Published: October 23, 2009 10:47 pm         

AUTUMN APPLES: Ditzlers have been harvesting fruit since 1971

ROSEDALE — It is fitting, and a bit prophetic, that Sandy and John Ditzler met at a fruit nursery in Missouri. Little did they think they’d end up operating a family orchard together back in Parke County years later.

Even though some of John’s better memories from the age of 12 through 18-years-old include apple picking with his dad every Saturday morning, he left the farm for college at Purdue and then with his horticulture degree in hand left the farm to “seek his fortune.” “That’s what you do,” he said. “When you graduate from college, you go out to seek your fortune.”

For a while those Saturdays of picking apples with his dad while listening to football games coming from their truck were over. However, as the saying goes, “The apple does not fall from the tree,” and John worked in a related nursery business for 10 years and started selling machinery, eventually ending up with his own vineyard machinery business.

Along the way he married Sandy. They were called back to the farm John had called home for so many years when his dad suffered a stroke. Today John and Sandy are partners in the orchard business, the Ditzler Orchard.

The orchard, now in its 38th year, started in 1971 when John’s parents planted their first apple and peach trees. John’s dad, Gale, was the great-great-great grandson of one of five brothers who in 1790 made their way to America from Switzerland. Upon arriving in the states, they all settled in the Pennsylvania area but by the early 1800s Gale’s great-great-great grandfather moved to Indiana and Gale Ditzler was born at his parent’s farm in Wells County.

After a stint as an airplane mechanic during World War II and a being involved in a business with his brother selling milk, Gale began selling insurance and was later given the opportunity to move to west central Indiana. Gale and his wife Patricia began raising strawberries on their farm when a salesman from a nursery coaxed them into planting a few hundred fruit trees.

Their first trees, apples and peach, were planted in 1971, and by 1975 the orchard was producing both fruits and was in full swing. For the next 15 years Gale planted trees until there was full orchard. Gale sold insurance through the week and spent time working the orchard with his family on the weekends. John’s mother is still an integral part of the business, working in the Ditzler country store and creating items for sale. She remains an active part of the business.

Today, John still sells vineyard equipment to supplement the orchard, which operates from May with strawberries for sale, then peaches before the apple crop is ready in August. Apple varieties found at Ditzler include: Earliblaze, Molly’s Honeycrisp, Gala, Jonathan, Cortland and Jonalicious. Their Web site offers information on how to choose the right apple for the right reason.

Ditzler Orchards is open for tours during the seasons of operation and many school groups, church groups, ladies groups, and various clubs and organizations visit the orchard annually.

The tour includes watching the picking machinery, visiting the 10-acre orchard, the cold storage building, the grading and cider rooms and viewing a bee hive that helps with pollination. Apple samples are available and school children receive a complimentary apple and activity to take back to the classroom. Shopping time in the Country Store is also an important stop.

You’ll find gift baskets and gift boxes, apples, jelly, jam, and fresh apple cider made at the Ditzler Orchard. Reservations can be made for the one hour tours beginning the second week in August through Nov. 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. There is a small fee charged.

The Ditzler Orchard will remain opened until early spring — or until the apples run out. “Many people think we close after the Covered Bridge festival,” Sandy said. “But we are here until the apples are gone and that’s usually February or March. We want our local customers to know that we still are here for their needs even after the Covered Bridge crowd leaves.” For directions and contact information, you can check out the orchard’s Web site at www.ditzlerorchard.com.







APPLE FACTS

• About 2,500 known varieties of apples are grown in the United States. More than 7,500 are grown worldwide.

• Nearly 100 varieties are grown commercially in the United States, but a total of 15 popular varieties account for almost 90 percent of 2006 production.

• Apples are grown in every state in the continental United States, and are grown commercially in 36 states. Top-producing states include Washington, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California and Virginia.

• The largest U.S. apple crop on record, of 277.3 million cartons, was harvested in 1998.

HEALTH BENEFITS

• Eating apples helps you meet the USDA recommendations of five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to maintain good health and energy levels. A diet rich in fruits like apples and apple products also may reduce the risk of some types of cancer and other chronic diseases such as: breast cancer, colon cancer, type II diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and Asthma.

In addition, studies have linked apples to weight loss. Just another reason apples and apple products help promote a healthy lifestyle for you and your family.

USES

• Fresh, whole apples are great as snacks.

• Sliced or chopped, apples make great additions to salads, slaws, stir frys, sandwiches and salsas.

• When baking, try substituting applesauce for butter as a healthy alternative.

• Apple slices can even be added to breakfast dishes like pancakes, French toast and waffles. Top off the breakfast dish with some apple cider syrup.

• Apple cider or juice can also be used as marinade for grilling meats, or as a low fat option when sautéing onions for a burger.

• Apples can even go on the grill. Try grilled apples with your spareribs, hamburger or chicken.

SOURCE: The U.S. Apple Association www.usapple.org.

SOURCE: The U.S. Apple Association www.usapple.org.