Henderson County Orchards Grow Great Apples

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north carolina apple facts

Apples grown in the orchard at Mountain Fresh Orchards in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Photo credit: Lynne Harty

Henderson County yields about 65% of the state’s apples and is considered North Carolina’s No. 1 apple producer, with the sweet – and sometimes tart – fruits ripening from mid-August to early November.

But what is it about this community that makes it one of the largest, and best, apple-growing spots in the nation?

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“Up here on this mountain plateau, it can be pretty cool at night through the summer,” says Mike Stepp, co-owner of Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard, a pick-your-own operation. “Those cool temperatures help us throughout the growing season. It tends to help with color on the red varieties.”

See more: Farm Facts: North Carolina Apples

apple picking

Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard in Hendersonville; Photo credit: Lynne Harty

Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard

Stepp was just 5 years old when he and his older brother Joby started riding from one field to another in the truck with their dad, J.H., checking on the workers.

“Sometimes, if we were picking something like cucumbers or peppers, he would let us get out, pick what we could while he was there and let us run those through our packing house,” Stepp says. “And we’d get the money for it. That was a big deal for us.”

That pick-your-own “training” has served Stepp well as co-owner of Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard, which he maintains with his wife, Rita, oldest daughter Danielle McCall and her husband, Rex. Daughter April Luecht and her spouse, Kevin, help out when they can.

A lot has changed since J.H. and his wife, Yvonne, bought the farm in 1964, sharecropping orchards and renting land for vegetable growing. In 1969, Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard became one of the first in Henderson County to introduce a pick-your-own option. Today it’s all they do in their 45-acre orchard, which they open to guests starting in August with two dozen varieties like Jonagold, Honeycrisp and Pink Lady. Customers can also pick their own pumpkins, sunflowers and grapes.

Switching to agritourism long before it was trendy enabled Stepp to set his own prices, save on labor costs and mingle with customers.

“My dad enjoyed talking to people, telling them things about the farm,” Stepp says. “I don’t think he could have envisioned all the things that we do right now with agritourism, but I think he made a good move there.”

See more: Why You Should Go Apple Picking at Justus Orchard This Fall

The Stepp Family

Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard has offered pick-your-own apples since 1969. Photo credit: Lynne Harty

Apples and More

In addition to apples, the Stepps offer baked goods, including their popular apple cider doughnuts, farm T-shirts and natural soaps handmade by April, in a barnlike store on the property. Kids love wandering the corn maze and shooting fruit from the apple cannons. The three oldest grandchildren – Callie, 18; Maggie, 16; and Gus, 13 – help check out customers. Maggie and Gus also grow their own vegetable garden, a throwback to Stepp’s childhood “business.”

Continuing the pick-your-own enterprise is also a way to honor Stepp’s dad.

“Whatever he tried to do, he tried to do it well and to be a good steward of the land,” Stepp says. “He was a good, ethical grower, doing people right. He always went the extra mile.”

Mountain Fresh Orchards

Donald “Red” Price and his wife, Joan, who’d merely dabbled in farming, were happy with their careers as barbers until the 1970s.

“Then long hair began to come into play and [Price] decided to look at something that might supplement his income and give them a possible retirement income,” says the couple’s son-in-law, David Carland. “One day, a lifelong friend asked them, ‘Why don’t you let me help you start an orchard?’ And they did.”

Unfortunately, their friend passed away in 1987, the first year the trees at Mountain Fresh Orchards produced apples, leaving the couple wondering how to get rid of them. To their surprise, the Prices, along with Carland and their daughter Daphne (Carland’s wife), sold all 300 bushels from the front porch of the farmhouse. The next year, they built the large roadside stand that now draws folks hungry for 16 varieties of apples each fall, Memorial Day weekend and on the Fourth of July.

The 12-acre orchard’s bestseller is also one of the hardest to grow.

“Every day, somebody asks for Honeycrisp,” Carland says. “We net a small percentage of those apples, although we put a lot more effort into trying to prevent disease at more cost. We fight through all of that to provide them for our customers.”

Mountain Fresh Apple Orchards

Donald “Red” Price and his wife, Joan, own and operate Mountain Fresh Orchards in Hendersonville, North Carolina Photo credit: Lynne Harty

How ‘Bout Them Apples?

Over the years, the farmers added a few vegetables, including sweet mountain cabbage, along with pickles, hot sauces and chowchow. Customers enjoy the bakery items ranging from turnovers and tarts to cakes and apple cider doughnuts. And they won’t leave without getting some of the ever-popular apple butter, also available in pumpkin, peach and sweetpotato flavors.

“People come to get a sweet to eat and take an apple home to counter that, I guess,” Carland says with a laugh.

Three years ago, Mountain Fresh ventured further into agritourism with a trackless train that transports both kids and adults through the orchard.

See more: Apples Blossom in North Carolina

“We’ve got a great number of families that have been coming back year after year after year,” Carland says. “Every year, we look forward to seeing our customers. We start thinking, ‘Wonder how so-and-so’s doing’ and ‘We’ve not seen that new baby yet.’”

The farmers love seeing the smiles on the faces of satisfied customers and often tease them about needing to buy more.

“They’ll get in the car, and you’ll see them pull out to the end of the parking lot,” Carland says. “And then you’ll see the backup lights come on and they’ll come back and get something else.”

– Nancy Henderson

multiple colors of apples

Photo credit: Jeff Adkins

More Info

Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard

170 Stepp Orchard Drive in Hendersonville

(828) 685-9083

steppapples.com 

 

Mountain Fresh Orchards

2887 Chimney Rock Road in Hendersonville

(828) 685-7606

mtnfreshorchards.com 

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