Farm Progress

Slideshow: This Baraboo, Wis., business kicks off its 111th season.

Ethan Giebel

September 10, 2018

5 Slides

Just a stone’s throw away from Devil’s Lake State Park in Baraboo, Wis., is one of the most historic orchards in the state, Ski-Hi Fruit Farm. The orchard kicked off its 111th season at the end of August and will be open through the end of November.

Betty Thiessen is the owner of Ski-Hi Fruit Farm, which was started by her grandfather, A.K. Bassett. In 1907, he purchased the property from a German immigrant who received a land grant for his service in the Mexican-American War. The original log cabin constructed on the farm in 1862 still stands today and can be visited by guests of the orchard.

Sprawling orchards
Ski-Hi sprawls across a combined 364 acres of woods, orchards and farmland. About 50 acres, with some 8,000 trees representing 25 apple varieties, are maintained in the orchard. Some of the oldest apple trees, Tolman Sweet, date back more than 80 years.

Maintaining the orchard takes a great deal of time and skill. Rocky soils create challenging conditions for tilling and planting new trees. Ideally, 5% of the orchard is replanted each year. New plantings are being plotted in a north-to-south configuration and planted at higher densities than apple trees have been in past years.

Five varieties of pears are under cultivation and will make their debut in the coming years.

Jacob Franzen is the operations manager at Ski-Hi and handles the day-to-day operations of the orchard and retail business. Franzen is a Baraboo native who received an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in pomology (the study of growing fruit) from Purdue University.

Direct marketing
All Ski-Hi’s apples are marketed directly to consumers through the on-farm retail store. Upward of 5,000 customers go through the doors at Ski-Hi on the busiest days of the season. In 2017, more than 250,000 pounds of apples were harvested and marketed from the orchard. It takes a crew of about half a dozen workers to pick the apples every day during the season. About 30 people are employed by the orchard during the peak of the season.

Not only can customers purchase apples of the highest quality from Ski-Hi, but they can also enjoy homemade apple baked goods created in the kitchen on-site. One of the most intriguing gadgets in the orchard’s kitchen is a donut maker capable of producing up to 50 dozen donuts per hour.

“Apple pie is a longtime favorite of our customers,” Franzen says. “Everything is baked completely from scratch in our kitchen. In addition to our freshly made apple pies, we offer apple turnovers and apple cider donuts. We also make caramel apples; over a ton of caramel is used each season to caramel the apples.”

Cider is another product offered by Ski-Hi. A cider room is attached to the orchard’s warehouse, where you’ll find everything needed to make delicious apple cider. More than 10,000 gallons are sold each season.

“We’re starting to collaborate with some distillers on small-batch spirits using our cider,” Franzen says. “We’re all about collaborating with other local businesses; it helps all of us.

“We’re working on keeping Ski-Hi’s legacy going strong and producing high-quality fruit for future generations. We’re here to set the farm up for future success and make sure it’s here for another 100 years.”

Learn more about Ski-Hi Fruit Farm at skihifruitfarm.com. To see photos, click through the slideshow below.

Giebel writes from Baraboo.

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