About Us
Earl and Merna Hiller
Garden Patch Farms and Orchard is a highly productive, working farm owned by Earl and Merna Hiller. It is located in Homer Glen, outside Chicago and surrounded now by subdivisions, but it's uniqueness and call back to the past has made it a favorite tourist attraction to thousands.
Visitors find more than 4,000 apple trees, plus pears, peaches, strawberries, bush berries, and all sorts of vegetables. In the fall, the farm has literally tons of golden pumpkins, beautiful mums, and fun family activities.
Visitors love to come for the fun and family outing, not to mention the healthy and delicious locally grown fruits and vegetables they take back home.
But let's start the story at the beginning...
Garden Patch Farms and Orchard came into being in 1936, when Earl Hiller's parents, Henry and Glenora Hiller, bought 80 acres of land in an auction for $3,600.
They moved to the land in 1938, and raised three sons, Henry, LaVerne, and Earl, in a two-story farm house that had no electric or gas for cooking, heating, or lighting, and no plumbing. They farmed the land for corn and grain with a team of horses.
That house burned down in 1954, and for seven years, Earl's parents put plywood on the barn floor, and lived in the center of the barn.
Earl found and fell in love with Merna, and they were married. When his father passed away, each of the brothers inherited one-third of the property, and Earl officially took over the farm in 1985, a year before his mother died. His first decisive move came about when he attended the fruit growers conference in Michigan, and returned home having ordered 1,000 apple trees. The family thought he was crazy.
In 2003, LaVerne and Henry sold their land for subdivisions and retired, but not Earl. In an interview about that time, Earl told a reporter, "...my father lived here until he was 86 years old. If I'm so fortunate to live that long, I'll be here too. It keeps your mind active, trying to figure out what to do next."
In the winter of 2007, the machine shed was converted and hand crafted into what is now the Farm Market. In the spring of 2008, the "new" Farm Market become the home of a bounty of harvest from Garden Patch fields. Also, multitudes of "deco" roosters began filling the shelves amongst the jams and jellies and giftware.
Today
Gary Hiller
Earl and Merna have five children, Gary Hiller, Sherry Marc, Lori Ndoca, Patti Schulz, and Bonnie White. Though they're all married, Gary has helped his father and mother grow the business and now enjoys beginning the season in January sowing seed and propagating plants. Gary oversees the growing of the annuals, perennials and vegetable plants both for retail and for the field. Many vegetables will be available to U-Pick during the summer months.
Sherry has joined the family business and spends the early months in the greenhouses designing combination baskets, transplanting, then preparing the retail greenhouse area and the market area for spring business.
Lori Ndoca
Sherry along with sister, Lori, who helps part-time weekends in the spring and fall are very knowledgeable about the annuals and perennials that are grown here. Sherry supervises the Farm Market during the summer and fall months showing off the tasty fresh prduce grown on the family farm and explaining "what's picking" for the customer throughout the U-Pick season. During the summer several 4th generation grandchildren can be found helping out where ever they are needed.
Guests quickly learn that even though he is always busy, Earl is eager to visit with those interested in learning about the trees and plants, and he encourages his guests to try growing their own. We consider our customers to be guests in our home, and we love sharing with you and answering any questions you have about the plants or the food preparation.
Not long after, around the first of June, our U-Pick season begins with sweet, juicy red strawberries. Apples may be ready as early as late July, and their season continues to the end of December, so our U-Pick season runs from about June 1 to October 31!
Fall is pumpkin time, along with fall decorations of Indian corn, gourds, beautiful mums, corn stalks and straw. Gary hustles full time to keep the preservative-free, fresh homemade apple cider available for all our fall guests.
The chickens are always on hand and hungry, and we keep an endless supply of corn available for the children to offer them. Kids also enjoy visiting our bunny village.
And by the end of the growing season, it is time for maintenance of the farm buildings, a little rest, and then time to plan the next season. "How can we delight our visitors again next year?"
We can think of nowhere better to see and enjoy the cycle of life.
We hope you will come visit us often... we invite you, and your family, to come visit your roots, down on the farm.
Earl and Merna Hiller
Garden Patch Farms & Orchards