1. Free samples: Giving away apples has worked well for the Waddells. The strategy helps customers select their varieties. The samples let customers try some less-known fruit varieties. Plus this taste-first mentality keeps complaints and questions to a minimum.
2. Separateunits: The Waddells created a separate kiosk for pick-your-own which helped with traffic flow. Now they are in the process of building another log-house structure to replace the kiosk. Also, Marita has created financial spread sheets for each entity — bakery, orchard, pick-your-own and store.
3. Heritage varieties: Of the 16 varieties in their orchard, many are heritage varieties and about six trees are big standard-size ones from the original orchard planted about 1942. Most of the trees are full-bearing semi-standard and semi-dwarf that fulfil the visual expectation of U-pick and tour groups.
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4. SchoolTours: “A whole school group can gather around one of these older trees,” says Marita. “It’s nice for the kids to see… and the older varieties seem to be hardier for here.”
5. Signs: To further enhance the experience
of apple picking they use signs to tell about different varieties, history and taste.
6. Value-added apple products: Marita does the baking and preserving that they sell on the farm. The Waddells invested in a commercial-grade mixer to help with the pastry. “We’re both finding it really rewarding and having positive community and customer feedback helps.”
7. Website: The farm’s website, (www.waddellapples.com)promotes the farm and is a source of recipes and information about apples. The schoolchildren visit on a field trip and go home and tell their parents. Then the family can look up the farm and plan a visit. “It was time to get on the Internet to access newer people and younger people are really tuned into the Internet,” says Marita.
She constructed the site herself, using free website templates available online. She found one that basically gave her the skeleton she was looking for, got some tips from programmers she knows and learned as she created.
“We try to use our own abilities and resources to keep our costs down,” says Marita. “You have to be creative and determined to accomplish the things you want to do.”
