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Date: 5/25/2022
EAST LONGMEADOW – There are no signs banning people from using their cell phones. No one is there to scold you for texting. That’s because people who come to The Apple Place are there to disconnect from the wired world.
“Our goal is to be a peaceful place where families can come and enjoy each other’s company. You tend not to see a lot of people on their cell phones. They’re sitting and talking with each other or playing games we have for them,” said Cindy Normandin, owner of The Apple Place.
The fruit farm is just off Somers Road in East Longmeadow. A winding dirt driveway delivers visitors into the heart of the farm where there is a bakery, ice cream shop and consignment store featuring vintage treasures and trinkets.
The Apple Place was founded in 1970 by Wallace McNeish, Normandin’s father. He wasn’t sure what to call the farm until his 4-year-old grandson dubbed it The Apple Place.
“From the mouths of babes. It was so obvious,” said Normandin.
The Apple Place is a 16-acre fruit farm featuring 1,700 peach and apple trees. There are 70 varieties of apples and seven different kinds of peaches. This isn’t a pick-your-own place. Farmhands harvest the apples and peaches themselves, enough to fill 12 tractor trailers.
Each season people come for the fruit but stay for the tranquility. Sitting in weathered metal chairs or picnic tables overlooking the land, visitors also enjoy ice cream, donuts, muffins and other pastries made in the on-site bakery.
“It’s just a nice feeling to make things in the morning and by the end of the day they’re gone. You feel like you’ve accomplished something. It’s nice to be in a community where people appreciate quality. We have a great relationship with our customers,” said Normandin.
The Apple Place isn’t a formal petting zoo, but the pigs and goats wait patiently in their pens and seem happy when tiny hands reach through the bars to stroke their heads or scratch their necks. There’s no dealing with the grumpy chickens that huff by, ready to peck strangers who dare to reach out to them.
Normandin has always been close to the land and what it produces, beginning with her father’s farm in Springfield. When her dad moved everything, including 70 trees to East Longmeadow, she was drawn even deeper into the family business. If you want to know anything about any apple at her place, she has all the answers.
“I grew up with it. I know what every apple tastes like – what’s good for pie. I think that adds to the atmosphere. I can tell you anything about the apples and peaches,” she said.
The sounds of birds and goats mixes with live music on Fridays and Sundays during the season. Normandin said she’s trying to create a cool vibe for her visitors.
“People can enjoy a family atmosphere and watch music. It’s fun to see kids with their ice cream dancing around. It’s a party atmosphere in a family kind of way,” she said.
Normandin’s father built The Apple Place on what was already farmland. She’s worked hard to keep it that way. And while her children don’t want to take over the business, she’ll make sure developers don’t get their hands on it either.
“Once it gets to that point we’ll see. There are ways to work with the state to make sure it stays a farm. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” she said. “I never want the farm made into houses. That’s very important to me.”
The Apple Place is located at 540 Somers Rd. For more information visit www.TheApplePlace.net or call 348-9628.