LEWIS' ORCHARDS - The Legacy, The Dream, and The Love of Apple Trees - Howard County Farmers' Markets Profiles, No. 1

"It's Nevin's legacy," begins Shirley Lewis, owner of Lewis' Orchards located in Cavetown, Maryland. It was Nevin's love of apple trees and dream to continue in the family business that now spans five generations of the Lewis family.  “The farm was started in the late 1800s by his grandfather with 12 acres and has always been a fruit farm.”

“The orchard,” recalls Steve, “made its biggest growth during my dad’s years of farming it.”  At its peak, the Lewis family had about 350 acres in production, mostly in orchards. In addition, they grew a variety of vegetables including sweet corn and pumpkins for the roadside market.

Nevin and Shirley’s three children - Kevin, a state trooper; Sherryl, a postal worker; and Steve, a paid emergency medical technician and firefighter - help run the farm.  Although they all help, "Steve," conveys Shirley "is the one who actually farms."

Staff varies seasonally.  During the peak of apple harvesting, Lewis’ Orchards employs 25 to 30 people.  In the summer, there are about 15-20 people that help in the orchards, the roadside market, and the farmers’ markets. In wintertime, the off-season, there are six year-round employees that help prune the trees.

The Lewis family has been blessed with good and loyal employees over the years. There’s Poncho who has been with Lewis’ Orchards for over 17 years. He helps run the operation in the field. “The days I’m not here, he manages the crew. He’s every bit as knowledgeable about how to get the work done as I am,” says Steve. “We couldn’t do it without him,” adds Shirley.  “All of our Mexicans who work here are dedicated workers and great employees. We couldn’t grow fruit without them.”

“Lisa,” continues Shirley, “runs our market and keeps things going.  Tina runs some of our [farmers’] markets and oversees the vegetables at the farm. We’ve had good college and high school kids plus my grandchildren have all worked here.”

Lewis’ Orchards now has 200 acres; roughly 80 acres with 27 different varieties of apples are in production. Their most popular varieties are Fuji, Golden Delicious, and heirloom or “antique” varieties such Stayman Winesap, Black Twig, Transparent and Lodi. In addition, there are 15 acres of peach trees. “We grow a small amount of vegetables including four acres of pumpkins that we sell at our roadside market,” says Steve. “We start our season with strawberries,” adds Shirley, “then go into cherries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, plums, pears, apples which begin with Transparent in late-June and go through October ending with Black Twig.”

Lewis’ Orchards ensures quality through an intense operation. There’s a scout that goes out into the field to look for pests and the start of disease, and then determines how and when eradicate any problems.  There are many hours of hard manual labor as Lewis’ Orchards only hand-picks their fruit. None of it is picked by machines.  “We brush our apples, but none of it is waxed,” says Shirley. To ensure the best tasting apples for their customers, the Lewis team tests the amount of sugar and starch, and tastes the apples themselves.

Peaches are picked five to six times before a tree is fully harvested. This way, the peaches are picked at their optimum stage for flavor and appearance.  They are picked every two-to-three days. Apples, such as Fuji, Gala and Ginger Gold are picked at least twice during the early season until peak season and then other varieties are picked all at once.

The Lewis family participates in a number of farmers’ markets in the region - including four in Howard County on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays - during the 2013 market season. “We only bring fruits to the Howard County Farmers’ Markets because there are a lot of vegetable growers,” says Shirley.  What is not brought to the farmers’ markets is either sold at Lewis’ Orchards roadside market or through wholesale to food distributors, such as Knouse Foods.

Lewis’ Orchards, like many farmers, face many challenges.  Finding labor – from production to sales – that is willing to do the work required to produce good quality fruits and vegetables is a major challenge. “Weather is always a challenge,” says Steve. “One night of frost when trees are in full bloom can cause the entire production for the year to be lost.  Hail storms often riddle fruit to make it not the good quality to be sold as fresh fruit.”

Pests are a major challenge. During the first year that the Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs appeared, Lewis’ Orchards lost 45 to 55 % of their apple harvest. They sold what they could for juice at a much lower price. They participate in Integrated Pest Management.  There are beneficial natural insects that take care of the problem or negative insects. When this doesn’t work, it becomes necessary to utilize some sprays.

Lewis’ Orchards is and will be planting smaller trees which allow for ease of picking, but require more trees per acre. There are newer varieties that will replace the older varieties for some of their consumers, such as the Honey Crisp apples that they introduced 12 years ago.

“Where this is going to be in the next five-to-ten years rests on Steve’s shoulders,” says Shirley, “because when he retires in nine years from the fire department, he is going to come back, take over and let me retire.  With the help of other family members, it will continue for a while. This is Nevin’s legacy. I owe it to my husband to keep it going because he had a love for those trees.”

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Lewis' Orchards has been with the Howard County Farmers' Markets since the beginning of the first farmers' market at Oakland Mills Village Center. Howard County Farmers' Market patrons may find Lewis' Orchards at the Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday farmers' markets during the 2013 season.  For further information about Lewis' Orchards, please visit their website or follow Lewis' Orchards on facebook.