Kate Miller Carl was serving customers Roundhill Orchard’s summer bounty of raspberries and blueberries on the last day of Western Massachusetts’ latest three-day heat wave.
Carl was born just down the road and grew up on the 20-acre Southampton, MA, farm with boundaries reaching into Westfield and other abutting towns.
Her son Andrew Carl operates what was her in-laws’ farm in West Holyoke and was working at the Florence Farmers Market in Florence, MA. Roundhill Orchard’s bounty is also offered at Northampton Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.
She has 800 apple trees and 200 peach trees on her farm, offering many varieties, including Cortland, Empire, Macoun, Akane, Mutsu, Yellow Delicious, Jonagold and Spigold, set to ripen at different times in autumn, and offers U-pick fruit.
Ever willing to experiment with cultivating something new, she has also grafted Red Delicious onto trees, a variety that was once vied for the top spot in popularity and has been making a comeback as people remember and seek an apple with its flavor.
“When we have peaches, it’s a madhouse here,” said Carl. “When I’ve put signs out for peaches, I’ve seen people slam on their brakes and back up.” She shakes her head in wonder.
Her earliest ripening peach, Garnet Beauty, has already ripened and has sold out already.
Among the varieties of peaches she offers are Jersey Dawn, Redhaven, Redskin, Jim Dandy, Sweet Sue and Encore, which ripens the first week of October.
“Redhaven is the standard of ripening for peaches. All the peaches are dated before or after them for ripening,” she said.
Not certified organic, she grows pesticide-free crops using organic practices, as well as utilizes integrated pest management. Growing sustainably, she and her son at the other farm use mulching, drip irrigation, companion planting and pollinator-encouraging practices.
According to Carl, the farm was originally started by the Barnes family. “My grandfather, Archibald Douglas, was born down the road. They named the road, Douglas Road, after him,” she said proudly of the route that runs by the farm, earning them the current address of 1 Douglas Rd.
Kate Miller Carl with some of the blackberries and blueberries grown and sold at Roundhill Orchard in Southampton, MA. Photo by Laura Rodley
Carl said her father, the late Lewis Miller, served in World War II as part of the Army Special Service and met her mother, who worked for the American Red Cross, in France. They married.
In 1949, “when my mother (Jean Douglas Miller), was a young woman, my grandfather deeded the farm to her,” she said.
When Carl married her husband, the late Alfred Carl, they managed the farm together.
“I like seeing things grow, especially flowers. Plants are just so gratifying. I like to start things as rooted cuttings,” said Carl. She has 25 grapevines growing started from grapevine cuttings.
Blessed with a green thumb – and a tolerance for summer heat – she turned 79 on Aug. 9.
The heat may have a little to do with the unusual behavior of the creatures that have chosen to call the orchard home. This week, the woodchucks have been trying to partake, doing their own brand of “U-pick.” A few days ago, she went out to pick some kale for her dinner and “40-foot rows of kale and collards that were covered with netting and pieces of panel and pegged to the ground were destroyed. The netting had holes in it.”
She had noticed prior woodchuck holes but not actually seen them destroy the kale. This is the first time that’s happened. Rabbits can also be a problem but they don’t destroy netting, she noted.
She also grows late-ripening raspberries as well as paw-paws.
She and her son are members of Community Involved in Sustainable Agriculture (CISA). For more information, access CISA at buylocalfood.org/directorylisting/roundhill-orchards.
by Laura Rodley
