The Continuing Story of Art Rogers

Art Rogers was one of those hardy orchardists. From 1920 to 1958, he worked for other orchardists doing whatever jobs were assigned to him. He enjoyed the orchard life so much that he saved his money, and in 1958 he bought 13 acres (5.3 hectares) of land in East Kelowna. He planted 6 ½ acres (2.6 hectares) in apples and left 6 ½ acres in pasture.

Over the next 40 years, on his own acreage, Art was involved in all aspects of apple growing: planting, pruning, picking, spraying, and packing. Art and his wife, Laurie, did most of the work on the orchard themselves. Art would do the pruning and spraying, and both of them would do the picking. They grew several varieties of apples, like Spartan, McIntosh, Fuji, Gala, and Jonigold. Since the apples matured at different times, Art and Laurie were able to keep up with the picking schedule. With just 6 ½ acres (2.6 hectares) in apples, Art realized he could not make enough money to live off the orchard profits, so both he and Laurie found work in town. They worked full time yet still looked after all the chores on their own orchard. In 1975, they leased the land to someone else. Art was 63 years old and ready to retire. However, even in the year 2000, Art and Laurie helped pick apples on their land. There was a shortage of pickers, and all hands were put to work. Art, at 86 years of age, and Laurie, a few years younger, still had the stamina to pick apples.