TURNER, Maine — On Ricker Hill, the apples hang heavy on their branches, as row after row of trees are filled with the fruits of a Maine growing season.
Ricker Hill Orchards has been growing apples for 200 years, and Don Ricker has been there for 88 of them. He is the 7th generation to work this family farm, now the second-largest apple producer in Maine.
“When I was in in high school, I would deliver apples to Portland in the morning before school," Ricker recalled of his early years on the farm. And responsibility for the operation came early.
“My dad, when I got out of college, said, 'I'm sick of working with people. I’ll go do the work and you take care of the people.' And that’s the way it was. I wanted to go to advanced ROTC, and he said, 'Get your butt home and get to work.' So I did.”
He’s been working the farm ever since. Ricker said he is often at work at 5:30 in the morning to help get the crew started, and some nights doesn’t finish until after 7:00 p.m.
He was born in a house on top of Ricker Hill, where a grandchild and family now live. He moved to the large family house across the road for a time. Now he lives at the bottom of the hill, close to the apple storage coolers, processing building and cider mill, which are the heart of the Turner farm operation.
The family also has a large farm and apple storage building in Auburn and another in Greene. In total, Ricker says they have about 350 acres of orchards, spread across 7 towns.
The business needs all those apples, he explained, but the different locations are also a safeguard against hailstorms, the biggest threat to apples. Being spread across multiple towns, Ricker said, should allow some orchards to escape the hail, even if a storm hits others.
The work and the worry, though Ricker said he doesn’t spend a lot of time worrying, could discourage most 88-year-olds, but not him.
“It's always been fun. I’ve never had a day I didn’t enjoy going to work.”
His three sons handle much of the workload nowadays, Ricker said, along with several grandchildren who oversee some parts of the business. They are the 8th and 9th generation of the family to work the farm. And Ricker says those grandchildren are now raising children of their own, who he hopes will become the tenth generation on Ricker Hill.
“It’s a pleasure,” Ricker says of being part of such a family legacy. “Something to be proud of. As the kids get older they seem more interested. When they first start and get out of school, its just a job. But it grows on them. “
"Do they come to feel a part of the the family history?" I ask.
“I think so,” he replies. “I hope so."