Timberland Hills Apple Orchard
Making Memories Grow
Project Description
"Where Memories Grow"
We have 25 acres with 1,712 apple trees in 12 different varieties including Honeycrisp, Haralsons, our heritage variety of Northern Greening, which is over 200 years old and so tarte it puts the granny smith to shame, as well newer varieties like Kindercrisp and Zestar.
According to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, statistically the number one reason that people visit an orchard is for an experience. There are about 45 thousand people in the area however there is very little for family entertainment. When Noma was raising her three kids in the area, it was hard to find affordable family entertainment and ended up often driving several hours away just for a day of kid - friendly entertainment, which ends up not being very affordable in the long run.
We know that Timberland Hills can fill that gap that currently exists. We currently have a puppet theater, a 16 foot long chalk wall, a playground, outside games like horseshoes and cornhole and a Hay Ride that takes our visitors to the top of our hill to overlook the valley. and we have dreams for SO MUCH MORE!
Our company motto is "Where Memories Grow" because we know that you will want to come back every year to make more memories with us.
My Family is the Best:
Timberland Hills Orchard is a family-owned business run by three siblings, Noma, Rugga and April, our spouses and children.
Noma and her husband Ron are the tree experts, and they manage the grounds. Ron also fixes all things mechanical and without him we wouldn't have an orchard.
Rugga and his wife Tara have a passion for baking they bake everything from scratch in our site bakery.
April manages the front of the house as well as all the paperwork and finances.
Since we are a farm, we are able to put our kids to work and many hands help make light work. Our teenagers prune trees in the winter, mow the lawn in the summer, make cider and some help the cash register in the fall. Our younger kids help by picking apples and cleaning our store, and we have another generation growing up right now to help in the future.
It is like a big family reunion every weekend in the fall and we enjoy all of our families together so that others can enjoy time with their families. The only reason that we were able to buy this orchard was because as a family we were able to support one another's dreams and find a way to full-fill everyone goals.
Highlight of the season for many of our neighbors:
Before we officially opened last fall, we had dozens of customers stop by on the weekends while we were there to ask if we were open. Since we were there already we invited everyone to come inside and test taste many of the baked goods that we were going to offer during our season. All of those visitors returned many times throughout the season. Our neighbors love us and count down the days until they can come visit officially.
I have had customers tell me that they remember coming to our orchard when they were kids in the 90's and are now coming with their own children.
We also have a large client base of people whose lake cabins are nearby, and they have driven hours to get to us. About 40% of our clients live over 2 hours away. They stalk up on goodies before reaching their final destinations.
Most of customers keep coming back because we are the entertainment in our rural community and we want to provide more reasons to come back, and more memories for them to make.
Connections in our Community:
We have connections to many local businesses like String Theory Cider, a local Hard Cider brewery who we partner with for our cider press, as well as many of vendors for merchandise like cards that are made from a grandmother and granddaughter duo.
We host many field trips and in the words of one of google reviews we have "set (it) up tremendously for little kids. A hayride, time to color on the chalkboard then pick out their own Apple wash and throw it down in the grinder for cider. A playground to keep some of the kids busy and an outgoing staff."
We want to keep our business local so buy our bushels of straw from a farm literally down the street from us. Our waste from the cider press gets ground up and turned into local horse feed for really anyone who comes and asks for it. We have given it away to several customers. We know that businesses cannot thrive without a community and we want not only be a part of our community but to build it up.
Eco-Friendly works and Dreams:
As farmers we know the importance of taking care of our earth so that it will take care of us and we strive to live a Green life. Currently we boast 12 solar panels and we compost our waste, but our dreams are so much bigger than that.
This year we are purchasing two bee colonies, and we have to make sure that our practices to help our trees, also help our bees.
Someday, we want our building to have geothermal heating and a Greywater system. I want our field trips to involve more teaching moments on how to run an eco-friendly farm.
Updates
The Campaign FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions:
- What is this money being used for?
- I have hundreds of hours looking for grants for our orchard, and what I have learned is that only about 1% of businesses get any sort of Grant money. Statistically more businesses are successful with raising capital by crowdfunding. With most new business there are a number of startup costs. Along with the number of necessities, like our mortgage, utilities, internet, and farmer's market entrance fees that add up, we also need to fix our tractor, and one of our four wheelers. We also have a plan for improving the health of our trees and land with bee friendly sprays, and organic farming practices.
