Apple-picking time at Minnetonka Orchard is a rite of autumn for families looking forward to a weekend getaway from the 2.5 million residents who live and work nearby in Minnesota's Twin Cities. "Young families are our target market," says Lowell Schaper. "One of our biggest perks is watching families having fun here. People love to pick their own apples." Agriculture isn't what Lowell had in mind when he was growing up on a northwest Iowa farm. After living and working on the West Coast for severalyears, he and his wife, Phyllis, and their family of five settled near Minnetrista, 20 miles west of the Twin Cities in 1974. A short-lived experiment with vegetables led to planting 600 apple trees on 40 acres. For a few years, customers bought bagged apples at a lean-to fruit stand next to the road, and they left their cash in a coffee can.
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