With an apple orchard and bakery, Smith’s is a great October getaway

POQUETTE LAKE — They are working hard and fast at Smith’s Apple Farm as colder October days progress and frosty mornings begin.

“It’s going to get pretty cold, and Bob tries to get the apples in before that,” said Lynn Smith, who along with her husband, Bob, owns and operates the popular orchard located near Poquette Lake, between Spooner, Shell Lake and Siren. “You don’t want the apples to freeze.”

A dedicated group of about 15 apple pickers are currently wrapping up the picking season as Halloween nears and colder, frosty mornings become more common.

“This started out as Poquette Lake Apple Farm, but everybody butchered the name Poquette,” laughed Lynn. “So now it’s just Smith’s Apple Farm. This was a working farm when we bought the place. We sold the cows in 1988 and started planting apple trees. It’s been 38 years now. In total, there are about 15 to 16 people working here, including the kitchen.”

Smith’s is not just an apple orchard. There is also a store and bakery turning out tasty pies, turnovers, doughnuts and much, much more. This is the busy time of the season at Smith’s as autumn days take hold of the region and people begin to get ready for Halloween.

It is quite a task getting all the apples off the trees. As Lynn spoke, a pair of workers loaded boxes on an off-road vehicle and got ready to head out for another load.

“Yes, this is picking time,” said Lynn. “We have about 4,200 trees. It gets real busy this time of the fall.”

Smith’s began as an orchard around 1990 with 100 trees. Bob and Lynn began expanding, reaching about 2,300 trees, and by 2001 most had grown enough to produce a good apple crop. They built a little store and packing house with a walk-in cooler and apple sorter and sizer.

Just as things were looking bright, however, Mother Nature sprang a surprise. On June 18, 2001, the historic F-4 Siren Tornado roared through the region, destroying 1,700 trees and the store. It took the roof off their home, heavily damaged the barn and killed their horses.

‘The next morning, we went out to look at the orchard,” told Bob. “We were so discouraged to see that in 15 minutes, the storm had wiped out 10 years of hard work.”

The Smiths decided not to rebuild. But they did not take into consideration the support and encouragement of friends and neighbors who helped raise money and donated many hours of labor to get them started again.

“If in today’s society you ever doubt humanity, come and talk to us,” said Bob. “We will restore your faith.”

With chainsaws, hammers, tractors, truck trailers and an unfailing spirit, about 100 people each day showed up to help bring the orchard back to life. Today, Smith’s Apple Farm is thriving once again.

Lynn and Bob sell most of their apples locally, at places like Schmitz’s Economart. They provide apples for the local food pantries, Ruby’s Pantry in Siren and area schools. Just this week, students at Shell Lake Elementary School enjoyed munching on Smith’s apples during the national Great Apple Crunch.

Things are going so well, the business is looking to expand again.

“Bob is looking to expand about another 15 acres,” said Lynn. “We also grow pumpkins and squash and have beehives.

“Our biggest weekend of the year is during Cranberry Fest. The fall colors really bring people out. Things start to slow down after Halloween.”

Inside, Steve Olson worked sorting apples. Olson is one of the hardworking crew that keeps Smith’s Apples running smooth. Also working at the orchard, said Lynn, is doughnut maker Donnie Wirth, Judy Hensel, Judy Larson, Dawn House, Mary Brion, Fran Neilson, Cindy Blonk, Martin Jarvis, Bruce Greene, Rich Harris, Sophie Smith, Jeff Smith, Mary Smith, Kendra Swan, Pat Moe, Jennifer Bearheart, Jenny Smith and Scott and Cindy Pauley.

“I hope I haven’t forgotten anybody,” said Lynn. “It’s a real good group of people we have.”

Smith’s offers many varieties of apples, including Haralson, Honeycrisp, Macintosh, Sweet 16, Cortland, Kindercrisp, Dutchess, Zastar, Paula Red, Honeygold, Empire, Connell Red, Snowsweet and many, many more.

Besides the apple trees, Smith’s also operates their bakery and store. Stepping inside the building, the smell of fresh apples and baked goods is almost intoxicating.

In the bakery, one can find such items as apple cider doughnuts made fresh daily and pumpkin doughnuts with brown sugar frosting. There are locally grown cranberries, apple, cherry and cranberry turnovers, apple crisp, shortbread cookies iced with chocolate and pumpkin raisin cookies with brown sugar frosting.

Homemade pies featuring handmade crusts include apple, apple raisin, strawberry, caramel apple, raspberry, cherry, blueberry, cranberry walnut and peach.

There are also sugar-free and gluten-free items such as pies, apple bread and apple crisp.

There is also a nice variety of pottery, handmade baskets, apple baking utensils, local honey, syrups, jams, homemade candles and soaps. Lynn also makes homemade apple butter and pumpkin butter, and fresh apple cider by the gallon or half gallon.

As the early morning goes on, however, customers begin to stop in rapidly. One purchases several cookies; another takes home a few pies. One man stops in for morning coffee and a couple of tasty doughnuts. It is starting to get busy at Smith’s Apples.

Lynn tightens up her apron and prepares to get back to the work that she says, even after so many years, is still a lot of fun.

“We enjoy it,” she said with a big smile. “It gets busy, but everybody who works here, we’re family.”