Apex Orchards Opens New Farm Store

The Recorder, September 12, 2016, by Diane Broncaccio

Just in time for fall, the spacious, new Apex Farm Store has opened, with 50-mile views of mountains in Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The farm has been in owner and grower Tim Smith’s family since 1828. The new shop is the culmination of five years of planning, he said.

“The goal was to make this a destination,” said store manager Courtney Basil, “a place where people could come and stay the afternoon.”

The 4,000-square-foot store opened at the top of Peckville Road, off Route 2 in Shelburne Center.

The Apex Farm Store is about a quarter-mile from the warehouse where customers used to pick up apples and peaches. It has spacious parking, a Tower Optical binocular viewer, and outdoor seating.

Inside the store are many farm products from Apex Orchards and surrounding area farms and food producers. Besides a choice of 15 apple varieties, there are honey products from Smith’s Shelburne Honey Co., maple syrup from the Graves farm in Colrain and the Boyden farm in Conway, Shelburne Cider Vinegar and ciders from Apex. There is also Cabot cheese, Yankee Pastime Farm’s maple cream, Sidehill Farm yogurt and “Just Soap” made in Ashfield. Other local products include kombucha, salad dressings and marinades, Nancy Peck’s handmade potholders and Maple Valley and Bart’s ice cream. There will be cider doughnuts from Pine Hill Orchard in Colrain.

Besides the foods to be found in the store, Apex Orchards has doubled the acreage for pick-your-own produce.

Visitors can choose from among eight varieties of pick-your-own apples, and will soon be able to pick their own pumpkins and Christmas trees in the future, Basil said.

“We’re going to continue to expand,” she said. “We’ll also have pick-your-own peaches and blueberries next season.”

The building was planned about two years ago and was built with mostly local materials. The pine siding is from timber cut on-site and milled locally.

The top level is for the retail shop, while a lower level includes restrooms and space for future food services.

For this fall, Apex Farm Store will host food trucks to serve hot foods on weekends. Also, an ice cream truck from Bart’s will be here on weekends, on the terrace.

A grand opening is planned for Saturday.

Food writer Tinky Weisblat, author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook,” will be at the Farm Store on Sunday to give cooking demonstrations of apple recipes in her book.

The Apex Farm Store is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Columbus Day. After that, it will be open until 5 p.m.

The store’s website has several interesting apple recipes, along with other information at: apexorchards.com

The phone number is 413-625-2744.