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Bob and Verna Everett own an operate Evere-Breeze Orchard on land that his been in Verna’s family since 1905.
Why did you start an orchard?
Bob has always loved growing things, and if he plants it, well, it grows! We’ve always grown our own vegetables and started the apple orchard in 1985 simply because we like them; the whole family likes apples. We traveled to different parts of the country to study apple orchards, like New York, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. And we did considerable research to learn about apple varieties, growing conditions, and the challenges and problems that can occur in an orchard. The size control method works especially well with smaller orchards like ours because smaller trees generally produce better and larger fruit. Our eight acres grow more than 25 varieties of apples on 450 trees. We also have a few pear and cherry trees, and concord grapes.
What’s it like growing an orchard?
It’s a lot of work for us and our three children and we really love what we do, but dealing with the weather and pests can be troublesome. We lost our apple crop the last two years due to frost and poor weather conditions, but this year’s crop is plentiful and very good. We can’t control the weather, but through our own experience and as members of various agricultural associations we’ve learned about integrated pest management. Through an effective and environmentally sensitive approach that relies on a combination of common-sense practices and available pest control methods, we try to manage pest damage economically and with the least possible affect to the environment. Because Lake Idlewild is behind our land, we don’t fertilize. We’re not an organic orchard, but we use as few fungicides as possible through more biological pesticides, which are five to six times more costly. We also use sticky traps for insects, and have learned when and how to treat the apples rather than spraying indiscriminately.
What apple varieties do you offer?
We lean toward growing tasty, crisp, juicy, and sweet apples, like the Empire, Cortland, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Honeycrisp, and York. The Jonagold is one of the best large fruit varieties that’s good for eating and cooking. The Connell Red is a late apple that’s also good for eating and cooking while the Ginger Gold is one of the first to harvest. Our Pinova is smaller and crisp, while the Melrose — Ohio’s official state apple — is another excellent apple. Our Gloucester is similar to the Red Delicious, and the Spy Gold is a tasty combination of the Golden and Spy apples. We also have a Japanese apple, the Sicieeche, which they tell us means “world’s greatest apple.” As members of the New York Fruit Testing Association, we also have some very good apples that aren’t named, but are identified only by a number.
Bob and Verna Everett own an operate Evere-Breeze Orchard on land that his been in Verna’s family since 1905.
Why did you start an orchard?
Bob has always loved growing things, and if he plants it, well, it grows! We’ve always grown our own vegetables and started the apple orchard in 1985 simply because we like them; the whole family likes apples. We traveled to different parts of the country to study apple orchards, like New York, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. And we did considerable research to learn about apple varieties, growing conditions, and the challenges and problems that can occur in an orchard. The size control method works especially well with smaller orchards like ours because smaller trees generally produce better and larger fruit. Our eight acres grow more than 25 varieties of apples on 450 trees. We also have a few pear and cherry trees, and concord grapes.
What’s it like growing an orchard?
It’s a lot of work for us and our three children and we really love what we do, but dealing with the weather and pests can be troublesome. We lost our apple crop the last two years due to frost and poor weather conditions, but this year’s crop is plentiful and very good. We can’t control the weather, but through our own experience and as members of various agricultural associations we’ve learned about integrated pest management. Through an effective and environmentally sensitive approach that relies on a combination of common-sense practices and available pest control methods, we try to manage pest damage economically and with the least possible affect to the environment. Because Lake Idlewild is behind our land, we don’t fertilize. We’re not an organic orchard, but we use as few fungicides as possible through more biological pesticides, which are five to six times more costly. We also use sticky traps for insects, and have learned when and how to treat the apples rather than spraying indiscriminately.
What apple varieties do you offer?
We lean toward growing tasty, crisp, juicy, and sweet apples, like the Empire, Cortland, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Honeycrisp, and York. The Jonagold is one of the best large fruit varieties that’s good for eating and cooking. The Connell Red is a late apple that’s also good for eating and cooking while the Ginger Gold is one of the first to harvest. Our Pinova is smaller and crisp, while the Melrose — Ohio’s official state apple — is another excellent apple. Our Gloucester is similar to the Red Delicious, and the Spy Gold is a tasty combination of the Golden and Spy apples. We also have a Japanese apple, the Sicieeche, which they tell us means “world’s greatest apple.” As members of the New York Fruit Testing Association, we also have some very good apples that aren’t named, but are identified only by a number.
Who are your customers?
Our customers frequent our two roadside stands through word of mouth and minimal local advertising, so they’re coming from throughout the area. They know us because we specialize in growing good apples and selling them at reasonable prices. Our stands have labeled boxes of different apple varieties and customers can self-fill the peck-sized bags with their favorites for only $3. The pears and grapes are $1.50 per quart. Since no one mans the stands and we sell on the honor system, we only ask customers to have the correct change when they stop. This works well for us, and it’s often fun when a customer leaves a friendly note about the apples or card of ‘thanks.’
