Category Archives: Quarry Hill Orchards

Inside Our Pack House Upgrade: Why we said Goodbye to Stella and What’s Coming Next

If you have recently driven past the farm you may have noticed some activity near our pack house, aka the old Market Barn. Cranes, roofing crews…a full on construction zone over there! So what’s going on? Why does it matter? And what does it mean for the future of our farm?

Let’s start from the beginning!

Stella

On February 8, 2026 we gathered for one last run of our beloved Stella – our packhouse grading machine.

Poppy Bill bought Stella back in 1977 and she has seen every apple harvested at our farm…that’s roughly 120 million apples. With minor upgrades made back in 1984, for the past nearly 50 years, Stella has kept our operation running and was a huge part of our farm. We decided to mark the moment together as a family because it deserved to be marked!

Our farm is growing so that growth means we need equipment that can grow with us!

How the USDA Made This Possible

The pack house expansion and equipment upgrade that we are undertaking would never have been possible without the outside support of the USDA.

We are extremely proud recipients of the USDA’s Regional Food Systems Initiative (RFSI) Programs Grant, which was specifically designed to help farms like ours improve operations, increase efficiency and expand their capacity to serve their communities. This grant is an investment in local food infrastructure and we take that seriously!

For us, that means investing in equipment and facilities that allow us to move more fruit, fastera nd with better consistency. We’ll be getting our farm’s best produce not just to our own Market Barn, but to surrounding grocery stores, food banks and educational institutions.

What’s Actually Changing: The New Equipment Capabilities

With Stella, we could grade approximately 25 bins of apples per day.

This new grading equipment and expanded facility will allow us to grade up to 60 bins per day, more than double our previous capacity! This new iteration will also allow us the ability to image every apple and select it for size, down to the gram and color! It will use AI software to image every apple and analyze and optimize that data.

While Poppy Bill and Ben are extremely excited to bring this new equipment in and the increased efficiency it will afford us, they know that change can be hard, too. With 50 years of being used to the old analog way of grading, this will certainly be an improvement and an adjustment!

Construction Progress

Things have been moving so quickly, which is a good thing! Harvest season is going to be here before we know it. So far:

  • Ben had to climb the pin oak tree to cut branches because the height was taller than we expected
  • The structural bones of the new expansion are in place
  • The roof (matching the new Market Barn) is on
  • Grading and site work are wrapping up which opens the door for interior buildout
  • We’re well on our way to stage two of construction

Ben’s background as a professional civil engineer has been invaluable throughout this whole process. He’s been keeping the project moving efficiently. We are also extremely grateful for our team of contractors who have shown up every day to make all this happen!

Walking through mid-construction still takes some imagination. It’s a lot of lumber and dirt right now but we know exactly what our vision is for it.

Our Vision

Ben’s new office: For our growing farm, having dedicated office space on the pack house floor is a game changed for day-to-day operations and planning.

A new loft space: Additional storage and functional space

A proper home for Poppy Bill’s gator: If you know, you know! It deserves a real parking spot

New packing equipment: It will run the whole length of the new expansion

All this will allow us to continue doing what we do best: Bring fresh fruit from our farm to your table!

Don’t forget to follow along!

We’re doing our best to document every stage of this build on our social platforms and share updates here, too! Head to our highlight reel on our Instagram profile and give us a follow for more updates to come.

Check out our Spring Tours this April and May to get an inside look at this project as well!

Anticipation | Bill’s 2024 Annual Newsletter

“Tucker and Ben plucked the first peach today, June 21.  They emerged from the repressive heat in the afternoon.  Not my favorite, but they carried the smell of the season.  (Each season has it’s own aroma with the spring being my favorite.  Father and Uncle would have turned soil in anticipation of seeing and transplanting.  It was a rich smell that still lingers.)

Anticipation, the great elixir.  Be it positive.  We whisper it.  We shout it from the top of a peach tree.  It can be the strongest of urges for it is filled with hope & change.

In a world reeling from a particular craziness, what do you & I forsee? 

The eclipse.  Why such anticipation generated so much excitement was almost magical.  After a small gathering at the Winery, the crowd roared at the moment of totality.  For a brief moment, we were all united with the mythical enchantment.  Did it change anything?  Perhaps, not a lick, though an instant we all had great hope & happiness.

My Father once said that people don’t change.  He was speaking with a broad scope and I believe he would qualify it now. 

