Gibbsville Orchard celebrates 80th year of community agriculture

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

May 5, 2025

SHEBOYGAN FALLS – A local orchard, passed through the hands of several owners over the decades, has found new life in its 80th year with the Hottenroth family.

Machelle and Tony, along with their son Troy, said they’ve operated M&T’s Gibbsville Orchard since 2018.

“We bought it from a(nother) family, and it was a mom, a dad and a son, as well,” Machelle said. “But, evidently, it sat idle for a couple of years, and nobody did any pruning. It was in pretty rough shape when we purchased it, and we still have a ways to go, but it’s a lot better than what it was.”

When the family decided to purchase the orchard, Troy said it was a now-or-never situation if they wanted to save and preserve the decades-old property.

“The orchard was either going to fall apart or someone was going to take it over and do something with it,” he said. “These trees were really let go… We spent a lot of time bringing them back to (life). They (grow) antique or heirloom apples… because some of the trees (date) back to the 1700s.”

The orchard’s name, Machelle said, has always in some fashion included “Gibbsville” in the title.

“So we didn’t want to change that,” she said. “What we did was just add the M&T’s – which, M stands for Machelle and T stands for Tony and Troy.”

As they’ve advertised for the orchard’s 80th anniversary, Machelle said they’ve omitted the “M&T’s” from the name to pay homage to the orchard’s entire history.

“We’re not going to advertise it as M&T’s because we haven’t had it for 80 years,” she said. “We’re going to advertise it as ‘the Gibbsville Orchard is 80 years old.’”

Multi-faceted revenue

Machelle said though she and Tony initially took on the orchard as a retirement project, over the years, it has evolved into much more than just a hobby.

“It’s a full-time job,” she said. “We’re open (pretty much) all year-round. Right now, (we’re open) Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then we’ll open (our hours) up come cherry-picking season in June.”

Despite also working a full-time job operating heavy equipment, Troy said he puts in six to seven days a week at the orchard as well, depending on the season. 

“We’ll (open) six days a week right around the Fourth of July, and once we get the apples in August, then it’s seven days a week for a couple of months,” he said.

Customers who are unable to patronize the orchard in the fall during M&T’s apple season, Machelle said, can always get a taste of the heirloom fruit through a jug of their non-pasteurized cider.

“When we press cider, we press enough to have frozen cider for people to come and buy cider all year-round,” she said.

Also available year-round, Machelle said, are M&T’s hand-made pies – sold at the orchard’s on-site retail store.

“Besides the retail store that’s filled with jams, jellies, honey and wine and all that stuff, we have the bakery,” Troy said.

Long before he and his parents took ownership in 2018, Troy said the orchard played an important role in the greater Gibbsville community because of what it always offered the small, rural Wisconsin town – locally sourced, affordable groceries.

“Gibbsville itself is a very small town, but it has a good history to it,” he said.

The orchard’s retail store, Troy said, is stocked with both hand-picked and homemade products, as well as other Midwestern goods – working with suppliers from across the dairy state and Michigan to also offer pork, grass-fed beef, peaches and blueberries alongside products harvested from the orchard itself.

Troy said customers will patronize the retail store year-round – but in order for trees to bloom next season, the Hottenroths utilize the winter season’s downtime to tend to their 20 acres of land.

“So, people come all winter, but we slow down so we can take care of the orchard,” he said. “We (have to) prune trees and stuff like that.”

With more than 1,000 trees – some centuries old and stretching 30 feet tall – bearing apples, pears and cherries, Troy said there is plenty of opportunity to both pick fruit to sell at their store, as well as for customers to pick fruit themselves.

“All the trees are ‘you pick’ or for the store,” he said. “It depends on the season – obviously, if we have a bad season, which doesn’t happen a lot, there’s not a lot for people to pick – but we try to (offer an) ‘you pick’ (option) just as much as we pick for the store, too.”

In addition to selling the fruit itself and Machelle’s pies, jams and jellies, Troy said M&T’s also juices pears and apples to sell to local wineries.

Old but improved

Though they were purchasing a previously established business, Machelle and Troy said they knew there were things they wanted to expand and improve upon.

“(The old owners) were pre-buying their pies, and we switched that over to (homemade),” Troy said. “We tried to grow pumpkins mostly ourselves, which they didn’t really do either. They wholesaled them.”

Additionally, Machelle said the previous owner attempted to break into the festival space – even constructing a band shelter to host performances.

“The previous owner is the only owner who ever tried to do festivals,” she said. “They built a band shelter, and they were trying to go down that road, but they just didn’t know how to do it. So when we bought it, the band stage was already there, so we just ran with it, and it worked out perfect for us.”

Now, Troy said M&T’s hosts an extensive variety of events targeted toward adults, children and families alike.

“We (bring in) magicians, pony rides, petting zoos, food trucks, craft vendor fairs, etc.,” he said. “I hire all that in.”

Troy said the previous owner was also in the process of obtaining a liquor license in order to press hard cider prior to selling the orchard to the Hottenroths.

“We went a different route,” he said. “(The town) ended up giving us a liquor license, so we take our cider, and we add bourbon to it – so that’s like a mixed drink. We (also) sell beer and Bloody Marys during the day, and food. People can come and enjoy the day, not just kids, but adults, too, and then there’s no cover charge.”

The orchard, Troy said, can also be rented as a venue for graduations, small weddings or birthday parties.

For more on M&T’s Gibbsville Orchard and its upcoming season of events, visit its Facebook page for the latest information.