SeniorConnectionsHJ . COM Senior Connections November / December 2023
CARLSON ’ S ORCHARD from Pg 10
gon at the time , was made aware of the situation , and he told Noah to do what he felt was best .
After grappling with the decision of what they should do , Noah decided early last month to take the job . By the beginning of this month , he and Ariana were back in North Dakota .
While Joe was sad to see them go , he said that he understood the decision , and that he recognized how spontaneous it all was .
“ I don ’ t think it was really in the back of their minds to go back to North Dakota when they first came here because they gave up too much to come here ,” he said . “ I think they saw this opportunity at the orchard lasting for the foreseeable future , and they put the money into it to make that happen .”
“ The commitment of selling his property in North Dakota only to stay here for a year , you don ’ t just do that lightly ,” Joe continued . “ He was committed , but when that opportunity came along he felt he had to take it .”
While Joe knows that Noah enjoyed working at the orchard , he said he is happy that his son was offered a great opportunity . He also said that he is happy they gave it a shot , rather than never trying and someday wondering what could have been .
“ He loves growing fruit because he ’ s the farm boy of the operation , but this came up and you have to encourage it ,” he said . “ I ’ m happy for Noah that he has taken the job , and I am so happy that they tried this out because had they not , I know that they would have regretted it .”
Joe also said that he is very proud of Noah and Ariana no matter what .
“ As they drove out recently I told them both that I am proud of them having been here and giving it a shot ,” he said . “ They needed to hear that because they needed to know how I feel in my heart . There are no hard feelings at all .”
“ This wasn ’ t easy for them at all , especially with all of the work they put into it , but they made the decision and they are in their prime right now ,” Joe added . “ They
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can go out and keep charging forward , and they will . This was a good experience for them .”
Final hoorah
Leading up to their move back to North Dakota , Noah and Ariana prepared the orchard for Joe for the upcoming harvest season . Now , he will look to have one last ride with his business this fall before officially calling it a career .
“ My intentions are to remain at the farm and phase out of the orchard business entirely , with 2023 being my last year ,” Carlson said . “ Unknown is if an alternate operator continues operations going forward . That gets decided later , but for now , I focus on harvesting apples and producing pies ,”
Things will look different than they did last year , though , because he will not have all of the help he normally does .
While the restaurant and bakery will be closed , Carlson will still offer a limited retail selection of apples and take-n-bake frozen pies at the orchard . He will also continue the orchard ’ s wholesale operations .
“ A lot of people have been asking if they can get apples and pies out here , and while they can ’ t get baked pies , they can get frozen take-n-bake pies ,” he said . “ We will also package up apples for retail sale and they can buy the apples . I have given that some thought , and I have decided that is what we will do short of a total closure where there would be nothing out here for people .”
He said he plans to open shop Wednesday , Sept . 13 , in a limited capacity , as he will only be open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a . m . to 4 p . m . He expects to close down the orchard for the final time on Friday , Oct . 27 .
“ It ’ s not a lot , but it ’ s a way of at least making some of that product available for people ,” Carlson said .
As he looks to the future , Carlson recognizes that there are several directions he could go . While he wants to stay living at the orchard , he knows that he could sell it to someone else who might want to take it over themselves .
If he were to move away from the orchard , he could either find a new property in the area , or make a full-time move to his winter home in Oregon . In his free time , Carslon enjoys fishing , woodworking , and machining , and some of his best fishing is done in the Beaver State . Most of his family , however , lives in Minnesota .
“ It ’ s hard to say with any certainty what I will be doing because I feel that if I were going to be leaving , I would want to know what I ’ m leaving for ,” Carlson said . “ I don ’ t want to just drive out the driveway and wonder what direction I should drive , I want to know what I am doing .”
Each option he has presents different positives , but Carlson knows that there isn ’ t a bad one to choose .
“ I ’ m really blessed because we have had a successful business , two wonderful boys , wonderful grandchildren , and I ’ ve got really good options ,” he said . “ Thirty one years of being back here has been a good 31 years , and I can go out with my head held high .”
“ Once it ’ s done , it will be done and I might say I should have done it five years earlier ,” he added . “ I want it to be a happy ending , and right now we will have to wait and see , but I think it will be a good ending .”
While he will miss the apples when it is all said and done , Carlson said he will miss the people even more .
“ People talk to you , apples don ’ t . The customers are king and queen , as Colleen would say , and it ’ s such a local base of people ,” he said . “ These are people that you see when you go to church or any of the local businesses . You always run into customers , and that has been everything . We wanted to build up a business where we knew people , and we accomplished that .”
SeniorConnectionsHJ . COM Senior Connections November / December 2023
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