Barnard’s Orchard — A Three-Century Farm

As we boisterously celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary this year, life goes on as usual at Barnard’s Orchard and Greenhouses, located near West Chester and Longwood Gardens and better known as “Barnard’s” to the locals. This year marks a huge anniversary for them too — 300 years since the land in Pocopson was purchased and then continuously farmed by the Barnard family.

Land and Families

Owner Lewis Barnard can usually be found in the background tending the land, working in the shop storeroom, or chatting with customers in his laidback manner. He’s the eighth generation of his family to farm the land.

In the late 1600s, Barnard’s ancestors Richard and Frances came here from England. Then in 1726, their son Richard purchased acreage from the Baily family. A few generations later, during the Civil War, Milton inherited 40 of those acres, where the current orchard sits.

“Milton was my great-grandfather,” said Lewis. He gestured to the big house across the driveway from the farm store. That’s where his grandfather, father and then he were raised. “Milton and his wife, Edith, built this house in 1862.” He added that construction cost was just $2,600 (adjusted for inflation, that’s still only $85,000 today).

Over the years as the family grew, descendants of the original settlers also inherited or acquired land adjacent to the current orchard property. The Bailys, Wickershams and Barnards — including Eusebius Barnard who, with his wife Sarah, were “stationmasters” for the Underground Railroad at the Barnard House near Pocopson Park — can all trace their roots to the original immigrants, Richard and Frances.

Lewis has a photograph of a family reunion held in 1880 attended by over 200 people. Marshall Swayne, an artist who made several sculptures of Abraham Lincoln, was one of the attendees. “He lived in Kennett Square and married my great-grandfather’s [Milton’s] sister Mary,” Lewis said. “My grandmother was a Wickersham. Actually, my great-grandmother was too.”

Flowers and Greenhouses

Lewis’s ancestors didn’t specialize in growing apples in the early days. They had some trees, crops and animals, enabling them to live off the farm. The orchard we know today started to take shape in the early 1900s, thanks mostly to Lewis’s grandfather Percy and great-grandfather Milton.

The greenhouses located right next to today’s produce store were built in 1907 and 1915. The newer one originally grew sweet peas, a climbing and extremely fragrant flowering plant that was very popular during the first part of the 1900s. But that fad passed.

Carnations were another important wholesale crop for them, but no longer. “Much of the flower market was taken over by South America in the 1990s. They can grow them better. They have stronger sunlight, and they can grow flowers outside,” Lewis said. “The stems are stronger on the South American carnations. We couldn’t compete.”

These days the greenhouses are used to grow vegetables and flowers for bouquets sold in the store. “Anything we can do to keep the greenhouses alive,” he said.

Orchards and Retail

The farm is now comprised of around 74 acres — the original 40 acres plus land purchased in the 1950s. Lewis says there are around 18 acres in apples (about 30 varieties, including heritage apples), two or three acres in peaches and a half an acre in pears. In addition, he grows thornless blackberries and a few blueberries. “My dad managed the orchard part, and my Uncle Sam ran the greenhouses. They ran that together as a partnership.” Lewis runs the whole thing now, with the help of a handful of skilled and valued employees.

Today, almost all their sales come from the onsite store, which started in the mid- 1950s. “Nowadays, you have to be in the retail business in this area to pay the bills,” he said. Before that, small farms could make a living just selling wholesale.

Like many orchard farm stores, Barnard’s sells what they grow and also sources other produce from local auctions and select outside growers when items are out of season here. Barnard’s stocks their own apple cider, apple butter and apple sauce, plus a variety of sauces, pickles, jellies, honeys, gourmet snacks and offerings from local artisans. And if you need avocados and bananas, they have those too.

Conservation for Preservation

In 2017, Lewis took an important step to forever preserve his farmland by entering into an agreement with what’s now the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance. At the time, he had the 40 acres inherited from his father, while his Uncle Sam’s land was owned by other relatives.

“You have a piece of farm ground, but I didn’t own it all. Others had to be paid for their share of it. And you can’t get that kind of money. So, you can go through somebody like the county or the land conservancy that will appraise the ground at the developer’s rate and at the farm rate and then try to find the funding to pay for the gap in between. You still own the farm in the end, but you give up the right to sell it as a development, or a golf course, or a lot of things commercial,” Lewis said. “It can be later sold as a farm if you want to.”

Will there be a big celebration marking the unique accomplishment of being a tricentennial farm at Barnard’s Orchard and Greenhouses? Lewis thinks not. “We’re lowkey,” he said.

Follow Barnard’s Orchard on Facebook to see what’s in season, U-pick availability and updates on Lewis’s progress as he works the farm.

This year’s April 21 frost was inconvenient for many of us, but devastating to fruit growers throughout the region. Because it occurred at a vulnerable time when blossoms or fruits were developing, harvests are expecting to be half or less of what they should be. You can help by shopping your local orchard’s farm stand and joining them for U-pick outings.

• Barnard’s Orchards and Greenhouses, 1079 Wawaset Rd. (Rt. 842), Kennett Square. 610-347-2151; on Facebook. Note: Closed for June, reopening in July.
• Highland Orchards, 1000 Marshallton- Thorndale Rd., West Chester. 610-269-3494; HighlandOrchards.net
• Glen Willow Orchards, 1657 Glen Willow Rd., Avondale. 610-268-8743; GlenWillowOrchards.com
• Indian Orchards Farm, 29 Copes Ln. Media., 610-324-2484; IndianOrchardsFarm.com
• Linvilla Orchards, 137 West Knowlton Rd., Media. 610-876-7116; Linvilla.com
• Merrymead Farms, 2222 S. Valley Forge Rd., Lansdale. 610-584-4410; Merrymead.com