If he could see how his grandchildren and great grandchildren have emerged he would be filled with joy.  Every one of them knows the extra effort pays dividends.  Even the youngest can pick up a hoe and make it move without being told to do so.  (Bbut we must convince them that success only thru hard work is a myth). 

We often speculate about how our past relationships tie us to the present.  I am miffed by what my father would think about today’s direction.  In a world drilled with that numbing uncertainty, how would he feel about the changes we have come to accept, yet challenge endlessly. 

He was an active citizen and a Roosevelt Democrat.  That was far back when political thought was not so deeply polarizing.  When government actions sought to lift up lives & not so much bestowing entitlements on both the rich and not so rich.

A friend of Dad told me years after his death that Dad could not see how any clergymen or sound thinking soul could be anything but a Democrat.  Democrats, supposedly had the resources to lift up.  (How that would have rocketed the ire of any elephant that roamed the savannah of the Midwest).  Remember, that was then!  (It was sixty ++ years ago).

In the growing world anticipation is what chases us to another year.  The greening of our new world is full of promise.  There is a change coming.  Bucks emerge.  Flowers bloom.  A cold morning delivers a hard blow (April 25th) that dampens the initial enthusiasm.  But we never accept it without flaunting our strengths.

After all that upbeat anticipation, what road should we take?  Call the crop insurance company.  Resolve to make better decisions.  Share more with the right people.  Our soil is dry.  Does praying for rain deserve a response? 

But above all, don’t pose too many questions that draws uncertainty.  There ain’t no answer!

Sounds like so many commencement messages as of late.  I need to desist.  Farm & family will go forth even with all our constant interruptions.  But we are so much like all of you.  How do we anticipate the changes that will define our kids and keep their feet on the ground?

Payton has led a crew of her friends on a couple farm tasks.  She is impressive.  Henry can snag foul balls out of the dust with dignity and not retreat farm chores.  Beatrice can swim the pool length and dance at a recital.  Arra can dive all the boards in the deep end.  Tucker can build and tear down with glee many “inventions”.  We hope they know they are deeply loved. 

The elderberry and hydrangea bend over with white, purity and potential.  We anticipate sharing a moment with you!”

And the season grows:

Memorial Day – Real Fruit Ice Cream – new this year with our fruit

June 10th – First cherries

June 15th – Red raspberries

July 27th – First peaches (clingstone)

August 10th – First “good” apples (Zestar and Gala)

August 15th – “Premier” Honeycrisp

August 10th – 15th – Red Haven Peaches (freestone) / White Peaches and Nectarines

September 1st – 5th – First cider

September 1st – October 5th – Plums

September 1st – November – Pears (Asian pear September 20th)

September 15th – 20th – Last Peaches

September 5th – 10th – Late Honeycrisp & Crimson Crisp

September 15th – October 31st – Pumpkins

October 5th – Evercrisp

October 20th – Pink Lady, Goldrush, & Fuji

Relaxed Living | Bill’s Annual Newsletter

It is said whatever else you do to make a living will “take up most of your life”. “No matter what” there must be moments to break away from it. I am no good at it. Those around me appear to suffer because of the deficiency. Jacque, Ben & Adrianne have sacrificed some joys from my insistence that farming tasks at times come first. This dilemma carried on as they expanded their lives. There are occasions when my judgment becomes clouded in an effort to get things done right. Simply put I like the work as much as anything. I like to sweep floors. I like to clean corners. Of course being part of a family business I need to reach higher. I need to talk to the banker. I need to confer with the accountant. (These painstaking discussions now have been deferred to Ben for the most part). Ben, on the other hand, is much more focused on a better balance. His schedule and Brooke’s schedule can be “mean,” but in the sense that it denies them the chance to please themselves. But above all else they want to rejoice in their kiddos, their love for one another, and their new home. Perhaps I am confused in believing I must always pick up pieces of events I have stirred up. The next generation does not have to do that. A couple weeks ago the clan camped out behind the barn on a Saturday eve. They grilled that night and again in the morning with everyone required to ante up something meaningful. 

