Our Story
Apple Annie’s is a family farming operation, owned and operated by John and Annie Holcomb, son Matt and wife Alicia, daughter Mandy and husband David Kirkendall and John’s father, Don. The 4300’ elevation of the Sulphur Springs Valley provides us with the warm days and cool nights that make Willcox the premier you-pick fruit and vegetable growing area in Arizona for pumpkins, delicious sweet corn, melons, pumpkins and many other vegetables.
When we planted the first apple trees we asked God for His blessing and guidance in this new venture, but we never envisioned the plans that He had for us! We planned for a commercially harvested crop, but His plans were for us to share our orchard, the farm experience, and the lifestyle that we love, with thousands of families from around the state. With our fourth generation now getting started in our family business, we consider it a real privilege to be able to offer an old-fashioned farm experience to today’s busy families!
Our History
In the early 1980’s we planted 6,000 apple trees, planning to grow apples commercially. However, in 1986 when the trees began producing, we decided to sell our apples on a you-pick basis, and invited the public to enjoy our orchard. With Annie and 8-year old Matt baking the pies and apple bread, John was in charge of growing apples and making cider and 6-year old Mandy was the sales clerk. What busy, fun-filled days we enjoyed!
In the mid-1980’s we began planting peaches and pears, as well as grafting some of our original apple trees over to new apple varieties. Our goal was to have fruit available for our customers to pick throughout our 4-month season. Today our customers are enjoying the fruits of our labor! Over the years we have added many new activities for our customers to enjoy on their visits, including a Orchard Grill serving apple-smoked burgers on weekends, Apple Annie’s Attic, our country gift shop, hayrides to the orchard, a huge corn maze and numerous festivals.
In 2003 we had the opportunity to expand our business with the purchase of Hunsdon Farms. Matt and Alicia do a splendid job of growing over 125 acres of vegetables and make Apple Annie’s Produce & Pumpkins a fun place to visit. Along with the amazing vegetables, we are excited to offer special festivals throughout the season, topped off by a 5-weekend Pumpkin Festival featuring a huge corn maze, tons of pumpkins for picking and lots of country fun!
The winter of 2013 brought new opportunities as we were able to purchase the Stout’s Cider Mill building, a Willcox landmark. After months of renovation we opened Apple Annie’s Orchard Country Store in May 2013.
This is our year-round retail operation featuring our fresh pies and pie slices, apple bread, fudge, the full line of gourmet jar goods and a beautiful selection of gift items. Mandy and David have turned the Country Store into a delightful stop just off of I-10 in Willcox.
Harvest season is a busy time for us since we are open daily for over 4 months, but it is also lots of fun! A visit to the orchard and farm is a wonderful family activity, and we love to see the excitement of the children as they eat an apple right off the tree and the sparkle in the eye of a grandfather as he picks vegetables with the children. Our hope is to continue to grow and expand the businesses to give you and your family a great farm experience filled with treasured memories.
We look forward to your visit!
Apple Annie’s
Orchard, Farm, & Country Store
