Rock Ridge Orchard brings the farm to schools

Dan and Julie Knetter own Rock Ridge Orchard in rural Edgar, which Dan said is the first commercial apple orchard in central Wisconsin to participate in the Wisconsin Farm to School movement. They educate school students on the different varieties of apples while providing nutritious locally-grown apples school lunch programs.

He said Rock Ridge Orchard currently serves 52,000 students in 137 Wisconsin schools from late August through December with Farm to School. The couple’s main apple orchard is on STH 153 in the town of Emmett where they also have a wedding barn, but they bought 18 acres of land on CTH H three years ago to construct another apple orchard. They planted just over 5,000 apple trees in the new orchard during the past two springs to give them a total of over 12,000 apple trees in both orchards.

Dan and Julie Knetter said they developed this newlyplanted apple orchard on CTH H so they could expand their Farm to School program to more students and schools in the state.

“We are teaching kids where their food comes from,” Julie Knetter said.

The couple is working with the University of Minnesota apple breeding program, and they planted five trial apple trees in their new orchard that aren’t named yet. Dan Knetter said Rock Ridge Orchard is the first commercial apple orchard in Wisconsin to grow First Kiss apples developed by the University of Minnesota apple breeding program. He said First Kiss apples are a cross between Honeycrisp and Monarch apples.

“First Kiss has the crunch and juiciness of Honeycrisp apples and the tartness of Monarch apples which are a