Jacque and I were included for eggs, bacon, and pastry on the grill. A leisurely breakfast outside is the greatest of tonics. It is an antidote for the mundane and the routine. Drama is not required to break away. This was all spontaneous. It defies relaxed joy. At this point in my life I can readily absorb such feeling that I have striven for what seems like always and forever. When I ask someone what they did over a weekend or holiday I often get the response, “I relaxed”.  If I were asked that I would be hard pressed to respond in a similar way.  I seem to be confused in distinguishing between relaxing and wasting time. This thinking had to come from our Uncle Len who often said that if you are waiting for someone or something you are “wasting time”. Do you not do that when you are relaxing or is it a time to recharge. Yet, he had to relax – fishing, reading, tasking for family & neighbors. But his relaxing was always moving forward. Ben Franklin stated that his goal as “Lose no time; be always employed in something useful.” I recall a segment on 60 Minutes of a college professor of philosophy who retired early to pursue his passion of waving. He sat by the roadside by his home on a busy road and waved at passersby. That was his joy to have the kindness returned. Somehow it is difficult to see the virtue of this, but he was driven (not occasionally but everyday). This relaxing must consist of wonder and a lot of “what ifs.” 

How can our lives be different, better, happier. If relaxing is a mean to an end then it is useful. Thus to me the road must be defined by useful work and being consistently kind.  Will all else fall into place?  You bet. Our clan, I believe, adheres to this. Tom “starts early & stays late” for the architectural firm he works for, but is not always rewarded appropriately. Adrianne does not give in to any difficulty on her flower farm. She blooms. 

Arra’s enthusiasm for reading well above her grade level has her emersed in Harry Potter…. Payton is off for a camping month in Minnesota. Her independence & maturity may be worrisome. Henry plays so many ballgames that don’t wear him down that he has no time to misbehave. Beatrice asked a time ago, “How is your day going Poppy Bill?” That is enlightening from a six year old. Tucker is always building. The last project was a “cat house” for the swarm of kittens that has softened everyone. Brooke and Ben have added a new home to their list of makings but still time to bake bread and fix bikes and above all be loving Mom and Dad. Jacque has endured the trials of back pain and arthritis and all kinds of hurts and still time for making strawberry jams & chattering. And I travel a well worn path. There is nothing like the wrath of “Mother Nature” to make you wish that life had a fast forward button. The cherry crop was greatly diminished by last Decembers cold spell and last weeks storm that featured hail had given us pause, but overall except for cherries, our fruit crops appeared above average.

See Full Newsletter Here

What Time is it?

Bill’s Annual Summer Newsletter

July 2022

“The Day is ending as cloud cover thickens. Rain may be coming. It is always calming to dwell on more provoking thoughts than the red cheeks coming to the cherries.”

What phase are we in our lives? Each change, ideally, is to lead to a new opportunity. Our family is an endearing reminder that we are still young or long to be young again.

  • Tucker pinched his fingers in the car door and needs some loving.
  • Payton and Gigi are on a search for dance shoes for her upcoming ballet recital.
  • Beatrice leaps for joy for a push on the swing hanging from the locost.
  • Henry is helping his dad pick up rocks before practice (is it baseball, soccer, or his 2nd baseball team?)

Too much? Too little? All reminders that we must appreciate that life is unfolding now. These moments may never happen again. Do we have to convince ourselves that we are living the right life and not merely leaping from one fire to another? This time of year sixty years ago my father was gravely ill. As a junior high youngster I never thought he would not “make it”. He was resilient, worked harder than most and active in his communities. In “death there is life” is often preached. Was this period to be one of new opportunity?

For many subsequent years my mother would ask my sister and I once a year “do you think of your father?”  Of course I always replied weakly.  Since her love for him was strong and unwavering, I know my response was the wrong one. I wanted to reinforce her.  Yet, I really wanted to say that my Dad and I seldom had time to openly share.  Surely there were moments of give and take, but not enough. I want to avoid this with our clan to “keep our souls alive” (as friends Barb and Bill reminded me).

I have been accused of “probing” too much, but this can’t be confused with heartfelt curiosity which is only surpassed by caution and kindness.  Such is the resort of seven decades of wrestling.  Peace and leisure are as fleeting as the tranquility of early summer mornings.

For some clarity and cleansing we sojourned to Ann Arbor last weekend.  Adrianne, Tom and Arra had a “barn dance” to celebrate their new flower farm down a gravel road west of the city.  “Marilla Field and Flora” has some unforgiving soil that through diligence and broken finger nails has encouraged 300 varieties of flowers.  Arra, too, glooms (?) for she “can read anything”.

Joy, indeed, abounds in our next generations. – Bill