NEW GLOUCESTER – Thompson’s Orchard celebrating 100 years of business in New Gloucester was honored Thursday by the New Gloucester Historical Society and the Board of Selectmen.

The orchard is on Gloucester Hill Road with a commanding view to the east.

Historical Society member Beverly Cadigan said in awarding a certificate to Mike Thompson, his children, Eli and Alex, and his mother, Donna Thompson, “There are few family-owned businesses that have been in town for 100 years. We know it’s hard work and farming is tough. We all love Thompson’s Orchard.

Selectperson Lenora Conger, presenting a certificate from selectmen, said, “The farm has a lot of meaning for a lot of people. It’s been a home haven for a lot of children.

Now is the seasonal apple picking time for the public who harvest most of the apple crop annually for the Thompsons.

Mike Thompson, who oversees most of the farm’s operation, talked about the legacy started when his grandfather Arthur Elisha Thompson purchased the farm in 1906. “He was a very smart man, on the leading edge of knowing how to get the most mileage out of an acre of land.”

In the early 1900s his great-grandfather raised 20,000 bushels of apples and sold the crop for $9,000. Arthur E. Thompson was known and honored for his award-winning crops.

“Nine thousand dollars now doesn’t cover anything now, but back then it was a lot of money,” said Thompson, a fourth-generation family member to run the orchard farm.

His great-grandfather was remembered for owning several farms with diverse offerings in the area. He raised cattle, ran a sawmill, grew apples, strawberries and blueberries.

Apples were packed in barrels and shipped to England.

Thompson said apple farming is difficult today due to competition from China where 75 percent of the world’s apples are grown.

In 1968, Herbert Thompson Jr. took over the farm operation from his grandfather.

“My father said that’s fun, he said, “that’s a job you can enjoy with a struggle.”

The Thompson family remember several ventures tested on the farm from a train on the property, selling apple baskets, donuts, cider, crafts, food and offering cross country skiing and more recently hosting bluegrass festivals in June.

“We’re still looking for diversity,” said Thompson. “Next year, we’re talking about a folk festival.”

The effort to sustain a productive crop of a variety of apples is challenging. Roughly 300 trees were destroyed by an extremely cold winter three years ago. Last winter, 25 trees were lost.

However, 500 new trees have been planted in a new pasture. And, the Thompsons are raising peaches.

The old wooden apple press with pulleys and belts slapping is history. In the technology of choice to make cider now plastic and stainless steel rule.

“We used to add 3/4 pound of beets to a 50 gallon tank of cider to add color, but now can’t. Beets, a root crop, could introduce bacteria, for example E. coli to the cider,” said Thompson.

Two hundred McIntosh apple trees have also been planted to bring the total tree crop to 2,100.

Two full-time pickers work for the farm, and the rest of the crop is harvested by the public.

January marks pruning time when the trees are dormant. When the buds swell, the trees are sprayed twice per week until by the end of June every 10 days to two weeks. “Scab is the worst enemy in the spring. Trees must be sprayed before a rain and immediately after.

Thompson said he sprays a two and one half mile row in five to six hours, then goes to work as a machine mechanic every day.

Bees are brought in to pollinate the apple blossoms. “This spring we got very, very lucky. The bees did the job and we have a good crop of McIntosh apples. Eight hives of bees or 80,000 bees per hive did the job.

Thompson hopes to bring back old apple species to add to Red Delicious, Cortlands, McIntosh, Wealthy, Northern Spies and Baldwins and Duchess.