Info

My name is Kalan Schlegel and I founded Home Orchards in 2020. Prior to this, I worked at K. Schlegel Fruit Farm growing and selling fruit commercially for eight years. Local people would often reach out to the farm seeking advice and consultation for their backyard fruit growing endeavors. I assumed that small scale fruit growing was challenging (I really thought it was impossible), but as an increasing number of people reached out over the years, my curiosity grew. 

Eventually I agreed to help a woman trim her apple trees. She showed me her orchard and explained how her trees provided her apples that made award winning applesauce. Her apple trees looked pretty rough, but the proof was in the pudding (applesauce)!

As I said yes to more people and visited more home orchards, I realized that like farmers, these people really enjoy what they do. Those growing fruit at home were having the same experiences I thought unique to myself and my colleagues… Observing the small developmental changes the tree goes through during its cycle every year. Walking through trees full of flower buds popping open and turning into fruit. Learning just how hard it is for a tree to produce a ripe beautiful fruit from start to finish. Discovering that nothing tastes better than the tree ripened fruit that survived the odds. 

I started working for home orchard enthusiasts all over central PA and founded my company Home Orchards. Early on I learned that professional growing practices were going to need to be adapted for small scale home orcharding. In order to grow fruit well at home, you need to learn and apply what actually works in different locations and environments. 

Home Orchards focuses on blending proven commercial growing practices and small scale adaptability with a focus on the local environmental factors that make or break home orchards.