Our Blackduck family has been growing fruit in the Finger Lakes region of New York for over two decades.  We have sold fresh fruit using organic standards through farmer’s markets, restaurants, natural groceries and our farm stand while patiently waiting to bring Blackduck to fruition.  Patiently would clearly be an exaggeration of our dispositions.  We have finally arrived at the place we envisioned many moons ago.  It was a hard dirty slog, but it was all worth it and we hope you agree!

Please visit our cider friends around the FLX. Growing fruit in one of the best orchard regions in the country has all produced many top notch cider producers.  FLX Cider Trail

Shannon fell in love with a man 30 years ago who had fallen in love with plants. After a decade of learning and roaming the Finger Lakes for wild pear and apple trees, John and Shannon planted their first orchard in early 2000’s on three acres of land in Ovid, NY. A hard-working, border collie type, Shannon keeps up on the daily grunt tasks and paperwork, duck and child wrangling, and experimenting with uses of small fruit and herbs. Her greatest pride is the challenge it has been to be first generation orchardists growing, harvesting, processing our own fruit into cider and vinegar among a sea of businesses selling a story, not cider.

John is the orchard guy, cider-maker and clown at Blackduck.  He’s performed various working class jobs early in life including cabinet making, construction and working on various fruit farms in many capacities.  A laugh at your expense or occasionally at his own, makes the world a brighter place.  If you want to hear a 3 hour lecture on some aspect of fruit (or several other topics he claims expertise), he’s your guy.   Although he’s obsessed with fruit and cider, his two red headed girls are the apples of his eye!

Idunn is the oldest of the spawn at Blackduck.  She has quickly become the number one fruit tester and critic.  If anyone could be the healthy testament to consuming raw apple cider vinegar, it would be Idunn.   When not planning her future in ???, she looks after her sister, romps in the orchard and plots the take over of the cidery when her parents are to old and decrepit to stop her.

Pippin is the youngest member of the team.  She started off with the same defiant attitude as the rest of the clan by stealing her sister’s red hair.  Her appetite for fruit is unmatched and insatiable.  She currently spends most of her time developing skills of disguise while waiting to implement the plan of conquest with her big sister.

Vanessa Varjian is a great artist and just happened to work with us and helped create Blackduck in the orchard and cider house for 6 seasons.  She’s emeritus now, but please check out her personal artist page to support her and maybe buy a piece to help a hungry artist!

“Dry Cider, Bottle Conditioned”   9″x12″ Acrylic on watercolor paper

Shannon, John, Idunn and Pippin give mad thanks to all our peeps, who were always there to lend a hand!