Westward Orchards has been family owned and operated for four generations. Located on 275 acres of fertile soil in the Nashoba Valley, the orchards produce peaches, pears, plums, apples, and quince, as well as blueberries, strawberries, and seasonal vegetables. 125 acres of the farm are preserved as permanent agricultural land.

The orchards sell fruit and more from a turn-of-the-century dairy barn on Harvard’s Mass Ave. Pick your own blueberries, apples, pumpkins, and a CSA program are the farm’s main drivers of business, but fans eagerly await Westward’s cider donuts each year as a sign of autumn.

Westward Orchards was first founded in 1919 by ​​Ernst Hermann, the dean of the Sargent School at Boston University. Though Hermann originally intended the property as a summer retreat, his son Bill Hermann, turned it into a business that was passed down through the generations. In 1970, Bill opened a farm store on the property and began selling goods directly to the public.

More than 50 years later, siblings Stephanie Waite and Chris Green are carrying on Hermann’s orchards with help from their parents, Karen and Don Green, and their aunt Gail Conlin. They still maintain many of the original plantings, including an apple variety named the “Hermann Mac” for Bill Hermann.

Photo: facebook.com/westwardorchards
Sources: wickedlocal.com, westwardorchards.com, cfgrower.com