Taggart’s Orchard is closing after 32 years

Kermit Taggart has a handshake that crushes fingers. That’s why his reason for shutting down the family’s apple orchard seems a bit astonishing.
“The decision was a little hard, but you have to realize at my age, I don’t have the energy and strength to keep doing this,” said Taggart, who underestimates his energy and strength. They are formidable for any age, especially 87.
But after nearly 32 years of operation, he and his wife, Louise, are closing Taggart’s Orchard high on one of Hopewell Township’s many hills. They listed Sunday as their shutdown date on their website, but Kermit said that isn’t definitive.
“We’ll see what happens. It depends on the supply and the weather,” he said Wednesday afternoon.
The Taggarts, however, plan to be open for business for a few “harvest weekends” next autumn.
They are not selling the orchard they started in 1983. Louise and Kermit live on their 24-acre farm, where their daughter and granddaughter also have houses. Four generations of Taggarts reside on the land, which has been in the family for more than 200 years and where Kermit’s dad raised cattle.
Nancy Tilley, the Taggarts’ daughter, and her husband, John, work on the farm but were not interested in continuing it. Both have retired from their professions.
“The orchard was our retirement dream, not our children’s retirement dream,” said Louise, a Michigan native.

Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Taggart’s Orchard in Hopewell Township will be closing its barn doors after 32 years.
For this couple, who have been the apple of each other’s eyes for more than six decades, this is essentially the close of a sweet chapter. Kermit and Louise, born a day apart in 1930, almost seemed destined to be together long term. They met in Cherry Point, N.C., in the early 1950s, while serving as Marine Corps officers during the Korean War. The two married in 1954 and moved a few years later to what they now jokingly refer to as “The Taggart Compound.”
Kermit taught history at Washington High School for 12 years, before taking a middle school job in Vermont. He, his spouse, their son and two daughters moved to White River Junction, across the river from New Hampshire and Dartmouth College. Louise was a substitute teacher and a secretary at a Veterans Administration hospital.
“I became interested in apples there,” Kermit said. “There were two or three orchards nearby.”
Retiring and returning to Washington County became a goal, and they acted on that in the early ’80s. Back at the Taggart homestead, Kermit started planting apple trees in 1983. He was a little overzealous.
“I planted 2,000 dwarf trees. Some didn’t make it. I should have planted 800.”
Kermit shouldn’t beat himself up. More than 30 years later, Taggart’s Orchard has been a smashing success. Its trees, some of which are losing their potency, has yielded about 700 bushels of apples this year.
The family business operates out of a small barn at one end of the property. Customers may purchase, by the bagful, one of 12 varieties of apple or a mix. Cider, jellies, jams and snacks also are available at the cash-only establishment.
“I love selling apples more than growing them,” Kermit said.
The barn is adorned for the season, with a display on one wall also providing a literal response to the often snarky question: “How do you like them apples?” Judges at the Washington County Fair loved them in August, awarding Taggart’s Orchard eight ribbons, including a Best of Show.
Apples have been the core of their professional existence, and the Taggarts have stood staunchly behind them – to the point of offering a guarantee.
“People always ask, “What’s a good apple for a pie?'” Kermit said. “We tell them to try any apple and if they don’t like the pie, bring it here and you’ll get your money back. We’ve never had to do that.”
Although they decided to close, Louise and Kermit are somewhat wistful about doing so. A lot of people have passed through the barn, some many times.
“We have very loyal customers we’ve gotten to know and appreciate. We’ll miss them,” said Louise, who besides tending the business, taught swimming at the former YWCA in Washington and the Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center in South Strabane Township.
Occasionally, and surprisingly, there has been a vaguely familiar face.
“I’ve seen people in their 60s and 70s come here and say, ‘Hey, Mr. Taggart,'” Kermit said. “They’re students I had at Washington. Hearing that has been such a great feeling.”
So, too, is retiring.