In Ellijay, Georgia, fourth-generation farmer Joshua Aaron is carrying more than 80 years of family history into the future at Aaron Family Orchards. We explore the old apple house, Ellijay’s close-knit orchard community, new high-density apple plantings, and Joshua’s plans to keep a North Georgia farming tradition growing for another generation.

Apples from Aaron Family Orchards

Credit: AaronFamilyOrchards.com

 

Along Highway 52 east of Ellijay, apple orchards have helped shape the landscape and the community for generations. At Aaron Family Orchards, Joshua Aaron is continuing a family agricultural tradition that reaches back more than 80 years. He takes us through the original apple house, where old photographs, family artifacts, and even stains left by decades of apple production preserve pieces of the farm’s history. 

That history also reveals how farming in Southern Appalachia required families to diversify and depend on one another. Joshua describes a farm that once combined apples, cattle, and poultry, with each part supporting the others. He also explains why the orchards along Highway 52 work together, sharing knowledge, planting help, and even apple varieties. It is a cooperative spirit summed up by Joshua’s belief that what benefits another orchard can benefit the entire community.  

Aaron Family Orchards is also looking ahead. Thousands of smaller apple trees planted on a trellis system represent the vision for a future you-pick operation, while livestock and a petting area bring some of the farm’s former diversity back to the property. Joshua Aaron's goals include expanding the orchard and continuing to develop the farm as a destination rooted in Ellijay, North Georgia, and Southern Appalachia. The result is a story about agricultural inheritance that is not frozen in the past. At Aaron Family Orchards, preserving a legacy means allowing it to keep growing.

 

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