A signpost showing apple varieties available at Doe Orchards. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
On the road to Ayer, near a bend in the highway, lies one of the oldest orchards in Harvard.
In 1913, Freeman Doe bought a house and 30 acres of land adjacent to what is now the Appleworks building. One hundred years later, Freeman’s great grandson Larry Doe and Larry’s wife Pam Lawson are still farming that land at Doe Orchards, at 327 Ayer Road. It’s been a long journey. Freeman purchased an additional 30 acres, and Freeman’s son, O.C. “Bud” Doe, began farming and planted the first apple trees there. Bud’s sons Whit and Bill expanded the business to 300 acres, with orchards in other Harvard locations and in neighboring towns. Whit’s sons Larry and Jay both worked at the orchards, learning from Whit and Bill. Hard times fell on their apple business in the early ’70s, and the orchards were sold, the last of them—the home orchard and apple-storage warehouse—to Joe Gringeri of Acton.
A return to family ownership
In 1978, Gringeri went bankrupt, and Larry, Jay, and their wives pooled their money and bought the orchard back. At the time, all of them had full-time jobs. Larry and Jay worked at Westward Orchards. Pam was an art teacher at Nashoba Brooks in Concord, and Jay’s wife Ann worked as an accountant. Maintaining the orchard was done in the evenings and on weekends. “We were young, with lots of energy and an interest in making it work,” said Pam Lawson last week, as we toured the orchard on a bright, sunny day.
Over the next 30 years, this new generation added variety to the orchard, planting eight acres of Christmas trees, followed by two acres of blueberries and raspberries and about two acres of peaches. They also planted pumpkins and gourds on land at a neighboring farm. “It was a great project. It worked well for a lot of years,” said Pam. Soon after Larry and Jay’s parents died a few years ago, Jay decided to retire from farming.
Larry and Pam are now the sole owners of Doe Orchards. Larry works full time in the orchard, and Pam works full time during the summer and fall managing the stand. In the winter, Pam returns to her art. Her work is currently being exhibited at Powers Gallery in Acton, including a blackbird piece painted down by Bowers Brook. “We have a great crew of local workers and family that keep things going here,” said Pam. Jay’s daughters Kristin and Katie help out at the stand on weekends. Harvard resident Connie Larrabee works at the stand every weekday afternoon, and Harvard resident Ed Case is Larry’s right-hand man in the orchard.
Plenty of work to be done
There is plenty of work to be done. In late winter, the apple trees are pruned to make sure the branches are all standing alone and that there’s air between them. In late spring, the peaches need to be thinned. “They’d all be the size of marbles if we didn’t thin them,” Pam remarks. Apples are also thinned, and blueberries are pruned at this time of year. In the summer, there’s spraying to be done. Like most of the orchards in Harvard, Doe Orchards uses IPM (Integrated Pest Management) practices. There’s also picking, mowing, and running the stand. And as if that weren’t enough work to do, the thousands of Christmas trees in the back of the orchard need to be sheared in the summer. The tops must also be clipped so they are no more than a foot tall.
According to Pam Lawson of Doe Orchards, this tree is approximately 100 years old and yields McIntosh, Golden Delicious, and Northern Spy apples, thanks to the magic of grafting.
The retail stand opens when the berries ripen, in late June or early July. Blueberries and raspberries are available as PYO (pick your own) or already picked at the stand. Nets over and around the bushes keep the birds from “picking their own.” In mid-July, peaches are available at the stand, but not as pick-your-own yet. Peaches generally grow higher up in the tree than apples, and most of Doe’s older peach trees require an eight-foot ladder to reach the fruit. But after years of turning away people who wanted to pick their own peaches, Larry and Pam decided to plant a variety of peach tree with more accessible fruit. A few years ago they were finally able to start offering pick-your-own peaches. The season for those peaches begins in mid-August.
A Labor Day start
Apple picking begins Labor Day weekend and runs through October. Customers come from as far as the Cape. “Back in the ’60s, we were one of the few orchards doing pick-your-own in the area. Generations and generations return every year,” says Pam. In addition to the parking lot on Ayer Rd., there is an overflow lot, hidden from view in the orchard. On a busy fall weekend, both lots may fill up, but the orchard never feels crowded. “Customers say they love it. No matter how busy it is at the stand, they can go out there and be more or less by themselves.”
