Pondview Lavender Farm: A budding business
September 23, 2024
MALONE – From an annual source for apples and pumpkins, to a bakery for pies and muffins, to a beloved field trip or family outing – The Little Farmer covers a not-so-little range of late-summer and autumn experiences.
“We try to have something for all ages,” Manager Jill Daleiden said.
Daleiden said The Little Farmer’s motto – “A Festive Family Farm Market” – is the perfect way to convey the spirit of the operation and its span of attendees and activities.
There is no cost for admission at The Little Farmer, though Daleiden said there is a “pay-what-you-do” model for hayrides, picking and filling bags from five varieties of apple trees, navigating the corn maze, purchasing pellets to feed the goats and more.
Since its inception, Daleiden said the market has seemingly “maxed” out its capacity for new attractions – yet she said with gratitude for loyal customers and rare first-time visitors alike, The Little Farmer continues to garner outsized enthusiasm.
Beyers to sellers
The location of The Little Farmer, Daleiden said, has developed considerably since Louis Beyer purchased the acreage in 1866.
Successions of Beyers, he said, would oversee the property’s evolving agriculture and construction.
The main farmhouse was completed in 1890, as the farm converted one of its acres to an orchard.
By 1925, Daleiden said the family had devoted an additional 15 acres to growing apples, with another 10 planted by 1946 by a third generation of Beyers – Emil and Evelyn.
“It was pretty new back then to put so much acreage into something like that,” Daleiden said of the orchard approach.
The farm would come to be known locally as Beyer’s Apple Orchard, as Daleiden said Emil and Evelyn built up their business of selling apples.
It was their daughter Linda (Beyer) Struye – the property’s present owner – Daleiden said, who would envision and oversee its development into a public destination – The Little Farmer – in 1972.
Daleiden said Struye chose the business’ name as a nod to another Wisconsin operation called The Elegant Farmer – whose owner she said had advised Struye in the early stages of the business – and simply because “she didn’t want to be the ‘big’ farmer.”
Growing the operation, Daleiden said, would be a “piecemeal” process based on experimentation, accommodation and customers’ suggestions.
For example, when The Little Farmer added a small pumpkin patch that didn’t draw the desired customers, she said, a playground was added to the premises – with the further benefit of entertaining the children of the folks who graded the orchard’s apples.
“There were a lot of housewives who came to pick apples for some extra money,” Daleiden said. “When the bakery came along, there was a whole weird group of us who were in there peeling apples and making pies, and it just kept growing and growing.”
Daleiden said she’s seen many new ideas implemented at The Little Farmer over the 34 years she’s worked there.
Some, she said, ultimately weren’t feasible – such as an on-site restaurant and hosting weddings – while others have proven indispensable, including:
- Producing in-house caramel, for caramel apples, sauce and individual pieces
- Offering hayrides on weekends
- Hosting tours for students and daycares on weekdays
- The restoration of the Beyer farmhouse, now home to a gift and coffee shop
- The expansion and upgrades of the bakery and its goods
- Adding pedal bikes and climbing activities to the playground
- Goats and chickens on the premises
- A corn maze
- 20 acres for apples
- 20 acres for pumpkins
“We had to try to get (visitors from) some of those little bit bigger cities,” Daleiden said of the expansion efforts. “(Locally), we didn’t have people who wanted to pay to go outside and smell fresh air, because we have a rural community.”
Customers can pay to pick their own apples and enjoy a free wagon ride (on weekends) to the orchards, she said, as well as purchase them by the bag from The Little Farmer’s Applehouse throughout the season as the different varieties of apples ripen.
Daleiden said pumpkins can likewise be handpicked or bought pre-picked from near the buildings “for people who don’t want the experience of walking in a muddy field.”
The best-selling products at The Little Farmer, she said, are the caramel apples coated with homemade caramel – the manufacturing of which customers can witness for themselves on weekdays.
Nearly as popular are the baked goods, she said, including a variety of pies – such as apple (featuring whichever variety is ripe), cherry (using Door County cherries), blueberry, cranberry-walnut and pumpkin – and different muffins featured daily.
“Those are available fresh, every single day,” Daleiden said.
Another iconic season
The Little Farmer opens in August of each year, Daleiden said, based on when the orchards have yielded enough apples for customers and the bakery.
Now open for its 159th season, she said it’s thrilling to witness the large crowds on weekends and tours entirely booked throughout weekdays.
Daleiden said tours are facilitated by Jen Bergen – a former teacher – with a focus on educating children on farming and food production (including the pollination and growth process) as a way of better connecting young learners to the food cycle.
“I think parents want their kids to have that (connection),” she said. “(Recently), these little kids were on the wagon, and they couldn’t wrap their heads around the fact apples grew on a tree. They didn’t get it – they’re so separated. So, they went home thrilled because they saw that.”
Daleiden said one of the most rewarding parts of managing The Little Farmer is talking with visitors of all ages who can provide a perspective tougher to perceive as a long-time employee.
“When COVID-19 happened, like everyone else we had to adjust,” she said. “But I remember walking some apples or a pie out to a lady – we had drive-up pick-up (then) – and this woman actually grabbed me and she said, ‘The Little Farmer can’t close (due to the pandemic) – you’re an icon.’ It’s just weird for me to think of it that way.”
Beyond the free admission, Daleiden said she thinks The Little Farmer perseveres due to its reliability over the years.
“I’ll have people who are getting wedding pies, and when I’m chatting with them they remember coming here when we first had pies,” she said. “I’ll say, ‘I know exactly when that was – because I was here.’”
Due to that legacy, Daleiden said The Little Farmer is committed to preserving its popular offerings.
“Our corn maze has a game in it that’s been the same for several years,” she said. “We were going to change it, but we got some feedback. People enjoy how simple it is – they remember doing it (in the past), so we just left it that way.”
Daleiden said the farm’s established traditions make new experimentation possible – whether inspired by internal brainstorming or customer suggestions.
“I like that we have that base to stand on,” she said of the long-running favorites. “I think that makes you feel better about trying other things – because if they flop, you’ve still got your surefire things.”
Bakery options, such as cookies and breads, Daleiden said, have been added in part to assuage customers disappointed when pies and muffins sell out – as those fresh-baked, handmade baked goods are typically entirely sold by early Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
Daleiden said she’s just as likely to recommend to weekend visitors to avoid crowds by visiting during the week, as she is to recommend weekday visitors to return to The Little Farmer on a weekend when they can enjoy a hayride.
The constant variation of crowds and activities, Daleiden said, can make the work feel “like an adrenaline roller coaster,” but a dedicated mix of full-time, year-round employees and seasonal staff is what makes it all work – “like a family that’s always growing.”
For Linda Struye from the Beyer family who started it all, Daleiden said she has maximal gratitude.
“This was all her vision,” she said of Struye. “She entrusts us to keep it going forward.”
The other vital component, Daleiden said, is of course the customers.
“We love them – and we never want to disappoint them,” she said. “Quality is huge for us – it’s No. 1. We’re constantly trying to make sure everything’s good enough so that they do come back.”
The Little Farmer is open through the weekend after Thanksgiving.
For more information, visit mytlf.com.
