Femling Family
The Femlings’ Afton Apple Orchard was one of three orchards planted in 1964 as part of a corporation. When the corporation went bankrupt, two of the original orchards were sold to developers. One of the original investors tried running the orchard in Afton for a few years but sold it in 1989. The Femlings saw an ad in the paper and purchased the 117-acre pick-your-own apple orchard, thinking it would be a great environment to raise a family. The orchard had overgrown trees and outdated equipment. They did a lot of research about apple and strawberry production and opened for business in August 1989. Early updates included updating the orchard’s playground, clearing dead trees, and purchasing an apple grading line. Over the years, the family has expanded the orchard to over 250 acres.
Since the Femlings began operating the orchard, several additional pick-your-own crops have been added. They include strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, black raspberries, pumpkins, squash, zinnias and sunflowers. The orchard includes 15 varieties of apples.
Afton Apple provides more entertainment for families besides picking apples and other produce. They also offer a massive custom playground, hayrides, a tire swing corral, a petting farm, yard games, a 15-acre corn maze, and much more. The family strives to provide a place for everyone to enjoy opportunities to get out in nature and pick their own produce while supporting a local family farm.
Cindy Femling is the owner of Afton Orchard. The family operation also includes her daughter, Sarah, and her husband, Chad, and two of Cindy’s sons, Ryan and Mark. All family members are very involved in the operation.
The Femling family never takes for granted that their customers chose to come to the farm. The family invests in their community as an essential part of their business giving back. The orchard hosts many annual fundraisers for area schools and donates weekly to food shelves and supports local non-profit groups. They also have awarded several scholarships to local students to further their education and work to educate customers about the importance of agriculture and about being good stewards of the land.
The Femlings are members of the Minnesota Apple Growers Association, the North American Strawberry Growers Association, the North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association and several more.