07/01/05 From fruit orchard to family fun

07/01/05 From fruit orchard to family fun

Many small farms and orchards in the Northwest have had to diversify over the years to stay in business, and diversification just doesn't mean going from one type of crop to several. For the fruit grower, it means going beyond the family orchard and perhaps roadside fruit stand or u-pick business. Todd Beck and his family operate Harvest House, located north of Spokane in the rural vicinity of Greenbluff. And he says diversification has meant creating an experience for the customer that brings back life on the family farm. T.BECK: We do many different activities, everything from some food service to entertainment, wagon rides, live music, just a variety of a day at the farm. And that includes special events during harvest time. T.BECK: During the major picking time when the big crops are in, I do big festivals with live music and wagon rides and pick your own fruit and entertainment for the kids, and straw mazes, and make your own caramel apples. Father Gordon Beck says such entrepreneurship in the fruit industry, especially on small farms, is more common on the East Coast. G.BECK: Back east, the government gives people tax breaks to keep them in business, this small family farm like we have here. Out here, that acceptance has not come from the government yet. But thanks to created opportunities and marketing such as the Beck family has employed, they have brought a sense of tradition, comfort, fun, to a loyal, and growing, customer base.
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