By Tom Interval
Staff Writer
Driving toward Pine Township, by way of Brandt School Road, there’s a place reminiscent of another time.
A time before shopping malls, video games and television—a time that encouraged friendly conversations between strangers.
The place? Kaelin’s Farm Market.
The market, a renovated 100-year-old barn, stands beside a large gravel and dirt parking lot close to the road. It’s not unusual to see an old tractor parked there.
The outside of the barn wears an old coat of chipped-red paint. To the left of the barn are greenhouses. The right side of the barn houses an ice-cream stand. The Kaelin’s farm stretches far behind the market itself.
Upon entering the ground level of the old three-story building, a wooden floor creaks beneath you. Above, hardwood beams are fixed to a high ceiling. The smell of apple dumplings, cinnamon, maple, cedar wood and fresh air permeates the air.
Wooden shelves that line the walls contain fruits and vegetables. Other shelves and displays contain chocolate-chip cookies, thumbprint cookies and “Strawberry Jelly Delights.” Apple, strawberry and apricot preserves line one wall of an adjoining room.
The space not occupied by food is taken up with crafts.
The upper and lower floors contain nothing but crafts made by 350 local artists. One may buy quilts, wooden teddy bears, bowling-pin-shaped dolls, wooden trucks, wreaths, decorative abacuses, vine baskets and more.
Ellen and Don Kaelin have owned and operated the farm market since 1959, the year they were married.
“I could talk for hours about this place,” says Mrs. Kaelin. “My husband’s family bought the [65-acre] farm in 1946. My husband was just 14 years old.”
Kaelin, 56, has warm brown eyes and a friendly voice. Her gray-brown hair frames a round, endearing face. She has a perpetual, yet sincere, smile; and, no matter how busy she is, she makes time for customers, whether giving advice on planing a certain flower, sharing an anecdote or talking about the history of the market.
“My husband’s family used to have a little step stool outside that they sold things off of,” says Kaelin. “They had a little sign out front, ‘Strawberries for Sale.’ When we first started, we used to draw a hay wagon out front, and we’d have plants in it, and a little change box for people to pay for the plants. It was an honor system.” She pauses. “Those days are long gone.”
Don Kaelin is different from his wife.
The gray-haired Mr. Kaelin, of medium stature, looks physically strong. He’s the archetypal American farmer: Worn, mud-filled blue jeans and untucked light-blue denim shirt. His demeanor is direct. He’s the proverbial “street smart” individual.
Though Kaelin enjoys working in his eight greenhouses, he’s involved with other work.
“I have another job,” he says. I sell food-processing equipment to the dairy and beverage industries, so I divide my time here and there.
“This is my play. My other job is my work.”
Kaelin enjoys giving visitors brief tours of the greenhouses. The soft breeze from overhead fans tickles the petals of colorful flowers and plants: Impatiens, begonias, violets, geraniums, salvia, rhubarb, asparagus, strawberry plants, blueberry plants spider plants and more.
Kaelin doesn’t let the bright colors and sweet buttery fragrances of the greenhouses divert his attention away from work. He has to work hard. Soergel’s Orchards, a competitor, is less than two miles from the farm market. Kaelin doesn’t seem to mind, though.
“We might help each other out,” Kaelin says while referring to Soergel’s. “I’m sure their racket is as tough as ours. It’s not an easy job. It’s a way of life.”
Kaelin’s Farm Market is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. After Easter, hours will be extended to 8 p.m., effective through summer and fall.
For more information, call 935-6780.
