Today, the fourth generation of the Soons family is carrying their family tradition forward. For Sharon Soons, preserving the family farm is both an honor and a responsibility.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “It’s a lot of history.” Yet she also described the joy of seeing families who first visited the orchard as children now returning with their own grandchildren, creating what she calls a “legacy of customers.”
One decision that saved the farm
Like many American family farms, Soons Orchards nearly disappeared.
When Sharon’s father, Art Soons, returned home after college and military service, the family had already signed a contract to sell the farm.
“My dad came back from Princeton, and they were under contract to sell the farm,” Sharon recalled. “He said, ‘No, don’t sell the farm. I’m coming back.’ That was probably the best thing that happened, because otherwise it wouldn’t be here anymore.”
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The family paid a penalty to cancel the sale, but the decision shaped the next seven decades.
“My grandfather didn’t want my dad to be stuck farming. He thought he’d be an economic slave,” Sharon said. “My dad said, ‘I’m not taking orders from anybody.’ He had a million ideas, and he put them into action.”
Growing the best, not the most
Today, about 60 of the family’s 130 acres are in production, producing apples, peaches, nectarines, pumpkins, sweet corn and a variety of seasonal vegetables.
Sharon believes the farm’s greatest strength is its commitment to quality.
“I try to have things that you can’t find in other places,” she said. “Most people will tell you our apples, our cider and our peaches are the best they’ve ever had.”
That reputation comes from patience.
“We don’t just go out and pick whatever. We wait until it’s actually ready.”
For varieties such as Honeycrisp apples, workers may return to the same tree three separate times because not every apple ripens together.
She also credits the farm’s longtime crew, some of whom have worked there for nearly 40 years.
“They’re just amazing,” she said. “We wouldn’t be here without them.”
Customers who keep coming back
For Sharon, customers are the heart of the business.
“It means we can keep going,” she said. “You’ve got to have loyal people you work with, and you’ve got to have loyal customers.”
Families now travel from New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and beyond to visit the orchard each year. Others discover it only after passing the roadside sign for decades.
“They’ll say, ‘I can’t believe I’ve driven past your sign for 25 years,'” Sharon said. “And I tell them, ‘Well, I’m glad you didn’t wait another 25.'”
Every first-time visitor receives a complimentary apple cider donut.
“It always blows everybody’s mind,” she laughed.
Innovation built on tradition
The farm has expanded over the years with farm dinners, hard cider, an ice cream shop, loyalty programs, text marketing and social media. But Sharon says innovation only works if quality remains the priority.
“The tradition of quality is the most important thing,” she said. “People come in here expecting everything to be really good. That’s my goal.”
Ironically, Sharon also built the farm’s first website in the 1990s.
“I’m big into marketing,” she said. “Everybody has so many options now, so you’ve got to constantly remind people, ‘Hey, we’re over here.'”
The challenges of farming today
Despite its popularity, farming remains a difficult business.
“The biggest challenge? Labor,” Sharon said.
Higher wages, rising operating costs and competition from imported produce have made it harder for family farms to survive.
“My utility bill is like $8,000 a month because of all the cold storage,” she said.
This season brought another devastating blow.
“”We lost about 85 percent of our apple and peach crop in the April freeze,” Sharon said. “There’s no crop insurance for peaches.”
“It’s super stressful, and it’s not easy.”
A message for America’s next generation
As America marks its 250th anniversary, Sharon hopes younger generations understand the importance of preserving local agriculture.
“Farming’s a real gig. It’s a real job,” she said. “You get to be your own boss. It’s very satisfying.”
She believes supporting local farms is about more than buying fresh produce.
“We need food security. We need to keep farms in this country. We need to support what is local, what is American-grown.”
Her advice to the community is simple.
“Come here and buy things. Tell your friends to come here and buy things.”
She also encourages families to reconnect with seasonal food traditions, from canning vegetables to making pickles.
“Education is the most important,” she said.
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