Meadowbrook Orchards

About the Farm

Meadowbrook Orchards was founded in 1912 by John Chandler, a man passionate about growing and selling apples. He purchased five abutting farms and consolidated them into one operation on 100 acres of rolling farmland in central Massachusetts. Since it takes ten to fifteen years to develop a profitable orchard, John also started a dairy business, raising cows along with draft horses, pigs and 10,000 laying hens. However, a devastating fire in 1927 burned the huge barn and destroyed all the livestock, leaving only the orchard intact.

The farm has weathered numerous natural disasters throughout its history, including a ferocious hurricane in September 1938 that destroyed the entire crop and uprooted nearly 60 percent of the trees. Despite these setbacks, five generations of the Chandler family have worked the land continuously. John's youngest son Nathan operated the farm from 1946 to 1970, focusing on modernizing the operation with newly developed technologies in apple storage and tree growth. He replanted older trees with newly developed apple rootstocks to produce smaller, more manageable trees.

Today, David Chandler Sr., Nathan's son, oversees the operation alongside his wife Kathy Reynolds Chandler, who manages the farmers' markets, CSA, and flower growing operations. Their son David Jr. runs the restaurant, farmstore, bakery and Thursday night BBQs, hoping one of his two children will carry on the tradition. The average annual crop has grown to over 50,000 bushels, with the vast majority wholesaled throughout the United States, Europe and South America, while their year-round farmstore, bakery and restaurant serve the local community with farm-to-table offerings.