About Us
Our farm story is not the usual one. We are not a “3rd generation farm” or “a farm family that goes way back”. We didn’t grow up working on a farm or ever even think we would be farmers. But sometimes (well, many times) life has a way of changing your course, and that is exactly what happened to us.
Our Story Begins
Growing up on Long Island in NY, our early childhood was an ordinary one. We had a dad that owned his own business and a mom that stayed at home and lovingly took care of us. Things were fine until they weren’t, and our parents divorced. Our mom, Virginia, took us to live at our grandparents and our dad went to Texas, where he had family.
As is usual with many divorces, parents fight over the kids. So I, at age 10, ended up in Texas with our dad, and Todd, age 7, stayed with our mom in NY. Todd & I saw each other every Christmas and summer, but basically grew up as only children.
Years later, Todd & Mom moved to NC, and I, now in college, decided to move there too! The 3 of us were back together and we had a lot of fun making up for lost time.
Where the Farmer comes in…
The late 80’s and early 90’s brought about so many life moments. A chance meeting would introduce our mother—the proper, outgoing, hot tea-sipping northern lady to our stepdad, Markie Holt—the quiet, southern, truck-driving, sweet tea-drinking Vietnam veteran that was planning to have an apple farm. Church bells rang, apple trees were planted, and things were great! But, not for long. During the next year, our grandmother & grandfather passed away and our mother, at 46, was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. It took some time, but thankfully our mother survived and was back to helping our stepdad on the farm and helping me plan my wedding.
In 2001, our stepdad, who unfortunately had heart problems from an early age, had his second bypass surgery at age 56. Being one of the strongest men we’ve ever known, he pulled through and was back to work before the doctors even gave him the ok. He also got to see his only grandchild born.
The next few years were focused on growing apples, traveling a bit, eating out, and having family fun. But, the good times were not long lived. Mom’s cancer returned and Markie started taking nitroglycerin pills for chest pain daily. Surgery and medication put our mom in remission again and Markie was told he would need a 3rd bypass surgery (which not many doctors performed and even less patients survived). He decided to wait until the fall apple season was over to have his surgery. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be and he had a heart attack in VA while hauling a load of his apples.
Since apples were still being harvested, Todd, who had helped around the farm for years, finished out the season and saved the farm. Our mom asked if he would continue to run the farm and if I would help her with the books so she wouldn’t have to sell the land. Not knowing what we were doing, we said YES!
The Future of Holt Orchards
Four years passed with us doing our best to learn about an industry we knew nothing about. Like anything, it looked easy from the outside! We were working well together and thinking of new ways to grow the business. Then, routine bloodwork showed that our mother’s cancer had spread. Overnight, our focus turned to her and we spent the next 7 months taking care of her until she passed away.
I think we were both just going through the motions the first year or two and have no idea how the farm survived. We didn’t even know if we wanted it to survive, but opening a Christmas card helped us make our decision. The card was from a fellow soldier that our stepdad fought with in Vietnam. He told us he remembered Markie saying that if he made it home alive, all he wanted was a family and an apple farm. Since he ended up with both many years later, we decided to honor Markie & Virginia Holt by keeping the farm that they worked so tirelessly to have.
