In an era when many orchards are being chopped into one-acre lots, Levering Orchard celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
Located in Patrick County, Va. near the North Carolina line and two miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway, Levering is a three-generation family farm and the largest cherry orchard south of Pennsylvania.
The farm offers 47 varieties of cherries to choose from – some of them heritage ones – during a five-week harvest in June and July.
“Our orchard pioneered the pick-your-own concept in western Virginia, dating to the late 1950s,” says owner Frank Levering. “We were advocating and direct-marketing ‘local food’ long before that concept came into vogue.
“Every year brings thousands of pick-your-own customers. A given Saturday can easily bring a thousand customers, out there picking with their kids in our over 4,000 cherry trees.”
Levering is more than a cherry orchard, however. Frank Levering and wife Wanda Urbanaska produce a PBS show, “Simple Living,” which touts, in part, environmental advocacy. The farm also grows peaches and apples and, interestingly, at its Cherry Orchard Theatre, annually presents plays, this year in August and September.
Levering Orchard hosts its centennial birthday party for the public on Aug. 9 and 10. For information: 276-755-3593, leveringorchard.com.
—Bruce Ingram
