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4 CapitalPress.com April 15, 2016 Gebbers Farms: Growing fruit since 1900 By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS Gebbers Farms For the Capital Press BREWSTER, Wash. — One of the largest producers of cherries in the world and one of the top apple growers in the Northwest, Gebbers Farms is a multi-generation family business in north-cen- tral Washington. Cass Gebbers, president, is one of five siblings in his gen- eration. “We are the fourth genera- tion, and our kids are the fifth. My parents had 20 grand- children, and 14 of that fifth generation are working in the company,” he said. “We have strong continuity because we have a sixth generation com- ing on.” The story of Gebbers Farms is closely linked to the story of the Washington apple. “My great-grandfather, Dan Gamble, hiked to central Owners: The Gebbers family Location: Brewster, Wash. In business: Since 1900 Acreage: 12,000 acres of apples and cherries Courtesy of Gebbers Farms From left, Cass, Alycia, Clay, Corina, Andie Lee and Wade Gebbers are shown with some of their orchards in the background. Washington from Nova Scotia in 1885 with just a backpack to work in the mines near Harts Pass during the gold rush. After working in gold and silver mines in the Okan- ONV16-4/#7 ogan Valley, he started a saw- mill in 1894 at Cactus Canyon near Brewster,” Cass said. Gamble planted the first orchards around Brewster soon after the turn of the cen- tury and built an apple ware- house. His sawmills produced wooden apple boxes for ship- ping fruit, and he built the first apple packing shed in Brew- ster in 1918. The fruit enterprise grew, and today the family orchards are spread over foothills at the base of the Cascade Range and along the high- lands around Lake Chelan. The farm is one of the largest suppliers of late-season sweet cherries, and has one of the largest contiguous apple or- chards in the world. “My dad, Dan Gebbers, was a dedicated orchardist. With his business partner and a friend and fellow grower, they brought the first Granny Smith apples into the U.S. My dad and Richard Thompson brought the first Lapin cher- ries — from British Columbia ONV16-1/#5 — which are now a mainstay variety,” Cass said. “The Granny Smith ap- ples came from Australia. My dad brought them into the U.S. through the Summerland British Columbia Research Center in 1967 and 1968. We still have that original Granny Smith orchard he planted, and it is still commercially pro- ductive,” he said. Granny Smiths were then unheard of in the U.S. The green apples caught on quick- ly. They offered a way for re- tailers to break up their shelf space color-wise, and people liked the unique tart taste. “When my dad brought in those first Granny Smith ap- ples, he became friends with Dr. Lapin at the Summerland Research Center near Kelow- na, B.C. He told my dad we should try a new cherry that he’d been developing. Dr. Lapin said these cherries should work nicely for us, be- cause the research center has a climate very similar to ours.” Dan Gebbers planted his first Lapin cherry orchard in the early 1980s after several years of testing the cherry. Gebbers Farms now has 12,000 acres of apples and cherries. This area has a per- fect climate for fruit. “We have cold winters and warm summers, and large tempera- ture split between warm day- time temperatures and cool nights. This helps finish the apples so they can ripen prop- erly. If it’s warm all the time, day and night, you don’t get good finish on apples or cher- ries with good internal quali- ty,” he explained. “My dad brought in some of the first apple pre-sizer equip- ment from France. He was an innovator in the fruit business.” Everything about the pres- ent orchards is focused toward producing the highest quality fruit with perfect flavor, tex- ture and color. Turn to GEBBERS, Page 5
