Ecker’s Apple Farm has been a family owned and operated business since 1945. In 1970, Peter Ecker became the third generation of Ecker to manage the land. In 1977, he married Mary, and together they took the first steps toward converting the old family farm into a working orchard. With the addition of two girls, Jessica and Sara, they’ve developed Ecker’s Apple Farm into a unique farmer’s market and fall destination for families all over Wisconsin. Today, the orchard covers approximately 100 acres, 40 of which are planted in 15 varieties of apple trees. Recent experimental expansion includes the planting of 50 sweet cherry trees, 50 Madison peach trees, and 200 blueberry bushes.
With the passing Peter in 2009, Ecker’s Apple Farm became a female run and maintained business. All four women, including the matriarch, Janet, live on the original homestead. At 86, Janet has lived her entire life on the farm and still works 12 hour days during apple season.
Sara took the reigns servicing the fruit trees. The task is tremendous: between the pruning, pest scouting, Tru Earth orchard management program, thinning, picking, storing, and packing, she hardly sleeps. At 26 years old, she shoulders an immense amount of physical labor while developing an emotional connection to the crop and the land.
Mary is the full time accountant, bookkeeper, and accounts manager. She also heads up the bakery department, often baking apple pies through the night on apple season weekends just to keep up with the demand.
Jess inherited an artistic ability from her dad and handles all marketing, event coordination, PR, and general design work. She’s learning to manage the blueberries and helps Sara in the orchard wherever possible.
Janet runs the pie kitchen with an iron fist. Ecker’s scratch apple pies and our signature caramel apple pies are world renowned. The secret lies in the pie-making crew: Janet’s entourage of five women, all grandmothers, their average age 80.
Ecker’s gourmet caramel recipe was developed in 1995 by Peter Ecker when large scale, copper kettle production became necessary. All caramel is made on site with the finest ingredients. The caramel is truly a delicacy. It attracts everyone from children looking to gobble it by the spoonful to up-scale restaurants looking to top decadent desserts. Plans to begin experimenting on an organic recipe are in the works.
A road-side retail store featuring Wisconsin based products like Slack’s jams and jellies, Wildwood dried soups and dips, and Cedar Creek wines is open to the public seasonally. Ecker’s also features a handicap-accessible John Deere train, the Honeycrisp Express, which takes riders out to the Pick Your Own orchard in the fall.
Other businesses on the farm include morel mushroom brokering, an apiary, and the Queen’s Apple franchise – a dessert kiosk sold to other farmer’s markets as another outlet for the caramel.
The farm to school program is a new venture for the apple farm. The Eckers are very excited about not only supplying Tru Earth certified fruit to local schools but also providing the lunch programs with educational materials and creating a presence and an awareness in the school community.
Come take a ride through the orchard on the Honeycrisp Express. Rides available all day long. Tickets are $1 per person.
