A Fruitful Enterprise: Murphy Orchards

David Murphy and his wife, Paula, started the original orchard in 1981 at Marionville, where today they grow apples, peaches, nectarines and grapes on 83 acres. David Murphy said he expects to pick about 15,000 bushels this year.

The Murphys sell retail at the orchard and at the Greater Springfield Farmers’ Market at Battlefield Mall. They also sell wholesale to Smillie’s and Murfin’s supermarkets.

“We also ship a lot of cider to fruit stands in Missouri and Arkansas,” David Murphy says. “We have a modern cider facility that’s (federally) inspected. I can think of only two or three orchards in the state that can sell at grocery stores. We do between 15 and 20 thousand gallons a year.”

Dawna Cape, the Murphys’ daughter, and her husband, Shannon, operate the Seymour orchard under Cape Farms LLC.

Dawna Cape represents the third generation of her family in the orchard business; her maternal grandparents, Bud and Alma Head, owned the Head Orchard at Seymour for more than 40 years. At age 80, Bud Head is still active in the family business. “He still goes to the farmers’ market in Springfield every Tuesday and Thursday,” Dawna Cape says.

For the fun of it

The Capes, who each have master’s degrees in business, gave up professions to go into the orchard business. “We were in the information technology industry,” says Shannon Cape. “I was a project manager and Dawna a systems analyst. We thought (the orchard business) would be fun to do and would be good for the boys,” referring to sons Ryan, 8, and Travis, 4.

Paula Murphy adds, “We’re extremely busy. It gets difficult to keep up at times, especially when the peaches start overlapping with the apples … but we like growing things and being outdoors.”

The Capes grow about 8,000 bushels of apples, 4,000 bushels of peaches and 200 bushels of grapes on 60 acres in Seymour. They sell retail at the orchard and on Fridays at the Marshfield Farmers’ Market and plan to take part in the newly reopened and renamed C-Street Market on Commercial Street in Springfield, which is open 7 a.m.–2 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays and 4–8 p.m. Fridays. The Capes also sell wholesale to Murfin’s supermarkets and produce cider for sale at the orchard.

The Capes and the Murphys will be the centerpiece growers at upcoming apple festivals in their respective communities: the Seymour Apple Festival Sept. 7–9 and the Marionville Applefest Sept. 29–30. Both events feature fresh apples and apple products, special contests, live entertainment, crafts and food.

Both businesses also sell fresh-baked breads, pies, cobblers and assorted items at the orchards. “Our specialties are apple dumplings and peach dumplings,” Paula Murphy says.

At Marionville, they also sell “a lot of jellies, sorghum, melons, grape juice, pickled beets, piccalilli and corn relish,” David Murphy adds. “We have a little gift section relating to farms.”

Shannon Cape says that besides fresh-baked goods, the Seymour orchard’s Apple House Bakery sells “everything from apple peelers to crafts and gifts. We also have cider slushes – we freeze our apple cider in a slush machine.”

Both businesses offer tours of the orchards and their processing plants by reservation. “They’re mainly for schoolchildren,” says Dawna Cape. “They can see our grading equipment and cooler and different things.”

The Seymour orchard also hosts a U-Pick period from mid-September through mid-October when, according to Shannon Cape, visitors can save about half the retail cost of apples by picking their own.

Murphy Orchards

Founded: 1981

Owners: David and Paula Murphy,

Marionville; Shannon and Dawna Cape, Seymour

Address: 255 N. U.S. Hwy. 60, Marionville, MO 65705; 17135 U.S, Hwy. 60, Seymour MO 65746

Phone: Marionville (417) 258-2353; Seymour (417) 935-2270

Fax: same

Web site: www.murphyorchard.com

Products: Growing and selling apples, peaches, nectarines and grapes; selling vegetables and berries and miscellaneous goods

Employees: 20 in Marionville; 12 in Seymour

Grower David Murphy ...

On apples: “We pick them, wash and brush them. We don’t use any dye or wax, so they won’t be as shiny as some you get out of Washington. .... Get a Washington apple, cut it open, and see if there’s any pink from the skin in to the meat. If there is, it’s been dyed. The flavor’s never as good as what you can buy in a Missouri apple.”

On the apple harvest: “We have apples every day from mid-August till we close in November or December. We sell about 20 varieties. Jonathan is the most popular. Fujis are pretty popular, and we sell a lot of Goldens, Galas and Jonagolds.”

On peaches: “We pick ‘em ripe. It’s just like a tomato – if you pick it ripe on the tree, it’s sweet; if you pick it unripe, it will never be as sweet.”

On this year’s growing season: “It’s been hot and we drip-irrigate everything. We have four wells running all the time. The quality of the fruit is excellent – the size about average.”[[In-content Ad]]