Corrected and updated April 7, 2023
Franklyn Carlson, owner and president of Carlson Orchards in Harvard, died March 31. He was 79 years old.
Frank grew up in Harvard where his parents, Walter and Eleanor, started Carlson Orchards in 1936. He and his two younger brothers, Bruce and Robert, eventually took it over, and Frank became the general manager. Robert, who died in 2021, spent much of his time on the road hauling apples, while Bruce, the youngest, continues to take care of the farming.
Frank was a well-respected orchardist and businessman, not only in Harvard, but in the entire New England region. When Boston media outlets needed to talk to a farmer after a severe weather event, Carlson was their man. After record cold temperatures destroyed the peach crop at some Massachusetts orchards in February, Carlson took a news team from WCVB-TV out to his peach trees to show them the damage up close and explain in detail what caused it.
Kerri Green, chair of Harvard’s Agricultural Commission and marketing manager for Westward Orchards, told the Press, “Frank will be forever remembered as a well-respected fruit grower and industry leader by Harvard’s agricultural community and beyond. His dedication, knowledge, and stewardship have been a tremendous asset to our town, and his absence will be felt by many.”
Linda Hoffman, owner of Old Frog Pond Farm, an organic apple orchard and farm on Eldridge Road, said Frank was a friend and mentor to her for nearly 20 years. She recalled the days when she was first trying to bring the abandoned orchard on her property back to life. She called Frank for advice, and he told her to “Come on over.” When she arrived, she said, “Frank was a mini cyclone answering his pager, cellphone, and loudspeaker calls. But in between all the questions coming at him, he answered mine with kindness. He was the first person I spoke with who told me a small organic operation might work.” She added that in the years since, whenever she called, he would say “Come on over,” and they would drive around his orchard while he pointed out what was happening that season.
Frank and Katie Carlson wave as they drive down Ayer Road in the Fourth of July parade in 2015. (Photo by Tom Aciukewicz)
Community supporter
Carlson was also an active supporter of Harvard’s Lions Club. John Drummey, a past president and 20-year member of the club, said without Frank’s support, “We probably couldn’t have done half the things we’ve done over the years.” During the club’s annual fruit sale, Carlson took delivery of the fruit from Florida, stored it, and packed it into trucks for delivery to sale sites. Frank also made the orchard’s cold storage facility available to the Lions for any fundraisers that involved food, an offer he also extended to the Congregational Church. Drummey said Carlson himself was not a Lion, but “He was as beloved in our club as any member would be.”
Drummey said he first met Carlson when he was a teenager, working in the summers along with other high school kids whom Frank loved to teach about farming. He said Frank would always explain why apples had to be picked a certain way, or why the “suckers” that grew around the base of the tree had to be removed and how to do it. He added that in later years, when he would stop by the orchard and ask how it was going, Frank would get into his Gator and say, “Hop in.” Then he’d drive around and show Drummey exactly how it was going that season. “He was always generous with his time,” he said, and “passionate about farming.”
Congregational Church member and past Select Board member Lucy Wallace told the Press the Carlsons had a tradition of donating the apples needed for the church’s annual apple pie sale, typically about 1,000 pounds each year. Wallace said no matter what crop damage the orchard had suffered in any given year, the apples were always freely given. When the church was being remodeled and there was no place to do the peeling and slicing, Frank sold them boxes of peeled and sliced apples at a discount to cover just the cost of labor—the apples were still free. When Carlson sold their peeling equipment, Wallace said Frank put her in touch with Bill Mann of Mann Orchards in Methuen, who gave the church the same deal. “Frank started that tradition,” she said.
In 2016, the Carlson brothers show off their newer high-density plantings—replacing the last of their old plantings of Macs and Cortlands (72 trees per acre) with higher-density plantings of 1,100 trees per acre, using a trellis method. From left: Robert, Frank, and Bruce Carlson. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Innovator and businessman
Carlson was also an astute businessman. Wallace said he was the first farmer in town to put up deer fencing, and he found grant money that paid for it. In 2010, he used federal and state funds to pay for a 2-acre ground-mounted solar array installation, which at that time provided about two-thirds of the energy needed to run the facility. “That was years before anyone else in town was thinking about solar energy,” Wallace said.
Drummey said Carlson was also constantly adapting to changes in the marketplace. The orchard used to ship apples to wholesalers all over the east coast, he said, but as more apples started coming from Washington and China, that business slowed. Carlson expanded the pick-your-own operation at the farm, adding peaches, blueberries, and raspberries. He also began holding a two-day peach festival every August that now draws hundreds of people from all over the area, causing a rarity in Harvard: traffic jams.
Nearly 50 years ago, Frank installed a cider press at the orchard to make use of apples damaged by the hail storms that sometimes hit this area. Carlson went on to become one of the largest sweet cider producers in New England. Paul Correnty, cider maker and former manager of the Harvard schools food service program (Chef Paul), said Frank was “well known throughout the apple business for developing and adapting to the latest in cider production.” He said one of his best memories of Frank was at a cider tasting festival in western Massachusetts, with over 80 participating cideries and thousands of attendees. Oak Hill Blend, Carlson’s first hard cider, was “clearly the crowd favorite,” Correnty said. “Franklyn was immensely pleased about this. He spent the day at his booth, telling stories, dispensing pomology knowledge and tastes of Oak Hill Blend to the youngish crowd of admirers and aspiring cidermakers. He was clearly having a blast.” Carlson's sweet and hard cider businesses were recently sold to New England Apple Products in Leominster, which still produces both types of cider under the Carlson label.
Frank’s most recent venture was into the world of agritourism with the 2021 addition of a 2,500-square-foot cider barn. The barn serves Carlson’s ciders and food, some provided by food trucks, and it has proven to be a popular venue as a meeting place for local residents and for corporate events.
Everyone the Press spoke to conveyed the message that Carlson meant more to Harvard than just as a local orchard owner. Hoffman said, “Frank was a friend to everyone who crossed his path. He was a special man with a big heart.” “He’s touched many lives in this town. He’s going to be missed,” Drummey said. And Wallace said that, although he was not involved in town government, “We lost a town father.”
Editor's note: This article has been corrected and updated to say that both of Carlson's cider businesses—sweet cider and hard cider—were recently sold to New England Apple Products in Leominster.
