Soons Orchard

Soons Orchard Store September 1, 2008

Art Soons

A brief history of Soons Orchards

Around 1910, William Soons, an electrical engineer living and working in New York City, decided to move north and try his hand at dairy farming. Always being a student of horticulture from his youth in England, William was soon planting trees everywhere - hardwoods, plus apple, pear and peach trees. One of his sons, Sinclair, (1896-1984) became the next farming Soons, as he expanded wholesale apple sales and the dairy. Sinclair married Helen (1902-1996), also a New York City transplant, and a school teacher who grew up in a family store setting. Their youngest of four, Arthur, completed college at Princeton University and army service before settling down with Sandra, a Nebraska native and Vassar graduate. Since 1959, Art and Sandy have worked to make Soons what it is today.

The entrepreneurial spirit continues as eldest son Jeffrey, also an attorney, takes over orchard and farm operations. Daughter Laura, and husband Scott, founded Scotty's Country Kitchen in 1987 and continue to hone their mouth-watering recipes. The youngest, Sharon, spent 10 years in the NYC non-profit world before rejoining the family business in late 2004, continuing her role as marketing person and now handling retail operations.

Soons grows over 40 varieties of apples, plus peaches, nectarines, sweet corn and summer vegetables, pumpkins and winter squash. Soons presses its own sweet apple cider from mid-September til season close at the end of May. Soons also makes fresh apple cider donuts and apple sauce, and has fresh scratch pies and baked goods, among other things. Their farm market is open 10 months of the year, and has a wide assortment of produce and other products. For full details, visit www.soonsorchards.com.