Orrs Farm Market
About Orrs Farm
During the depression days in the mid 1930’s, George S. Orr, Jr. helped his grandfather by working on his small fruit and berry farm. This farm was located just west of Martinsburg on the east side of North Mountain (Arden). As a young man George joined the U.S. Navy and traveled to California where he met his wife Juanita. With fruit growing in his blood, George S. Orr, Jr. returned to West Virginia and purchased a 60 acre orchard in 1954 and began a lifetime of growing fruit. With help from his family he increased the size of his orchard to 350 acres by 1979.
The time period of the 1980’s brought progress in several areas. The size of the orchards grew as the farm acquired adjacent properties to lease or buy for production acreage. The diversification of fruits and varieties grown increased as well. The packing facility was updated and enlarged and the brand “My Three Sons” was developed in honor of Mike, Mark, and G.W…George and Juanita’s three sons. When George S. Orr, Jr. passed away in 1989, he was 62. He left his business to his wife Juanita, and their three sons (Mike, Mark, and G.W.). The corporation George S. Orr & Sons, Inc. owned 1,100 acres of orchards at that time, producing 500,000 bushels of fruit annually. The brand was “My Three Sons”.
Are We Organic?
- Use of Pheromone traps to monitor insect levels in our orchards. These orange traps are hanging in our trees and scientist stop in weekly to study our numbers. When they reach a threshold where they pose a risk to our crops, we spray then. That way we can only spray as needed.
- Assisting the federal government with studies of invasive species so we can prevent infestations of harmful insects that overpopulate our country. They are often from other countries and then come to the U. S. and take over our native insects and become destructive. One example of these harmful pests is the “Stink Bug”.
- Choosing our Products Wisely! We use sprays that don’t harm beneficial insects. More than half of pesticides used here at our farm are labeled for “organic” use.
- Taking regular soil samples to guide our fertilizer use, which prevents over-fertilizing or polluting ground waters.
Orrs Farm Gallery
