Together With

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- Landon Huslig

Together with Somewhere Fest

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Meadowlark Farm Orchard & Cidery

If you go out east of Wichita, past the native flower in bloom (traffic cones) you’ll find construction Andover.

If you go a little further east and a bit south, you’ll find Meadowlark Farm Orchard & Cidery.

About 30 minutes from Wichita (~22 min from east side Walmart for reference), you can pick strawberries in May, peaches in the summer, apples into the fall and pumpkins straight off the vine in October.

You can also grab a hard cider, play disc golf, catch live music or simply spend an afternoon hanging out on the farm.

But the story behind Meadowlark might be just as interesting as everything there is to do there.

I recently sat down with founder Tom Brown on the Wichita Life Podcast to talk about how nearly 20 years working in agriculture in Pakistan and Afghanistan eventually led him to plant thousands of fruit trees outside Rose Hill.

🎧 Listen: Spotify | Apple Podcasts
📺 Watch: YouTube

Here's the story, plus everything you need to know before visiting.

From Afghanistan to an Orchard Outside Rose Hill

Tom grew up in Overland Park and met his wife, Gina, at Kansas State. The two eventually spent nearly 20 years living and working primarily in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Tom managed agricultural projects funded by organizations including USAID, the World Bank and United Nations.

When the family began transitioning back to Kansas, Tom had an unusual problem: his résumé was great for running agricultural development projects overseas, but those jobs weren't exactly plentiful in Wichita.

So he started looking at what he could build himself.

Kansas orchard growers encouraged him to grow peaches and build a pick-your-own orchard. Tom then did some informal market research, asking hundreds of women around Wichita what locally grown fruit they'd pay a premium for.

The answer kept coming back: peaches.

When looking for land, Tom and Gina literally drew a 30-minute radius around Wichita.

The reasoning was surprisingly practical. Families with young kids probably weren't going to drive much farther than that to pick fruit, especially when bathroom breaks start becoming a factor.

They found land east of Rose Hill and planted thousands of trees in the spring of 2011.

Then Kansas stopped raining.

For about six weeks, temperatures climbed above 100 degrees nearly every day and roughly half of their newly planted trees died.

They replanted, improved irrigation and kept going.

By 2014, Meadowlark finally had peaches to sell.

From Peaches to Apples, Strawberries and Pumpkins

Peaches may have started Meadowlark, but customers helped shape what came next.

Tom would find families in the orchard and ask what they wanted.

One answer kept coming up: apples.

Apple season is cooler, kids aren't melting in the Kansas summer heat and families wanted another reason to return after peach season.

Meadowlark planted more apples, and Tom now believes apples have probably overtaken peaches as part of the overall business.

Today, the farm grows more than 30 apple varieties, plus strawberries, peaches and pumpkins.

That creates four distinct pick-your-own seasons and a reason to visit Meadowlark several times a year.

From Tree to Glass

The apples also opened up another part of the business: hard cider.

This story actually goes back to Tom's time overseas.

While living in predominantly Muslim countries where alcohol wasn't readily available, he learned to make his own and eventually learned hard cider-making from British expatriates.

When Meadowlark's apple trees started producing, cider seemed like a natural fit.

They began the process around 2015 and launched the cidery in 2016, making 2026 its 10th anniversary.

Meadowlark describes itself as an estate cidery and calls its process "Tree to Glass." The farm grows apples, crushes them and turns the juice into cider on site. In years when Kansas weather reduces its own apple crop, Meadowlark can supplement with apples from other Kansas orchards.

At the farm, you'll typically find eight ciders on tap, plus bottled cider and non-alcoholic drinks including house-made root beer and ginger beer. In the fall, they also press fresh sweet cider.

Learn more about Meadowlark's hard cider. It’s delicious and I’m guilty of hitting both the downtown and Andover farmer’s markets to grab some the last couple of weekends.

When Should You Visit Meadowlark?

This is probably the most important thing to know:

There isn't one Meadowlark season. And you shouldn’t just come for the fruit. It’s also just a great place to hang out, but also… fresh fruit.

🍓 May: Strawberries

Strawberries are the first pick-your-own crop of the year, generally arriving around mid-May and lasting through the end of the month.

They're also surprisingly popular.

Tom told me strawberries may generate more phone calls than any other crop. Winter is over, school is wrapping up and families are looking for something to do.

