Wolff's Apple House
Farm stands are fun to visit because you never know quite what you’ll find there. If you’re lucky, the one you go to will have local produce and food you can’t get anywhere else, and you’ll leave with some terrific treats to eat and an experience unique to the area. In a time where stores are mostly hegemonized franchises, it’s always refreshing to discover something that is still family owned and special.
Wolff’s Apple Stand in Lima, PA is one of those places. Though it’s not just an apple stand now, it started out as one in 1910. 18-year old Bermudan immigrant Frank Wolff started selling apples out of a barn on his mother Anne’s property and named it Sunnybrae Orchards. He was so successful that twenty years later he built a stand and finally a permanent structure in 1932 that is part of the current building. When his son Ken joined the business, they expanded the property from 24 acres to 52, and kept adding new fruits and vegetables to their offerings. Ken passed it on to his son Peter, who added a gift shop and adding more locally grown produce from nearby farms. When Peter died in 2015, his brother Fran and his niece Ashley took over, and run the business today.
Today, Wolff’s sells produce grown within a 50 mile radius of their store, and sells a wide variety of local delicacies, including crab cakes, shepherd’s pies, pierogis, pies, and pretzels. You can find premium breads from Le Bus or Di Bruno Brothers meats and cheeses. They also have a garden center, which my wife exclaimed was one of the best she’s seen, with reasonable prices, no less. It’s also a terrific place to stock up on your fall and winter decorations, and their website has a blog full of great recipes for you to try if you’re looking for the perfect way to prepare something you bought there.
If you’re someone who wants to really get a sense of the communities you’re traveling through on your Route 1 adventure, Wolff’s is a great place to stop and get some snacks, gifts, or flowers to decorate your yard with. They have a lot more variety than many smaller stands (although I don’t mean this negatively about smaller stands, I love them too) and their commitment to their local community is admirable, so you can feel good about what you buy!
Matthew Christopher PA Media Aug 03, 2022 Agriculture Food Reviews
Aug 03, 2022
SHARE
