• By CHRIS ALDRIDGE
• Kentucky Agricultural News

Three changes a Kentucky Proud orchard and agritourism destination made last year because of the coronavirus pandemic will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

“2020 was difficult for everybody,” Jonathan Price, co-owner of Jackson’s Orchard and Nursery near Bowling Green, said during the virtual 2021 Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Conference in January in Lexington. “There were a lot of challenges and changes being made.”

The biggest change was extending the weekend agritourism activities beyond Saturday and Sunday by offering hayrides, apple picking, and its petting zoo, corn maze, and pumpkin patch on Thursdays and Fridays, as well.

“We spread the crowd out from two days to four, preventing large crowds and gatherings,” Price said.

“We firmly believe in agritourism,” Price said. “Our playground is open throughout the season with four 60-foot slides and tons of other kids’ activities. And there’s a petting zoo with all types of barnyard animals.”

Another change at Jackson’s was offering online ordering at the farm for its Apple Kitchen, which serves value-added products from its more than 7,000 fruit trees. Popular treats include caramel apples, peach and apple pies, apple cider and cider slushes, and homemade peach ice cream.

“We placed QR codes on signs around the farm,” Price said. “When you scan the code with your smartphone, it pulls up a menu. You can place your order on your phone.

“We allowed customers to order at their own convenience, which decreased the number of people in line. As you know, the buzzword for 2020 was ‘social distancing.’”

Online ordering led to some positives in the kitchen that Price didn’t expect, such as increased productivity and improved order accuracy.

That last change that Jackson’s made wasn’t as much of a change at it was an emphasis on customers picking their own cherries in May, plums and sunflowers in August, and apples from Labor Day weekend through mid-October.

“We pushed u-pick a little harder,” Price said. “People were tired of being at home. They wanted to be out, but they wanted to be safe.

“It was a family outing. If kids were at home with these alternate school schedules, it gave parents something to do with their kids, as well as educating children and parents alike on where their food comes from or how a sunflower is grown. The education aspect is as important to us as anything else.”

Price said the best thing about u-pick is that customers are paying 90 percent of what the product costs in the store, but there’s no cost for labor or packaging for Jackson’s.

“We saw that as a nice advantage as well,” Price added.

Jackson’s was started in 1966 by Price’s grandparents, Bill and Shirley Jackson. Bill, then an agricultural chemical salesman, was making a call on Ed Hudgens, an 89-year-old orchard owner. The farmer asked a question that would change both of their lives: “Instead of selling me chemicals, why don’t you just buy this farm ‘cause I’m way past needing to retire?”

Fruit trees at or past maturity were replaced and new facilities were soon built and expanded on the hilltop that had been an orchard since the turn of the 20th century. In March, Jackson’s will celebrate 55 years in business with the involvement of second- and third-generation family members.

In addition to the u-pick crops, Jackson’s also grows peaches, sweet corn, and pumpkins. There is also a greenhouse full of annual and perennial flowers, rose bushes, ferns, bedding plants, herbs, fruit and vegetables plants, and orchard-quality fruit trees.

Between 90-95 percent of its retail sales are through a local farmers’ market or its on-farm retail store, which is stocked with preserves, jellies, salsas, and other Kentucky Proud products.

Jackson’s Orchard and Nursery plans to open in April. For more information, visit www.jacksonsorchard.com.