Storm Damage Doesn’t Deter Orchard Owner From Dreams
August 13, 2018 at 5:05 p.m.
Storm Damage Doesn’t Deter Orchard Owner From Dreams
By David [email protected]
“I was in my truck about 10 seconds when the truck started rocking. I saw limbs flying across and a cloud at an angle, though I didn’t recognize it then as a tornado. I was worried about my truck or the trailer being hit. The wind was so noisy, I didn’t hear all that was happening to my trees. It was pretty wild. I didn’t know about the damage to the orchard until the next day,” he recalled Sunday afternoon.
“I was right in the middle of it.”
Along with the downed trees, many trees lost limbs, and apples buried the grass in some parts of the orchard.
“It appears to have affected more of the south side” of the orchard, Pamer said.
He said a good apple crop gets about 10 bushels off a tree, which would generate roughly $200 per tree in a season. The pear trees were wiped out by the storm, he said.
Pamer bought the Old Country Orchard, 407 N. CR 450E, Warsaw, about five years ago. It has about 20 varieties of apples for eating, baking and saucing, from Jonagold, Empire and Ripe Summer Rambo to Macintosh, Paula Red and Red Free. Most of the apples stripped from the trees appear to be the Red Free, Pamer said.
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Pamer’s property totals about 9 acres, with the trees taking up around 5.5 acres.
The orchard was in “really bad shape five years ago when we bought it,” he said.
He said before purchasing the land, he had thought about owning an orchard for a long time. He also thought about bee keeping. “Now I do both,” he said.
“We sold our house in a subdivision. We tried to buy two houses, but both of them were pulled off the market. One day we stopped at a garage sale” just down from Old Country Orchard. Pamer got talking to Henry Miller, who owned the orchard, and Miller told him they wanted to move into town and he would sell his home and orchard to him.
A “Mr. Wade” planted the orchard in the 1970s, but some of it has been replanted since then, Pamer said. He wants to continue making improvements to the orchard.
“The goal is to clean up the orchard more and turn the shop into a custom cider” shop. “It all takes time and money,” he said.
Another improvement includes trimming down the 40-foot Macintosh trees to about 10 feet.
“I’m trying to develop it into a you-pick where customers are picking apples from the ground rather than a ladder,”?he said.
He also wants to replace some Lodi apple trees that were knocked over and plant some peach trees.
He hopes to have the storm damage cleaned up by next week, but the setback won’t keep him from selling his wares this season.
“I’ve got one tree left loaded with apples – a yellow variety with a red blush. It will be ready in one to 1½ weeks. Past that, it’ll be another 30 days before more start coming on.”
Pamer said apples are available now, though some Paula Red are still in the ripening stages.
A half bushel box that customers fill themselves is $10. A peck bag – a quarter of a bushel – is $6.
“Every apple you bite into here will have a strong flavor. Apples at the store will have a ‘blah’ taste,” he said.
Pamer also sells raw honey. It can be purchased by the pints or quarts. “I’m getting ready to pull comb honey,” he said.
He also can sell bee packages if a person wants to get into keeping a beehive of their own. A typical package weighs 3 pounds and includes worker bees and a queen.
The orchard is open weekdays after 4 p.m. or on weekends. Pamer said customers can stop by then or call him at 574-457-6170.
A website for the orchard is forthcoming.
“I was in my truck about 10 seconds when the truck started rocking. I saw limbs flying across and a cloud at an angle, though I didn’t recognize it then as a tornado. I was worried about my truck or the trailer being hit. The wind was so noisy, I didn’t hear all that was happening to my trees. It was pretty wild. I didn’t know about the damage to the orchard until the next day,” he recalled Sunday afternoon.
“I was right in the middle of it.”
Along with the downed trees, many trees lost limbs, and apples buried the grass in some parts of the orchard.
“It appears to have affected more of the south side” of the orchard, Pamer said.
He said a good apple crop gets about 10 bushels off a tree, which would generate roughly $200 per tree in a season. The pear trees were wiped out by the storm, he said.
Pamer bought the Old Country Orchard, 407 N. CR 450E, Warsaw, about five years ago. It has about 20 varieties of apples for eating, baking and saucing, from Jonagold, Empire and Ripe Summer Rambo to Macintosh, Paula Red and Red Free. Most of the apples stripped from the trees appear to be the Red Free, Pamer said.
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Pamer’s property totals about 9 acres, with the trees taking up around 5.5 acres.
The orchard was in “really bad shape five years ago when we bought it,” he said.
He said before purchasing the land, he had thought about owning an orchard for a long time. He also thought about bee keeping. “Now I do both,” he said.
“We sold our house in a subdivision. We tried to buy two houses, but both of them were pulled off the market. One day we stopped at a garage sale” just down from Old Country Orchard. Pamer got talking to Henry Miller, who owned the orchard, and Miller told him they wanted to move into town and he would sell his home and orchard to him.
A “Mr. Wade” planted the orchard in the 1970s, but some of it has been replanted since then, Pamer said. He wants to continue making improvements to the orchard.
“The goal is to clean up the orchard more and turn the shop into a custom cider” shop. “It all takes time and money,” he said.
Another improvement includes trimming down the 40-foot Macintosh trees to about 10 feet.
“I’m trying to develop it into a you-pick where customers are picking apples from the ground rather than a ladder,”?he said.
He also wants to replace some Lodi apple trees that were knocked over and plant some peach trees.
He hopes to have the storm damage cleaned up by next week, but the setback won’t keep him from selling his wares this season.
“I’ve got one tree left loaded with apples – a yellow variety with a red blush. It will be ready in one to 1½ weeks. Past that, it’ll be another 30 days before more start coming on.”
Pamer said apples are available now, though some Paula Red are still in the ripening stages.
A half bushel box that customers fill themselves is $10. A peck bag – a quarter of a bushel – is $6.
“Every apple you bite into here will have a strong flavor. Apples at the store will have a ‘blah’ taste,” he said.
Pamer also sells raw honey. It can be purchased by the pints or quarts. “I’m getting ready to pull comb honey,” he said.
He also can sell bee packages if a person wants to get into keeping a beehive of their own. A typical package weighs 3 pounds and includes worker bees and a queen.
The orchard is open weekdays after 4 p.m. or on weekends. Pamer said customers can stop by then or call him at 574-457-6170.
A website for the orchard is forthcoming.
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