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Earl and Merna Hiller |
About Us
Garden Patch Farms and Orchard is a highly productive, working farm owned by Earl and Merna Hiller. It is located in Homer Glen, outside Chicago and surrounded now by subdivisions, but it's uniqueness and call back to the past has made it a favorite tourist attraction to thousands.
Visitors find more than 4,000 apple trees, plus pears, peaches, strawberries, bush berries, and all sorts of vegetables. In the fall, the farm has literally tons of golden pumpkins, beautiful mums, and fun family activities.
Visitors love to come for the fun and family outing, not to mention the healthy and delicious locally grown fruits and vegetables they take back home.
But let's start the story at the beginning...
Garden Patch Farms and Orchard came into being in 1936, when Earl Hiller's parents, Henry and Glenora Hiller, bought 80 acres of land in an auction for $3,600.
They moved to the land in 1938, and raised three sons, Henry, LaVerne, and Earl, in a two-story farm house that had no electric or gas for cooking, heating, or lighting, and no plumbing. They farmed the land for corn and grain with a team of horses.
That house burned down in 1954, and for seven years, Earl's parents put plywood on the barn floor, and lived in the center of the barn.
Earl found and fell in love with Merna, and they were married. When his father passed away, each of the brothers inherited one-third of the property, and Earl officially took over the farm in 1985, a year before his mother died. His first decisive move came about when he attended the fruit growers conference in Michigan, and returned home having ordered 1,000 apple trees. The family thought he was crazy.
In 2003, LaVerne and Henry sold their land for subdivisions and retired, but not Earl. In an interview about that time, Earl told a reporter, "...my father lived here until he was 86 years old. If I'm so fortunate to live that long, I'll be here too. It keeps your mind active, trying to figure out what to do next."
Today
Earl and Merna have five children, Gary Hiller, Sherry Marc, Lori Ndoca, Patti Schulz, and Bonnie White. Though they've all married, Gary works full time at the farm, with his father and mother. Sherry and her husband Bill Marc have recently joined the family farm as well. Lori returns very often to help out, in addition to another job and raising her children.
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Gary Hiller |
Our Season
Gary starts growing seed and propagating plants and flowers in January, while Earl is now more often than not trimming fruit trees and getting them ready for spring.
Merna stays busy transplanting all the young plants to flats and baskets for sale.
Sherry eagerly works in the greenhouses, transplanting and maintaining the new plants, and oversees the new farm stand and gift shop. Bill works with maintaining the farm and preparing the orchard for the season.
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Lori Ndoca |
Lori prepares all the combination arrangements for the flower pots and baskets, and also oversees moving the flowers to the stand and setting them up for display and purchase.
Guests quickly learn that even though he is always busy, Earl is eager to visit with those interested in learning about the trees and plants, and he encourages his guests to try growing their own. We consider our customers to be guests in our home, and we love sharing with you and answering any questions you have about the plants or the food preparation.
The asparagus is ready for sale as soon as we open in the spring, and you'll want to come soon to enjoy this tender, delicious treat fresh from the farm.
Not long after, around the first of June, our U-Pick season begins with sweet, juicy red strawberries. Apples may be ready as early as late July, and their season continues to the end of October, so our U-Pick season runs from about June 1 to October 31!
Fall is pumpkin time, along with fall decorations of Indian corn, gourds, beautiful mums, corn stalks and straw. Gary hustles full time to keep the preservative-free, fresh homemade apple cider available for all our fall guests.
The chickens are always on hand and hungry, and we keep an endless supply of corn available for the children to offer them. Kids also enjoy visiting our bunny village.
And by the end of the growing season, it is time for maintenance of the farm buildings, a little rest, and then time to plan the next season. "How can we delight our visitors again next year?"
We can think of nowhere better to see and enjoy the cycle of life.
We hope you will come visit us often... we invite you, and your family, to come visit your roots, down on the farm.
Earl and Merna Hiller
Garden Patch Farms & Orchards