Dr. Dwain Merickel first planted apple trees in 1970 at his familys farm in the southern Minnesota hill country. Dr. Merickel was a dentist in Mankato who grew up on a farm near Mapleton, and he never lost that farm boy interest in watching things grow. He chose apples, and over the years, his orchard grew into a retirement project with a few hundred trees, and then into a business in the 1990s. Grandsons in the area grew up helping and learning from Dwain, and the oldest grandson has been managing the orchard for the last several years. Irish Mountain Orchard now is about 30 acres and thousands of trees and transitioned to a u-pick orchard in 2022. They also have about 120 pear trees, and the pears have been a huge success. Varieties are Nova and Parker, and people absolutely love them. They also sell prebagged apples and pears at the farm stand in the orchard for those who dont want to pick their own. Families are the Orchards biggest supporters, and many stop out with their kids. Its fun to watch the kids have the experience of picking their own fruit and eating it straight from the tree. Most of them are thrilled and come back chewing on apples with big smiles on their faces. They also really enjoy the space to run around and the photo ops; climbing on straw bales is one of their favorites. Many parents have commented on what a neat experience this is for the kids and return year after year; many of those kids are now enjoying the orchard with their own children. Original apple varieties planted included Fireside/Connel Red, Regent, Haralson, and Sweet 16, with Haralson still grown today. When Honeycrisp apples were released from the University of Minnesota in 1991, this was one of the first orchards in Minnesota to plant them. Since the first few trees began to bear fruit, Irish Mountain Orchards commitment to Honeycrisp has grown to include thousands of trees, and customers love them! Zestar! trees were planted on a large scale during the 2000s, and along with Honeycrisp, served as the primary apple in the orchard expansion project. Many people who love Honeycrisp, but want apples sooner in the season, choose Zestar for their apple fix in late summer. Chestnut crabapples are also becoming a favorite; they were originally planted as pollinators but are prized now for their sweet flavor and perfect size for snacking.