Dispatches: Family Living Out Dream of Running Buffalo Apple Orchard

School is in session. There’s a chill in the air. In just a few weeks, it will be officially fall. And fall isn’t fall without apples and orchards and such, is it?

One Buffalo family of eight is trying their hand at running an orchard this year for the very first time.

“It was always something we had talked about and wanted to do. Yuri [my husband] had grown up on a farm, so we knew we wanted a family business and an agricultural lifestyle for our kids,” co-owner Jill Preugschas said from the steps of Deer Lake Orchard.

The orchard had been on the market for nearly three years. Shortly after the family bought a house in Shoreview, they saw the listing.

“It was three years in the making. We’d been talking with the owners for some time and we finally bought it and moved here this past June,” Jill said, juggling the tasks of paying employees and changing diapers.

Jill and Yuri are the orchards fifth owners since the trees were planted in 1968, and are learning first hand how to run a business. Meanwhile, they're raising six children, raning in age from 11 to 2.

“We’re figuring out what works best and making changes as we need to,” Jill said. “The kids love it. They love helping with the animals and being part of this with us,”  

Four of the Preugschas kids are at school now most days, but her youngest two, 4-year old Linnea and 2-year old Logan, are home and helping feed the goats with her today.

“We’re totally learning as we go,” she said. She reminisces about taking all six kids along with her to the livestock auction to buy pigs and bringing them home in pet carriers. “Then I had to go to the Country Store and find out what they ate. We are thankful for them [The Country Store], they have been so helpful and kind as we figure things out.”

While Deer Lake is truly a family business for the Preugschas family, Yuri has a day job in Plymouth as a business analyst, so many things fall on Jill during the day. She laughs as she shares how she has been learning and figuring out just which apples they have and don’t have.

“We have 28 different varieties of apples on 4,000 trees amidst 33 acres. The learning curve is huge and also very humbling," she said.

“It’s been a lot of work so far. What has amazed me is that the work is fun to do!” Yuri added. “We may be dead tired at the end of the day, but when I look at Jill and the kids and see their smiles it makes it all worth it.”

The entire experience has been an adjustment for the family, who now lives next to the orchard, near Buffalo. The physical labor aspects of the orchard are also a change.

“We’re adjusting and accommodating to living right here. At the same time learning how to have boundaries and privacy,” Jill said.

She’s also quick to say that they have been given lots of information and help along with the transition.

“People have been so generous and given us so much grace,” she said.

The Preugschas inherited some of the orchard staff when they bought the orchard which has also helped the transition.

“What has been real rewarding is when other families come out to the orchard and seeing their excitement and awe of visiting and experiencing our orchard,” Yuri added, “We will continue to add and grow as time goes on.”

Deer Lake Orchard opened in mid-August and is gearing up for a busy fall. The orchard is open Mondays-Saturdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Starting this weekend, they will have live music near the barn. Daily entertainment and activities include: petting zoo, gift shop, hayrides and more.  Big plans are in place for the weekend of Oct. 8 and 9 as the orchard celebrates the barn's 100^th birthday.