May 2, 2008
Orchard Controls Surrounding Space

According to his son, Art Jacobson came up with a brilliant way to check the urban development that was encroaching on his orchard: He bought the surrounding land and developed it himself.

As Bill Jacobson tells it, his father bought properties that neighbored his White Bear Lake, Minn., orchard whenever they went up for sale, until the family owned a little more than 400 acres. After deciding how much of that they needed to farm, they developed the rest – about 100 to 150 acres.

This all happened in the late 1980s and early 1990s – a long, complex, expensive process. They put in the roads, paid for surveying, got approvals from various city councils and sold the lots themselves – designing everything so it wouldn’t have a negative impact on the orchard. The resulting debt was “tremendous,” Bill said, but the huge investment paid off in the long run.

The finished development, about 30 to 40 lots (some remain unsold), has some strict rules – no permanent structures or gardens within 200 feet of the orchard’s property line, no fruit trees allowed (because of disease issues) – but the families who live there seem pretty happy, Bill said.

“They like us the way we are,” he said. “Their only concern is if we quit farming.”

That’s not likely to happen. The Jacobson family has been part of Pine Tree Apple Orchard since 1950, and doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. The orchard currently helps sustain at least seven households, and the next generation is being groomed to take over one day, Bill said.

According to www.pinetreeappleorchard.com, the first apple trees were planted on the shore of Pine Tree Lake in 1904. Art Jacobson and his wife, Dickie, came to the orchard in 1950 and bought it from the previous owner eight years later.

Dickie grew up on a small farm in northern Minnesota, but Art was a city boy. He grew up in St. Paul and originally planned to be an accountant, but what he really wanted to do was work outside. When Art heard a farmer in White Bear Lake, about 20 miles northeast of St. Paul, was looking for a foreman who eventually might want to buy the orchard, he and his wife decided to make the move, Bill said.

Art and Dickie are now in their early 80s, and their six kids – four girls and two boys, including Bill, 51 – run the orchard. Each sibling has his or her area of responsibility, and each of their spouses has an off-farm job, which helps stabilize family incomes. In a good sign for the future, a niece and nephew of Bill’s, both in their late 20s, recently joined the farm in a full-time capacity.

“We’re going to keep going,” he said.

Bill’s parents originally dreamed of running a large wholesale operation, but so many people would visit the orchard looking for fresh fruit that by the early ’70s it was a firmly established destination. They started a bakery in 1977 and planted strawberries in 1982, and direct sales have been “going crazy” ever since, Bill said.

Nowadays, Pine Tree sells most of its apples, strawberries and pumpkins direct from the orchard, either at the on-farm market or through u-pick sales. There’s also the bakery, a cider mill, corn maze, wagon rides and other activities. The family is considering growing other small fruit like raspberries and blueberries, but nothing has been planted yet, he said.

The farm is located in an upscale, suburban region of Minneapolis-St. Paul, about two miles off a state highway. They don’t get many drive-by customers, but they’ve become a destination for much of the local populace – and with 3 million people in the metropolitan area, there’s no shortage of potential customers, Bill said.

Pine Tree owns another orchard about 100 miles south of the main location. Art bought the 90-acre plot in 1960, hoping to manage weather risks. His plan has worked out, so far. They have yet to experience hail at both orchards in the same year, according to his son.

Though 90 percent of the orchard’s fruit is sold retail, the owners have been moving back into the wholesale arena. Their strawberries are popular with local grocery stores, he said.

They press and pasteurize their own cider and have ever since the cider mill went up in the late ’60s. Also, Pine Tree is one of three Minnesota orchards participating in Next Big Thing, a cooperative set up to sell a promising new apple variety from the University of Minnesota.

Like many orchards that have survived over the years, Pine Tree’s apple acreage (currently about 130) has been going down while its tree count has been going up. There used to be about 100 trees per acre, but now there are 500 to 1,000, Bill said.

“We keep trying to find efficiencies, remain profitable and have fun.”

Along with the family that runs it, Pine Tree’s employees are the key to its success. The orchard employs 125 to 150 people during the busy fall season. More than 50 of them have been working there for five years or more – a fantastic record for a seasonal employer, Bill said.

“They love being here,” he said. “It’s a fun place to work.”

For field and harvest work, Bill has been relying on H-2A labor for the last few years. The program has worked well, but he usually doesn’t recruit more than 10 or so laborers.

For retail work, Pine Tree employs senior citizens, high school kids and everybody in between.

“We like to say it’s their first job or their last job.”

Positions range from sales to working in the cider mill or bakery to parking cars. Employees get extensive training in customer service and safety.

“We’re happy to see them stick around for as long as we can,” Bill said. “We’ve made an investment in each of them.”




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