Gary Morrell - 2007 Small Farmer of the Year

Taylorsville - Gary Morrell, the 2007 Small Farmer of the Year, has a new love.
He still has time for the Pink Lady, the Jonagold, and the Fuji, but these days he is totally smitten by a sweet round thing called the Honeycrisp. Yes, they’re apples and they’re duly loved by the Alexander County farmer, whose orchards are also filled with nectarines, Asian pears, white peaches and Chinese chestnut trees.

Morrell, you see, doesn’t just love fruit, he grows it.

 “I could never get enough good fruit and I decided the only way to get good fruit is to grow it yourself,” he says.
That passion indicates just how far Morrell will go to ensure his customers get the best fruit experience he can give them. It’s a standard that also figures strongly into his ascension this year as the Gilmer L. and Clara Y. Dudley Small Farmer of the Year. He received the award last month by The Cooperative Extension Program at A&T.

Working with Extension, Morrell, 55, has held demonstrations and research projects at his orchards, and has also experimented with rootstocks recommended by Extension. He reduces his pesticide use by 40 percent by spraying alternate rows of trees and dwarfing rootstocks.          

“Gary’s constant research and experimentation with new varieties has led him to be a leader in this area,” says William Hanlin, agricultural agent for Alexander and Wilkes counties. “In a little over 20 years, Gary has transitioned from a farm laborer to one of the most successful growers in Alexander County.”

Morrell grew up on a dairy farm in Michigan and the reason he fulfilled his dreams in a North Carolina orchard rather than in his home state are summed up by two quick reasons.

“No. 1, I don’t like snow,” Morrell says, laughing, “and No. 2, I don’t like milking cows.”

As a young man, Morrell left the snowy, cold climes of Michigan and struck out in search of adventure and work. From the Southeast groves of muggy south Florida Morrell worked his way across country to the arid Northwest of central Washington – the nation’s top producer of apples.

By 1981, when he landed in the Alexander County foothills, Morrell knew North Carolina was where he was meant to settle. Taylorsville is known as the “Apple City” and its reputation and opportunities quickly filled Morrell’s eye. By 1984, he had bought his own land and instead of apples, he planted four acres of nectarines. He has continued to diversify his fruit offerings over the years, adding a high-density Fuji apple orchard, persimmon trees, white peaches and - to tap into the region’s growing Asian population - Morrell also began growing Asian pears. In all, he has more than 15 acres of fruit trees and is negotiating to increase his Greengo Orchards by several more acres.

Most notably, Morrell has become a retailer, selling to a growing customer base willing during peak season to wait more than an hour for a bushel or more of his fruit. His business has been cultivated on word-of-mouth endorsements and customers from as far away as southern Alabama drive each summer for his fruit.

Although Morrell doesn’t believe one bad apple will spoil the whole bunch, he does believe it would hurt his business. That standard is why Morrell doesn’t allow customers to pick their own fruit, believing that the average person doesn’t know how to get the best fruit.

“I’ve had people wander around and pick an armful of stuff and I have taken it away from them because it’s not good,” Morrell says. “If I wouldn’t give it to my mother, I won’t sell it to a customer. Anything coming out of here has my name on it.”