Owen Orchards

How does one become an apple farmer? 🍎 In the late 1920s/early 30s when Charles Owen—a superintendent of local Cayuga County schools—wrote letters to Isaac C. Rogers (breeder of the sweet and juicy Rogers McIntosh apple) about buying and planting apple trees. Starting with a few trees and a small stretch of land, the original @owen_orchards store and farm market were housed in a 6’ x 10’ trailer.

It was in the late 1980s that Charles Owen’s grandson—Gordon Tripp (pictured) and his son, David Tripp, expanded to a 30 acre-orchard with 25+ varieites of apples. The two also grow peaches, pumpkins, and squash. Today, Charles Owen’s legacy and reminders of those early days live on at Owen Orchards. The old trailer serves as a chicken coop, and the original antique tractors from the 1920s continue to intrigue visitors year after year.