June/July 2012 - Coulee Region Women Magazine

The Apples of her eye
The women of ecker’s Apple Farm make running the family business as easy as pie.
BY SUSAn c. ScHUYLer
contributed photos
Mary ecker never expected to lose
her husband, Peter, to cancer in 2009. Even
more unexpected was that her daughters
would abandon their careers and come home
to help her run the family business, Ecker’s
Apple Farm in Trempealeau, Wis.
Sara Ecker, 28, left her teaching post
in Alaska as soon as her dad got sick. “She
kind of stayed in his hip pocket for those
two years. Followed him everywhere. Took
notes on everything,” says Mary. Today,
Sara, who had never driven a tractor, is the
orchard manager, driving the tractor and
maintaining it, as well.
Architect Jessica Ecker, 31, took a leave
of absence from a firm in New York City to
spend time with her dad before his death. “It
was probably the week Pete died that she said,
‘Dad I’m going to come home, too,’” Mary
says. Jessica is the farm’s event coordinator,
who oversees all promotional activities from
designing the website to planning a brewery
for the farm’s retail space.
Actually, there are four Ecker women
involved. Peter’s mother, known to all as
Grandma Janet, 88, has a job, too. She’s
“the Drizzler,” who drizzles caramel on every
gourmet pie they make. And that’s no small
job in the Ecker’s bakery.
The sweet life
Last year, the Ecker women and their
50 peak-season employees made 20,000
pounds of buttery caramel to slather on
20,000 caramel apples and drip on 4,000
homemade caramel apple pies, all of which
are available with other menu items in the
farm’s retail space during the season.
There’s a photo on the wall of another
delicious use for all that caramel—the
Queen’s Apple, a sliced apple bathed in
warm caramel and whipped cream, often a
centerpiece treat at weddings and local fundraisers.
The retail space is also home to a host
of Wisconsin-based products, including
jams, coffee and wine. And their Tru Earth
certified apples even make their way into
area children’s lunches through a Farm-to-
School program.
| FAMiLY |
A love of land and family
Another highlight for visitors during
the August to December season is a ramble
through 40 acres spotted with 25 varieties of
apple trees on the John Deere train, which
Pete created from airport luggage carts. The
24 beehives are an educational opportunity,
especially the observation hive, with sides
that fall away so visitors can watch the bees
at work.
However, some visitors never make it
past the bakery. “All of the bakery items we
make from scratch from dough to the crumb
topping. We’re proud of that,” says Mary.
But not as proud as she is of her daughters.
“It is the highest compliment possible that
your children return home to work with you
because they want to,” she says.
For information on visiting Ecker’s, go to
www.eckersapplefarm.com. crw
Susan C. Schuyler is a UW-La Crosse
instructor and freelance writer who plans
to be among the first to enjoy the Eckers’
caramel apples this season.
www.crwmagazine.com JUNE/JULY 2012 47