Seedling Orchard

South central Michigan is a great place to grow fruit and that’s where Peter Klein tends his orchards on the 81 acres that make up Seedling Orchard. The farm produces an abundance of tree fruits.

Peter grows almost 80 varieties of fruit on over 5000 trees; apples, peaches, pears, plums, nectarines, cherries, apricots…and this year they are planting pluots and apriums.

The delicious fruit produced at Seedling includes 25 varieties of apples (yes, including HoneyCrisp!); 12 varieties of peaches, 12 varieties of cherries, 6 varieties of pears, 6 varieties of apricots, 5 varieties of plums…and more on the way!

Fruits are left to hang on the tree as long as possible to allow the flavor to develop fully. Seedling tastes and tests the sugars to be sure the fruit is picked ripe and at the peak of flavor. Waiting for the peak flavor makes the fruit harder to ship and increases waste, but producing the best tasting fruit is the farm’s top priority.

Seedling Orchard uses an integrated pest management system to grow the best quality fruits with the least amount of impact on the environment. Peter is committed to farming sustainably to ensure the land remains viable, to preserve groundwater and to provide his customers with the healthiest, tastiest fruit.

Seedling Orchard can be found in Illinois at the Green City Market, Northfield Market, the Oak Lawn Market and other markets in Chicago, as well as at Fox & Obel. In Michigan, the fruit is available at the market in Ann Arbor.

Seedling’s fruit, dried fruit and preserves are available online at their website www.seedlingfruit.com.