Then, only a small mixed fruit and crop farm, the original trees were planted in 1917. When the Nicholson's arrived, they planned on starting a nursery for ornamental shrubs and flowers. However, given the diversity of fruit already growing on the farm (including grapes, pears, raspberries, and strawberries in addition to apples) and the location, which was close to Geneva’s budding business district on a busy thoroughfare, Joe and Emily decided to try their hand at roadside retailing. The original stand was nothing more than an improvised shed with one window to display limited quantities of the various fruits being harvested.

The success of direct marketing to summer passersby along routes 5&20, then the major east-west route of New York State (prior to the NYS Thruway), led to the construction of a more permanent stand with large covered porches and a small cold room to keep additional stock. In addition to supervising the raising of five children, Emily ran the farm stand operation, with an eye to presenting the best quality fruit and making sure every customer left pleased with their purchase. Meanwhile, Joe Sr. saw to all the farms needs, all the while keeping an eye out for new varieties and fruits to introduce to customers in the stand.

Today

The second and third generation of the Nicholson family currently grows, packs, processes, ships and distributes high quality fruits and juices from over 600 acres of modern orchards. We utilize Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices and specialize in growing high quality, flavorful fruit. The operation has grown to include 7 different farms located in an 8 mile radius from the packinghouse, which helps mitigate damage from severe weather events like hail and frost. Current plantings include approximately 375 acres of apples, mainly on dwarfing rootstock that allow for planting up to 1,100 trees per acre (the original orchards had approximately 75 large trees to the acre). These smaller trees play an important role in our integrated production strategy by not only improving sunlight and air movement to the fruiting wood, which helps reduce the insect and disease pressure, but also produce larger, more colorful and flavorful apples.

Selling our homegrown products direct to the consumer continues to have a significant impact on how we manage our growing operation.  Our year round participation in New York City’s farmer markets, the Greenmarket, has lead us to greatly diversify the products we grow and harvest.  Our remaining 225 acres are devoted to producing a vast array of summer fruits, including strawberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, sweet cherries, sour cherries, apricots, peaches, Japanese plums, and European prune-plums. Additionally, we grow a number of vegetable crops including rhubarb, hot peppers and tomatillos.

In addition to growing high quality, flavorful fruit, Red Jacket Orchards freshly presses a variety of unique, premium ciders, juices and nectars.  Joe Sr.’s started pressing our delicious apple cider over 40 years ago and today we use those same time honored cider pressing techniques to make not just premium apple cider, but also a line of 100% fruit juices and nectars.  We believe by simply pressing whole fruit (and never adding concentrate, sweetener, color or flavoring), we capture the full array of taste and nutrients of the fruit, resulting in juices that are not only healthy but also make you say, “WOW!  That tastes amazing!”

Our Commitment
The second and third generations of the Nicholson family are committed to continuing Joe and Emily’s tradition of delivering high quality products and excellent customer service, and look forward to building a company that provides consumers with healthy, wholesome flavorful farm fresh products. We believe if you do something, do it properly, and with integrity.  We strive to emulate these values in all that we do on the farm, in the products we produce and among the community that surrounds us.  We are passionate about delivering amazing flavor and quality that’s fit for our own family’s table.