Poniatowski agritourism

Behlings hope orchard will be family destination

You might mistake the Brooke and Travis Behling orchard just east of Poniatowski for the Garden of Eden.

Beautiful, plump and ripe apples, mostly Honeycrisps, hang from 2,800 fully dwarf trees. A trellis system supported by massive six-inch wooden posts carry the weight of the fruit across three and one-half acres.

The apple orchard started with an idea five years ago when Brooke Behling, a kindergarten teacher in Stetsonville, attended a three-day UW-Madison Begin- ning School for Apple Growers. The “very, very intensive” education covered all facets of running an orchard business, including financials, root stock selection and planting, pest control and marketing.

Five years later, fruit and locally pressed cider is for sale at their fledgling business, Cherrybrook Orchard, located on Cherry Grove Lane about a quarter mile east of Holy Family Parish.

The orchard is just one facet of the Behling’s agricultural enterprises. The family raises corn and soybeans on 650 acres. The Behlings, who recently just sold their 65 dairy cows, continue to raise beef and heifers.

“It’s a lot to juggle,” said Travis Behling.

Brooke Behling said she thought about starting an apple orchard after noting there were few orchards in Marathon County.

“We moved here from Eau Claire County seven years ago,” she said. “We couldn’t believe how few apple orchards there were. In the Eau Claire area, you might have five apple orchards within a mile of each other. Augusta alone might have 30 or 40 apple orchards.”

The Behling orchard is 90 percent Honeycrisp, which Brooke Behling considers the best eating apple. The orchard, however, features 19 other pollinator varieties, including such heirloom varieties as the Cox Orange Pippin, Macoun and Grimes Golden (which has pink flesh).

The Behlings went with fully dwarf trees planted three feet apart in 300 foot long rows. The trees grow in Kentucky bluegrass sod. This “high density” approach produces the most fruit, Brooke Behling said.

She said that while all agriculture is risky, the apple orchard business is especially so given its “extremely high start up costs.”

These start up costs include deer fencing. “The first thing they tell you at apple school to plant is a nine-foot deer fence,” she said.

Apple orchard work includes regular pesticide and herbicide application, usually with a fog sprayer, and winter pruning. “The idea is to produce apples, not wood,” Brooke Behling said. During a dry spell, apples need to be watered, she said.

Behling said she has brought her apples to the Medford farmers market and done well. “It’s going great,” she said. “We’ve sold out of apples both weeks. People want fresh apples and there is no better apple than when it is picked right off your tree.”

Looking ahead, the Behlings said they plan to build an apple barn that will feature retail, packing and processing areas. The barn may be placed on the spot where there stood an old wooden dairy barn (which now serves as a wedding barn up in Turtle Lake, Minn.)

The couple says they hope to be part of the agri-tourism business in Marathon County. Travis Behling pledges to use the GPS on his tractor to plant a corn maze for families.

The orchard, too, will be improved. More trees will be ordered and planted.

“We need to plant 800 apple trees until the orchard is full,” Brooke Behling said.

THE BEST APPLE-Brooke Behling believes the Honeycrisp apple, pictured above, is the best allround eating apple.