Under Read and Malah’s direction, the family orchard continued producing commercial apples for large distribution cooperatives of the Northeast using IPM methods.

Around 1994 the high crop yield and low spray input records of the orchard caught the attention of Chinese officials, who were interested in Vermont orchards due to similarities between our two climates. Read was subsequently hired by ambassadors to tour the Chinese countryside and advise on modern apple growing methods as China sought to increase yields after its industrial boom.

As it happened, the learning was a two-way street.  

Besides being a rich cultural experience, seeing the unrefined methods and inputs employed by the Chinese growers inspired Read to rethink the conventional wisdom he was raised with, and to view the chemically-based practices on his own farm in a new light.

He decided to try growing practices that were traditional to Vermont before the American agricultural chemical revolution, such as using naturally-occurring elements to raise the orchard pH to prevent disease.

This led to full organic certification in 1996. As organic orchard management at commercial scale was virtually unheard of at the time, gaining the organic stamp actually involved working with state certifiers to encode what methods and materials were allowed in organic apple production.

Gladys Braley Miller

His wife Gladys (Braley) (1933-2013) is similarly remembered for her community service in many roles, including Secretary of Vermont Farm Bureau, chair of Dummerston Community Chest, and church deacon. Gladys’ farm hospitality was celebrated; she was always welcoming visitors, exchange students, and family to the farm. She was renowned for her pie-making, as she was heavily involved in the church’s annual Apple Pie Festival as well as in selling countless pies at the local farmers’ market over the years.

Besides Read, Dwight and Gladys’ other children Susan Miller, Catherine Miller, and Jennifer Palmer have all been involved with the farm business at certain points, as have grandchildren Ruth and Martha (siblings to Will).

Architecture

The original family homestead at the crest of what is now Miller Road included a cape house and an original barn (c. 1792) built by Vespasian Miller before the Revolution.

Vespasian’s grandson Joseph Jr. (Dwight Jr’s great grandfather) updated the barn in the mid-1800s and built a second, a gable banked barn some time in the late 1800s, pictured (the new barn’s weather vane was newsworthy enough to be the subject of letters between local residents).

Early crops

The early crops on the Miller farm were onions and carrots. Maple was the earliest crop consistently produced to this day (in the form of solid sugar in the early days and syrup now).

In 1884, Joseph Jr. was a local pioneer in orcharding with 100 apple trees.

In 1895, peaches were planted. (These peaches won awards!) Joseph Jr.’s son J. Arms Miller planted strawberries in the late 1800s and also sold steers in addition to fruit under the name “Maple Ridge Fruit Farm”.

J. Arms’ son Dwight had a dairy, selling cream, as at that time the transport of liquid milk was challenging. Dwight Miller sold the dairy cows in the 1920s to make more land available for apple trees, which he had first started planting between 1914 and 1917.

The apple and peach harvests continue to this day, as does maple sugaring.