The orchard is a place of beauty, with neatly kept rows of Honeycrisp, Gala, Jonagold, Fuji, Macoun, McIntosh, Delicious, Empire, Cortland, Mutsu, and Granny Smith apples. In one section, rows of yellow Golden Delicious apples alternate with red Empire apples, creating a visual treat. All the apple trees have a splotch of paint on their trunks, and there are posts scattered around the orchard that have the color/variety code information. The most popular apple, both PYO and at the stand, is a tie between Macoun and Honeycrisp. “Honeycrisp seems to be pulling ahead. When you bite into a Honeycrisp apple, it seems to explode with juicy sweetness,” is how Pam describes it. Many of the apple trees still producing are those originally planted by Bud. The Delicious trees behind the stand are about 75 years old. One tree, near the overflow parking lot, was grafted with three different apple varieties—McIntosh, Golden Delicious, and Northern Spy. Larry believes that tree pre-dated his great-grandfather Freeman, and may be more than 100 years old.
Berries galore
In addition to whatever fruit is in season, raspberry, blueberry and peach jams made by Pam and her sister Beth are sold at the stand in summer. Pam also grows sunflowers and dahlias in the garden behind the house, and those are sold at the stand when they’re available. Honey from Doe’s bee hives is sometimes available, and when it isn’t, Maxant’s honey is for sale. New this year is the ability to take credit card payments at the stand, thanks to the availability of tablet scanner attachments.
On late November and early December weekends, cut-your-own Christmas trees draw a big crowd of yearly customers to Doe Orchards. Most of the trees are balsam fir. “They love it in this soil,” says Pam. “We also have blue spruce and white fir, which has a lovely lemony scent.” When most of the trees in a block have been cut, new ones are planted, which take about eight years to be ready to harvest. “There are a lot of trees ready to go this year,” according to Pam. Some people cut their own tree, but help is available for anyone who wants it, including trailer rides back to the parking lot for trees and their new owners. Back at the stand, Doe employees help bale trees and tie them onto cars, and customers can warm up with a cup of hot cider.
Wind machine extends season
While wandering through the orchard, customers are also treated to various rock formations, such as “whale rock,” named by customers for its whale-like shape. In the middle of the orchard is what looks like a giant propeller up on a high pole. This is the wind machine, and it’s used to keep frost from settling and killing the apple blossoms in the spring. Unlike some of the hillier orchards in Harvard, Doe Orchards is in a low-lying area. The wind machine, powered by a truck motor, keeps a 10-acre circle of air stirred up, which protects the trees inside the circle. Last year, apple trees blossomed about a month early, and multiple killing frosts followed. “The machine protected enough apples to keep PYO going last year,” said Pam. At the back of the orchard is a trail down to Bowers Brook. “Many people come and spend the day,” she added.
What’s ahead for Doe Orchards? For one thing, they’re working on increasing their honey production. According to Pam, “The beehives started a few years ago. We rent beehives in the spring to pollinate the apple trees. When the hives get crowded or there isn’t enough food, the bees make a new queen and swarm, usually in a tree. About three years ago, I decided to get the swarms. I got some hive boxes and a bee suit for a friend of ours. He came over and cut down a limb with a swarm on it, and put the swarm in front of a new hive box. It was the most amazing thing to watch. They marched, en masse, up a little ramp, into the hive box.” They now have three hives, and hope to eventually have their own honey at the stand all the time.
Tons of apples
Larry and Pam plan to continue running Doe Orchards as long as possible. “It’s still just so delightful to do this. I’m thinking in terms of it keeping us young,” said Pam. “Obviously younger, stronger, more agile people are helping. We have several people working this harvest.” And this year’s harvest is a big one. Apples tend to be biennial, and since last year’s crop was very light, this year’s crop is heavy. “There are tons of apples, and they’re big!” said Pam.
The Doe farmstand is currently open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily until late October. Christmas tree sales start the Friday after Thanksgiving, and continue weekends through December or until the trees are sold out. More information is available at the website at www.doeorchards.com. Frequent orchard updates and photos are available at Pam’s blog at www.doeorchards.wordpress.com.
