He manages the Iowa Organic Certification program at IDALS.

Directions:

From I-80: Take exit 106. Drive north on Hwy P58 (L Ave) for approximately 2 1/2 miles to the river bridge; turn west immediately north of the bridge onto E Panther Creek Road. Drive west for approximately 1 mile, then north for 1/2 mile on Panther Creek Road. From Adel: Drive west out of Adel for several miles on Greene Street (Old Hwy 6). Turn south on Hwy P58 and drive approximately 2 1/2 to 3 miles south to the river bridge; follow directions, above, after crossing the bridge.