The Fruit Growers News

Ten years ago, New Hampshire apple grower Erick Leadbeater realized his orchard was the wrong size. “I figured I either had to double in size or I had to be one-third of my size; the first for the critical mass and the second so I could do it mostly myself,” he told apple producers at the recent Minnesota Apple Growers Association’s Education and Trade Show in January.

Leadbeater was among the speakers at this year’s conference, held Jan. 8-10 in La Crosse, Wis. The event attracted 130 apple growers from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Deciding to concentrate on retail sales, Leadbeater scaled back his operation - Gould Hill Orchards in Contoocook, N.H. - from 128 acres of trees to just 40 acres.

“The wholesale market is a tough nut to crack and I think it’s going to get harder. Because of that most of the growers - in our state at least - are looking hard at other things,” Leadbeater said.

Since deciding to downsize their operation, the Leadbeater family has concentrated on pick-your-own and retail sales at their orchard.

Having a pick-your-own operation can be very time consuming, Leadbeater said. “If you get into it, you are committed to doing good public relations. And that takes time, and often at a time when you don’t want to spend that time,” he said.

If a grower decides to add a pick-your-own operation, Leadbeater suggests doing so slowly. “Depending on your population base, you can get overwhelmed (by the number of customers), he said.
Gould Hill Orchards is about one hour from the Greater Boston area, which has a population of one million people. In the fall, half of the vehicles in Leadbeater’s PYO parking lot - which holds around 200 cars - have out-of-state license plates.

For his PYO operation, Leadbeater opens his best orchard blocks for picking. “I give them my best apples. I open a block for a weekend and let people run rampant. That’s kind of scary,” he said.
When setting prices for PYO apples, Leadbeater takes into consideration the amount of fruit knocked off and number of fruit spurs that are pulled off by PYO customers.

Initially, the Leadbeaters charged by the pound for PYO apples, but found that slowed the checkout lines. They now sell PYO apples on a per volume basis.

Last year, the Leadbeaters sold a half peck of PYO apples for $5, one peck bags for $8, and charged $13 for a half bushel. They also offer a special deal: for every four bags (any size) of apples customers pick, they can pick a fifth bag of the same size for free.
The buying habits of the Leadbeaters’ PYO customers have changed over the years. “They used to come because it was a good deal and they’d pick two bushels and go home and make pies and sauce. Now it’s more of a family fun outing and they don’t pick as much,” he said.
The Leadbeaters grow 87 varieties of apples, half of which are old-fashioned varieties. In the area of the Leadbeaters’ sales room known as “the back wall,” customers can mix-and-match a bag of apples from among the old-time varieties grown at the orchard.

“They’re not pretty apples, but you can go back there and sample one of each,” Leadbeater said. “Then they come back looking for more of the ones they really liked and of course by then we’re out of them, and so then they buy some different ones.”

The Leadbeaters offer tours of their orchard, charging a minimum of $25 per group. Former schoolteachers are hired to conduct the one-hour tours.

“We make the tours a big deal. And we can’t supply the demand. We have schools coming from 45 minutes or more away,” Leadbeater said.

Children and adults participating in the tours get to pick an apple, press apples for cider and stand on a packinghouse scale with a 1,000-pound dial.

“Make sure you get them off the bus and make sure they pick at least one apple,” Leadbeater said.

At Gould Hill Orchards, an area of the orchard that is handicapped accessible is reserved for tour groups.

“You’d be surprised at how emotional people in wheelchairs get about being able to roll up to a tree and pick one apple,” Leadbeater said.

“I would be wary of offering wagon rides. But if you do it, do it well. Don’t just send some kid out there driving a tractor with loose bales of hay, because someone is going to get hurt. And some orchards end up with people not wanting to pick at all. They’re just there for the wagon ride,” he said.

Leadbeater also has concerns about having a “petting zoo” at an apple orchard due to the possibility of an E. coli outbreak as a result of children and others petting the animals.

The Leadbeaters have held a Blossom Festival at their orchard, allowing visitors to drive - when road conditions are good - through their orchard.

Other promotional efforts Leadbeater suggested included providing baskets of apples - along with brochures - to area hotels and convention centers. “It’s amazing how much free advertising you can get by doing that,” he said.

Although Leadbeater was not thinking of publicity when he made the offer, Gould Hill Orchard made the front page of their local newspaper when the family donated 3,000 pounds of apples to the local food bank.

With the price of juice apples so low, Leadbeater said it would have cost more to ship the apples to a juicing plant than they were worth.

After the newspaper article appeared, Leadbeater - who was unaware a story had been published - started receiving phone calls from people, thanking him for his donation.

The Leadbeater family has owned Gould Hill Orchards since 1939, but the farm has been in existence for more than 200 years. Originally owned by the Gould family, the farm dates back to 1760.

“We have records of apples being produced (at the Gould farm) in 1764. I don’t know if we’ve improved on them or not, but there’s a lot more of them than there used to be,” Leadbeater said.

For more information about Gould Hill Orchards, visit their Web site at www.gouldhill.com.