Popular apple orchard closes
Lindsey’s apple orchard bids the community farewell
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. >> When Duane Lindsey, his children, and grandchildren closed the door to the store at Lindsey’s Idyllwood Orchard, they closed another chapter on Clifton Park’s agricultural history.
After nearly 50 years in business as Lindsey’s, and many years prior to that under previous owners, Duane Lindsey has closed the orchard at 267 Sugar Hill Road for good. The business decided to stop growing and selling apples because it simply became unsustainable.
“Our business is way down,” he said. “Last year was a bad year for apples and we lost money. This year was a much better crop and we lost more money. Labor costs go up, the cost of spraying the trees goes up, maintenance goes up, and sales are down 15 percent.”
Lindsey said he wants the site to remain open space but as of the moment isn’t sure exactly what he’ll do. He has some things that he’s working on but chose not to comment on them.
“The 33 acres are not for sale,” he said Sunday. “I don’t want to see this developed. I don’t want it to become homes.”
He downplayed whether he would allow other area orchards to grow the apples on the site and harvest them for their own farms.
“The trees aren’t grouped,” he said. “We don’t have rows of Fujis or rows of Empire. They’re all mixed together. And we live right here. I wouldn’t want all the traffic going down the drive into the orchard right by the house.”
Lindsey’s mother and father, Jeanne and Jim, bought the farm in 1971 when Duane was in college. Jim Lindsey died in 2015. Jeanne lives near the orchard.
Jim Lindsey was an engineer with GE with a preference for staying busy at all times. He bought the orchard while leaving GE and setting up his own consulting business in case he had a scarcity of clients. That never happened.
While Jeanne Lindsey remains the legal owner of the orchard, Duane and his family run the Sugar Hill Road business as well as a farm on Grooms Road where they grow squash, pumpkins, and corn.
“I’m 66 and ready to slow down,” Lindsey said Sunday from behind the cash register. “We’re into the fourth generation here but the kids don’t want it.”
In discussing what it takes to grow and harvest a crop of apples he described how family apple picking trips has changed and the difficulties of finding good labor. Third and fourth generation members of the Lindsey family in the store at the family’s Idyllwood Orchard Sunday an hour before closing for good. Left to right are: Emily Sowalsky, Pierce Canale, 2, and Moriah Sowalsky, 9. “People don’t want to just go out and pick apples anymore, they want a circus,” Lindsey said. “You have to have rides, and games, and mazes.”
For many years family and friends helped work the orchard. Then in 2001 Lindsey hired two men from Jamaica to help. That expanded to three when one of the men’s sons joined on. Today he has only the father and son helping.
“Lloyd’s 77 and just goes and goes, you can’t keep up with him. His son Patrick is somewhere between 35 and 40 and works out there too,” Lindsey said. “But the cost of their labor, getting them here, and housing them keeps going up and up. When your sales are down you have to do something. I can’t afford to do it any longer. My parents had enough other interests where they could afford to lose a little. I can’t.”
Selling fresh fruit and farm produce at a reasonable price for the customer has been a Lindsey mantra from the time the family bought the orchard. Lindsey’s sister Diane Curwick owns Lindsey’s Country Store and Sweet Shoppe at 1537 Route 9 in Halfmoon.
The Country Store and Sweet Shoppe sold apples right from the family orchard. Now she’ll have to find other suppliers.
This past Sunday, customers drove to the orchard one last time to either pick their own apples or buy a bagful from the store and wish the family well.
“I’ve been coming here 10 to 15 years,” said Mike Paley, a Clifton Park resident. “I’m going to miss it. I have good memories here. I can remember picking apples in the orchard with my kids when they were small. They’re grown now.”
Another customer who preferred to remain anonymous came in to get a bag of Granny Smith apples because her regular spot was finished selling apples for the season.
“I feel bad for you,” she told Lindsey. “You have a great operation. There are so many different kinds of apples. I wish you well.”
Lindsey’s children, Hillary Canale and Emily Sowalsky who helped work the cash register Sunday had their own views on the orchard’s closing.
“It’s sad but there’s new adventures,” Canale said.
Sowalsky agreed the closing of the orchard was sad.
“I’ll miss all the customers,” she said. “You get to know them.”
Duane Lindsey felt much the same.
“I’ll miss the people but I won’t miss the work,” he said.