'We love educating the students': Central PA orchard shows farming process

Morning dew and chirping birds set the scene as students from the Greencastle-Antrim School District loaded into a hay bail seat wagon pulled by a restored 1976 Ford 5000 tractor to tour Tracey’s Orchard in Greencastle last week and learn about where some of their favorite fruits come from. 

Located along Hollowell Church Road, and owned by Ed and Tawnya Tracey, the 100-acre orchard is home to trees growing cherries, apricots, plumbs, nectarines, peaches, pears and of course, apples.

What started in 1909 has continued generation after generation to what it is today. 

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“We have 15,000 trees here on the orchard, and all of them need pruning and tending to each year,” Ed said. “It takes us all winter long to prune the orchard."

Highlights on the orchard tour included demonstrations of how fruit trees are planted, pruned and how the fruit is harvested and tested for quality.

"We plant about 500 to 1,000 trees every year, and that could be due to new varieties we want or just due to the age of the trees," Ed said during the tour.

"Once planted we have to protect the saplings from rabbits and groundhogs. When there is nothing else to eat during the winter time, they will chew off the the bark around the trees and cause a lot of damage to the trees. To keep them safe we place a cover around them to keep them protected. By the time the tree is ready to produce apples, you kids will be graduating high school."

In addition to the rabbits and groundhogs, Ed said that there are 21 insects and 23 diseases that affect apple trees in Pennsylvania including stink bugs and fire blight.

For the trees to produce quality fruit, Tawnya said at the basic level you need good soil, plenty of water, sunshine and bees to help with pollination. “We rent bees to help pollinate our trees, and they stay here for two weeks and when we have our devotions at night one of the things we always pray for is good rain and sunshine."

To harvest the orchard, apple picking takes around four months. "We start picking the first variety of apples around July 4, and the last variety we pick close to Thanksgiving," Tawnya explained. 

At the conclusion of the tour, students were given fresh apple cider to taste as well as an apple to take with them.

"I really like eating the apples, I like the red delicious one," said G-ASD student Kennedy Scriever. Fellow student Owen Thorne said, "my dad comes to Tracey's orchard to buy apples for his restaurant, Lizzy's in Greencastle, and my favorite part was getting to taste the apple cider."

For Tawnya, the tours are as much about showing students the orchard as it is giving them a look into agriculture. 

“We love educating the students, it’s so important,” Tawnya said. “I feel that sometimes young ones are so removed from knowing what it takes get an apple. It’s good for them to get out here and see all the work that goes on before they buy it in the grocery store.”

Tracey’s Orchard is a member of the Knouse Foods co-op in Chambersburg where 50 percent of their produce goes to make products such as apple sauce, pie filling, apple juice or remains a fresh fruit and is sold to local markets as well as at their own market on the property.

For more information on Tracey’s Orchard visit www.traceysorchard.com or call 717-597-7565.