On a sweltering July day, Keith Bohne and his daughter Lorin Hill are discussing windows for their building project on Drew Farm in Westford.
Behind the shaded spot where they are standing, workers are constructing a 40-by-60-foot barn near the farm’s public entrance on Tadmuck Road. The project is a step toward the future, now that Bohne’s daughter Lorin and her husband, Bob Hill, who live in Groton, Mass., are taking over the farm in the years to come.
The public will notice that the new barn will provide a covered retail space where apples, pumpkins, doughnuts, chrysanthemums and other farm wares will be for sale, Bohne said. It will also give the farm better storage for tractors and equipment.
“We’re going to extend our season into November, so we will probably be open until Thanksgiving,” Bohne said. New cold storage equipment will help the farm also extend its selling season for pre-picked apples. “That way, we’ll be able to pick our apples when it’s prime and sell the good ones through November,” he said.
He explained that some favorite varieties, like McIntosh apples, hit their prime on Sept. 20, while other types, such as EverCrisp and Golden Delicious, are late-season apples that can be picked through November.
“As long as we have apples on the trees, we’ll remain open for pick-your-own,” Bohne said.
Each Year is Different
Bohne bought the hilly and rocky land that Drew Farm sits on in 1984, after managing another farm, also called Drew Farm, in a different part of Westford.
That farm no longer exists. The farmer, Ben Drew, sold Bohne the name “Drew Farm” for a $1. Bohne compared it to buying the rights to naming a big sports stadium.
He lives in the house built in 1855 near the base of the hill on Drew Farm, the apple orchards rising on the slopes above.
Hill was in high school when her family moved to what Drew Farm is now, but she had grown up with apple orchards during the time that her father was managing the other farm. “There was always an orchard to run around in,” she said. “There was always the business.”
Drew Farm is about 30 acres. A portion of it is state agricultural preservation land.
Bohne said the farm is a hillside orchard that allows for airflow that protects the apple trees from springtime frosts.
He said he has only had two spring frosts in the orchards since he began farming the land. Drew Farm also has high clay content in the soil, so it holds water and the trees do not need additional irrigation.
Apple growers are facing environmental challenges, Bohne said. Warm winters bring more insects. Warmer air holds more water, which can lead to fungal disease. And the hot summer sun can bake the apples right on the trees if their surface reaches 100 degrees, he said.
“It’s a uniquely challenging job. Your goal is always the same, but the way you get there is different because the weather is different and that’s what drives what you do—you respond to the weather,” he said.
Even before this year’s apples are ripe, the fruit buds for next year’s crops are on the trees, providing Bohne with some idea of what the crop could be.
All of the apples from the 900 apple trees, about 1,500 to 2,000 bushels, are sold locally, he said. Most are sold through the farm’s pick-your-own business.
Transition from Father to Daughter
When she was younger, Hill had always thought she would eventually run the farm. “Then, life happened, and I taught for 25 years,” she said.
Now, Lorin and her husband, Bob, who are both retired school teachers, feel the time is right. Their son Carter, 21, plans to work on Drew Farm, too.
Hill said grants from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources helped the family make improvements to their farm, including providing some funding for the new barn and funding for a rainwater collection tank, weather station, mulcher for trees, and apple cooler.
That funding will not be affected by recent federal cuts, she said.
Opening day for pick-your-own apples is Sept. 6. Hill said Drew Farm will be open even if the barn is not completely ready.
She is looking forward to this apple season and her future with Drew Farm. “A lot of people come and it’s super-family oriented. I’d like to make it more of a community place and have more activities during the week,” Hill said.
