Calvin Beasley is a third-generation farmer raising apples and more outside of Danville, Ind. His family has had a farming operation since 1946. “My grandparents began with bedding plants in greenhouses, and they would sell produce alongside the road; then we started the farm market,” Calvin said. From there, his father planted 30 acres of Red Delicious apples. Today, families can visit and participate in an array of fun attractions – including the awesome “apple cannon.” Antique farm equipment collectors that love old iron can also enjoy a few pieces of nostalgic farm items around the grounds. Inside the market placed in a barn that was built sometime around 1869, shoppers can listen to the tunes of the likes of country great Loretta Lynn and fill their shopping carts with fall fare to take home. While one side of the barn serves as the market, in the other half in early October workers sort apples and in one room off the back, they make apple cider. The post and beam barn is a draw for those who love farming. The outside of the barn has had a recent upgrade in the form of a stamped concrete front porch decked out with rocking chairs. On display there is the first apple grader the orchard had, a John Beam FMC Co. brand. In the yard and on the porch, visitors will spy an old manure spreader and plow, along with a grain separator that has been brought in for ambience. It’s not the only equipment that dates back: “Our grader is from the mid-1950s,” Calvin said. Using older equipment has its good and bad points. While it works well, getting parts for replacement isn’t easy. The upstairs loft of the barn, the family recently built using native hardwood from Indiana. It serves as a place for meetings, dinners, birthday celebrations, wedding showers and more. In the loft, the old hay track can be seen, and a chandelier from the old hay hook has been mounted on a wagon wheel with lanterns for a rustic look. “There were horse harnesses here,” Calvin said, adding “the barn was originally used for horses and livestock.” In the packing house, “the apples are placed on the grading belt and the biggest are put off to the side and the smaller ones become apple cider,” he explained. “We have 22 varieties of apples.” At Beasley’s, they also grow corn, strawberries, tomatoes and watermelon. These days they sell everything at the farm market, and as for the attractions, Calvin said, “We are always looking for ways to get more people here. “We open early to mid-June and go through the Christmas celebration set the two weekends around Thanksgiving.” When families come around Thanksgiving, little ones get a chance to get their picture taken with Santa and they can pick out Christmas trees to take home, along with a gift bag. Beasley’s Orchard is located at 2304 E. Main Street in Danville. Call 317-745-4876 for details, or check them out on Facebook. Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication. Learn more of Cindy’s finds and travel in her blog, “Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl,” at http://travelingadventuresofafarmgirl.com |
