North Star Orchard

History

North Star Orchard was started in 1992 by Ike and Lisa Kerschner on a 4-acre piece of leased property. In 1996, seeing a need to expand plantings, they arranged to plant another leased 6-acre property. In 2006, they purchased a 10-acre parcel, on which they started growing vegetables in 2007 and planted a new orchard in 2008. The leased properties are in full production, and will continued to be farmed for a number of years while the new orchard grows.

Ike grew up gardening at home, and at a young age was selling his vegetables at a tailgate market nearby. As a teen, he worked for a small local orchard that grew dwarf trellised trees. That experience inspired his goal to have his own orchard someday. Lisa had no farming background, but enjoyed working on a student farm at college, after which she decided to pursue a degree in agriculture. Ike and Lisa married following their Junior year of college (at Penn State).

Their goal was always to have their own farm, so after graduating from college, making a few moves and working at different farms, they were finally able to lease and subsequently purchase their on land; realizing their dreams.

Ike has become well known in this area for his expertise in growing vinifera wine grapes on innovative trellis systems, and for his knowledge and experience growing unique fruits and vegetables. He has written many articles about such practices, has taught classes at Longwood Gardens, and is a speaker at various seminars and conferences. He has hosted several large grower meetings at the farm. He enjoys working on the farm, and spends a lot of "leisure" time reading, cooking, and learning more about the fruit and vegetable growing industry.

Lisa also enjoys working on the farm when she gets a chance. She's more occupied with marketing the farm's products (at farmers' markets and managing the CSA), keeping on top of the farm's website and email newsletters, and bookkeeping/HR. Her life's focus, in addition to the business, is that of homeschooling their son Jay. She enjoys reading, writing, and working on various art projects.

Jay helps out at farmers' markets and with the CSA, and is an invaluable help as the farm's webmaster. He does not plan to be a farmer, but enjoys helping out as he finishes high school and starts his own business in web programming.

Farming Philosophy

It takes a lot to make a family farm successful. Right now, in addition to the buzz about locally-grown foods, there is a lot of talk about sustainability. But, just what is sustainability? Definitions vary from place to place and group to group. For our small, diversified farm, sustainability means three things:

1. People: Farm owners, helpers, CSA members, and Farmers' Market customers. Our idea of sustainability is to provide delicious, healthy and safe fruits and vegetables for people to eat, as well as a safe and happy environment in which to work, which also provides a living wage to those who work here.

2. Planet: Including the earth as a whole, right on down to our local ecosystem. Our idea of sustainability is to grow fruits and veggies using the latest and safest ideas and practices in crop protection and management, so that we can produce consistent high-quality produce, while at the same time being gentle to our environment. Growing a diversity of crops and seed-saving is key to a balanced production system. We use a combination of organic, IPM (Integrated Pest Management), and new technologies such as our recently added solar arrays in order to farm in an environmentally friendly manner.

3: Profit: Income gained by farming must be enough that those farming can expect to not only pay the bills, but have health insurance, save for retirement, and be able to take the occasional vacation.