- However, this money is specifically going to go to improving our customer's experience. Please see below question for new features this year.
- When will the products be available?
- Every product is a little bit different on their availability. While some can be available right after purchase, others cannot be redeemed until we are open in the fall. We tried to be as accurate on our dates in the rewards section but please let us know if you would like your reward at a different time than stated.
- I can't contribute monetarily but I would still love to help you succeed, is there something I can do?
- As with all farms, there is always work to be done. On March 18th, we will be holding a pruning class for a local FFA groups and 4H clubs. We have 1700 trees that haven't been pruned in several years. If you need an excuse to use your chainsaw, we would love to see you at our class.
- If you are willing to donate your time, we always have projects going on. There is no such thing as the slow season for our farm, even if we aren't technically open.
- Please contact us if you are able to help in any way and THANK YOU!
- Are you going to have any new activities this year?
- This year we are going to install a pallet maze, that would be changeable so you can have a different maze each weekend and with each visit.
- We want to improve our playground to have a large kid barn with lots of small play farm and gardening chores. If the kid ticks off all of the chores, they get a small ice cream scoop.
- This spring we are going to buy two Honeybee hives. We have been told that it best to start small, but hopefully, we will be able to keep these alive this year and buy more in the future.
- We are going to plant our own pumpkins this year.
- This is a big project and will require a lot of tilling and new planting.
- In the fall we want to host a Pie Contest. With several different recipes to choose from, and constraints on time, it is hard to find the best pie to sell. We want our customers to tell us what we should sell.
- We have a never-ending list of dreams and activities that we want to implement on the orchard. If you have an hour to spare, we would love to share our enthusiasm with you. It takes one step at a time, so we hope to be able to have something new to offer every year.
- What apples do you use in your pies?
- It is best to use as many kinds of apples as you can when baking. This way you have a lot of variety of flavors, but also it means a variety of textures when cooked. Some apples turn mushy faster than others, so when you have the variety, you can get some mushy, and some still a whole slice.
- Variety makes a better pie.
On your tree of choice, you will get a plaque with your name on it, a certificate showing your ownership, and a free bag of apples from your tree in the fall.
Just Because I Care
April has a 2 hour drive to and from the orchard, so to get her through the drive, this is her playlist to inspire
Free Single Serving of a baked Good. I.e. one cookie, one slice of pie, one apple bar, etc.
Redeemable at the orchard in the fall season only.
Small coffee mug
1/2 Pint Jar of Apple Butter
The most addictive dessert sold at our orchard.
Clippings to us on your own trees at home
Pint size jar of sweet and tangy Apple BBQ sauce.
Apple Pie filling
makes one 8inch apple pie
Reuseable Cloth Tote Bag with our Logo on it.
A Timberland Logo T-Shirt
Beautiful Wall Art made from paper cut-outs.
Print options are:
A fox
A red truck with halloween pumpkins
A "Hello Fall" Sign
This is the same field trip that we take little kids on. We start with a bag of popcorn on a Tractor Ride around the whole orchard, then a tour of the facility, instructions on how we pick apples, and help us make our apple cider.
We will also include all the tidbits on apple trees, and we will show you how we can take care of your own apple trees.
We end with a cookie and a glass of cider.
Rewards
On your tree of choice, you will get a plaque with your name on it, a certificate showing your ownership, and a free bag of apples from your tree in the fall.
Just Because I Care
April has a 2 hour drive to and from the orchard, so to get her through the drive, this is her playlist to inspire
Free Single Serving of a baked Good. I.e. one cookie, one slice of pie, one apple bar, etc.
Redeemable at the orchard in the fall season only.
Small coffee mug
1/2 Pint Jar of Apple Butter
The most addictive dessert sold at our orchard.
Clippings to us on your own trees at home
Pint size jar of sweet and tangy Apple BBQ sauce.
Apple Pie filling
makes one 8inch apple pie
Reuseable Cloth Tote Bag with our Logo on it.
A Timberland Logo T-Shirt
Beautiful Wall Art made from paper cut-outs.
Print options are:
A fox
A red truck with halloween pumpkins
A "Hello Fall" Sign
This is the same field trip that we take little kids on. We start with a bag of popcorn on a Tractor Ride around the whole orchard, then a tour of the facility, instructions on how we pick apples, and help us make our apple cider.
We will also include all the tidbits on apple trees, and we will show you how we can take care of your own apple trees.
We end with a cookie and a glass of cider.