Planting a Legacy: Levering Orchard

Levering Orchard clings timelessly to its mountainside home. Driving in, you start descending on switchbacked pavement, eventually find gravel, go a little further, and only then you’ll know that you’ve arrived.

Located in Ararat, Virginia, Levering Orchard is about as picture-perfect as you can get. Boasting 52 acres, around 2,000 trees, as well as an “Orchard Theatre” with summertime performances, this orchard is exciting around every turn.

Frank Levering, the orchard’s current steward and owner, is the 3rd of his generation in the orchard business. Growing up on the property, he left for a time and returned to it in 1985.

Frank has the calm demeanor of a man who knows his craft inside and out. In addition to fruit, he’s also an accomplished screenwriter and author of 9 books. A true renaissance man, making a life on a mountain that always takes your breath away.

Levering Orchard produces cherries, apples, peaches, plums, and pears. The orchard itself is reminiscent of a vineyard: organized slopes, lots of sunshine, and a beauty that can’t be matched.

Borrowing a term from the wine world, we think of terroir: “the complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, and climate.”

Much like when grapes are grown, it’s easy to see why fruit grown at Levering Orchard might take on a uniqueness that you just don’t find elsewhere. Overlooking a gigantic valley, southward towards North Carolina, this orchard is situated in a place that isn’t like many others.

Changing weather, constant breezes, and steep terrain gives this place a life of its own. The fruit, whether it’s picked straight from a branch or delivered to you at the market, just tastes like it should. The cherries are sweet and bold and the apples are crisp and perfect.

Want to try some fruit?

You’ll find Frank or a member of his staff at their booth most Saturdays in Blacksburg. With the same calmness and easygoing attitude that Frank has at the orchard, he’s happy to answer questions and showcase all the season’s bounty.

And the best part of an orchard, he says? It’s a limited season! When the trees are dormant and fruit isn’t coming into peak ripeness at breakneck speeds, Frank spends much of his year in Los Angeles with his girlfriend, Beth. That’s a whole other tale, though.

Visit Frank at the market or at his Orchard in Ararat. Visit the website for information on performances, picking schedules, and lots of other news!