Plus, as Tom pointed out, there are apparently a lot of little girls with strawberry dresses that need to be photographed in an actual strawberry patch.

Best time: Mid-to-late May.

🍑 Late June-August: Peaches

Peaches are where Meadowlark began.

The first cling peaches typically arrive near the end of June, followed by freestone varieties throughout July and August.

If you want the classic Meadowlark experience, July into early August is probably your best bet.

Just remember: you're picking peaches in Kansas in July. It can get hot.

Tom told me about watching customers happily pick peaches when temperatures were around 105 degrees.

Best time: July and early August.

🍎 July-October: Apples

The first apples can arrive in July, but the season really ramps up in August and peaks in September and October.

With more than 30 varieties, what's available changes throughout the fall.

September may also be the best all-around time to visit Meadowlark. You get cooler weather, plenty of apples and the cidery all at once.

Best time: September and October.

🎃 October: Pumpkins

October brings the pumpkin patch.

And this is truly pick-your-own. You walk into the patch, find your pumpkin and cut it directly off the vine.

Tom joked during our conversation about the absurdity of handing customers a jagged knife and sending them into a pumpkin patch, but that's part of the fun.

Pumpkins also bring plenty of first-time visitors. Tom says they're the farm's strongest crop on a per-acre basis, and many pumpkin visitors return the following year for peaches or apples.

October can also mean late-season apples, fresh-pressed cider and apple cider donuts.

Best time: October.

Strawberry Jam → Peach Jam → Apple Jam → Pumpkin Jam

The growing seasons also inspire Meadowlark's biggest events.

Each year, the farm hosts four seasonal live-music events:

Strawberry Jam → Peach Jam → Apple Jam (just missed this one last week) → Pumpkin Jam

The idea actually came from one of the realities of farming.

Sometimes a freeze or bad weather means Meadowlark doesn't have much of a particular crop. The Jams give people a reason to come out anyway, hear live music, eat seasonal food and remember to return when the crop does come back.

See Meadowlark's upcoming events.

There's More Than Fruit

Meadowlark covers roughly 80 acres, with about half devoted to crops and the rest including pasture, native grasses, ponds, creek beds and other natural areas.

That has allowed it to slowly become much more than an orchard.

There's a nine-hole family-friendly disc golf course, picnic areas, yard and board games, goats, a playground and plenty of room to walk around.

You can bring a picnic, grab a cider and spend an afternoon without picking anything.

Tom has even noticed that Sunday afternoons have become unofficial date afternoons. Couples come out for a walk, a drink or a game.

Meadowlark also offers school field trips and educational experiences. Tom describes the farm as a "learning-dense environment," where kids can learn about everything from fruit trees and insects to grafting and agriculture.

Don't Skip the Farm Store

Meadowlark turns plenty of what it grows into products you can take home.

That includes jams, apple butter, salsa, cider vinegar, mustard and seasonal baked goods, along with hard cider and non-alcoholic drinks.

You'll also find products from other local farms including eggs, cheese, honey and produce.

And in the fall: fresh-pressed sweet cider and apple cider donuts.

The Meadowlark Calendar

If you're going once with young kids, I'd probably pick October.

If you're going for the fruit, go in July for peaches.

If you want the orchard + cidery experience, September might be the sweet spot.

But the best answer is probably to visit more than once and hit all of the seasons

A Farm Built Around Its Customers

Toward the end of our conversation, Tom kept coming back to something that clearly means a lot to him: the people who visit Meadowlark.

He talked about families picking fruit in 100-degree heat without complaining, customers offering ideas that changed what Meadowlark grew and parents voluntarily offering to pay for a peach their child took one bite out of and dropped.

Tom summed it up simply: "That's Wichita."

What started as a peach orchard has evolved into strawberries, peaches, more than 30 varieties of apples, pumpkins, hard cider, live music, field trips, disc golf and a place families can return to throughout the year.

And Meadowlark still seems to be evolving.

Plan Your Visit

📍 Meadowlark Farm Orchard & Cidery
11249 SW 160th St., Rose Hill, KS

🕙 Open Wednesday-Sunday year-round. Check current hours and crop availability before making the drive.

👉 Meadowlark Farm

Hear the Full Story

My conversation with Tom goes much deeper into his years overseas, the early days of the farm, surviving Kansas weather, cider making and where Meadowlark goes from here.

🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts
📺 Watch on YouTube

What do you want to see us go deep on in a future deep dive?

Let us know!