07/06/2026
How an Orchard Begins
We've been asked a lot about what our property is becoming and what our plans are for it, so we thought we'd share a little of the story behind WR Orchard.
Before we ever owned this property, we had already planted eight chestnut trees at our home. Owning a piece of land where we could someday build an orchard had always been a dream of ours. Those trees gave us the opportunity to start learning about growing chestnuts and caring for trees long before we found the property that would become WR Orchard.
When Dana and I purchased what had previously been agricultural land in Eaton Rapids, we knew it would take years to become what we envisioned. We wanted a place for Dana's horses, a place to hunt and enjoy the outdoors, and enough room to continue planting trees and taking on new projects.
Since then, we've built a barn, established horse pasture, planted hundreds of trees for wildlife habitat, created food plots, and spent countless weekends improving the property one project at a time.
As the property continued to take shape, so did the vision for WR Orchard.
Today, we're establishing a heritage apple orchard alongside WR Chestnuts. The goal is to grow quality nursery stock, preserve heritage fruit varieties, and continue building a place centered around stewardship, conservation, and sharing what we learn along the way.
There's still a lot of work ahead, but that's part of the journey. Every tree we plant and every project we complete brings us one step closer to the vision we had when we first walked this property.
In our next post, we'll share one of the most fascinating parts of growing apples—grafting—and why nearly every apple tree begins with two different trees becoming one.
WR Orchard
Trees to Traditions.