It is the co-op’s vision to support and strengthen community connections with our local producers — so here are their stories! In this Meet Your Producer series, we will highlight our neighborhood farmers, ranchers and producers so you can see and hear what they’re all about.
South Baldwin Farms
Dave Miles, Katelyn and Gabe Spurgeon and family
Baldwin City, Kansas
Visit their website
About the Farmers
Gabe Spurgeon’s methodical approach to farming is closely tied to his engineering background. In fact, both he and his father-in-law Dave Miles returned to farming after working as engineers. Dave purchased the property south of Baldwin in 2000 with remnants of an old orchard already in place. In 2010, Gabe began a test orchard, experimenting with the mulching, pruning and care of apple trees. He could not help but formalize the experiment and find increasingly efficient ways to manage every stage of growing, harvest and processing.
As of this summer, the farm has 70 acres and about 100,000 trees in production. Each year, they add several acres more, and they’ve begun the process of replacing the trees they planted when they first moved to the farm 25 years ago.
South Baldwin Farms provides apples, peaches, nectarines, cherries and blackberries. Unfortunately this year the late frost hit blossoms and trees hard, killing around 1,500 trees. “I found just 13 cherries this year. It was a big loss.”
But adaptability is part of farming, and that seems to be part of the satisfaction for Gabe. When South Baldwin Farms started distribution, they sold at farmers’ markets, but shifted to retail in 2020 when the pandemic closed most of the local markets. This turned out to be a good fit; selling wholesale has proven to require less labor and less waste, and decreased costs for both transport and insurance.
They also added an on-site farm store, and they distribute their fresh and sparkling apple cider, which they make on site. Last year, they processed between 2.5 and 3 million apples — they’ll be up to 10 million when they reach their full capacity. They’re adding new coolers, which are 25 times larger than their current storage, holding up to one million apples each.
South Baldwin Farms uses a belt press for their cider, which takes just one person to operate and can make about 2,000 gallons of cider per batch, which is highly efficient. But it requires around 10 hours to clean the equipment once the process ends.
“I don’t get bored. It’s a blessing and a curse, kind of have to be a Swiss army knife. You have to do it all,” said Gabe.
Gabe focuses on growing apples you won’t easily find in conventional grocery stores. Rather, he chooses specialty varieties like Evercrisp, Sweet Maia and Ludacrisp. This approach means he can supply grocery stores without trying to compete with large growers on price. There are also some apples he simply can’t grow. Cosmic Crisps, for example, are “Club Apples” which are exclusive to specific growers’ groups in Washington State.
South Baldwin Farms is part of the Midwest Apple Improvement Association (MAIA), a club to grow specific apple varieties that welcomes everyone.
South Baldwin Farms takes a whole-system approach to growing fruit and produce, and they continue to evolve whether that’s identifying new and better root stocks or more efficient netting systems to protect their trees. This intentional approach includes ensuring healthy and fertile soil, practicing integrated pest management (IPM) and using drip irrigation for water efficiency. One of the most common questions Gabe gets is about herbicide and pesticides in the orchard. The apples are not organic, but Gabe is routinely exploring new ways to reduce chemical use. For example, he recently invested in highly-effective pheromone-based traps to deter codling moths. “No one is more impacted than our family by sprays; we live right on the property,” said Gabe. “We try to do everything we can to manage pests and disease holistically, and if we could avoid spraying altogether, I would.”
This fall, find South Baldwin apples and apple cider at the co-op!
