My father, Buddy Hall, started Applecreek Orchards in the late 1970's to provide the highest quality fruits and vegetables to the public. The orchard, located in Scott County, Kentucky, was operated by my family: my father Buddy, my mother Betty, my sister Amy and I (Chip). Our orchard mainly produced U- pick strawberries and various varieties of apples; however we also produced blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches and many other vegetables. In fact, we had one of the few central Kentucky working orchards open to the public.

During the time on the orchard, my father, who always had a true entrepreneurial spirit, wanted to try his hand at making preserves and fruit butters. So he turned to the nearby Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill for inspiration. The orchard closed in the early 90's and my father formed a specialty food company Applecreek Farms. My father combined extensive study of Shaker recipes and cooking techniques with his own exhaustive experimentation to produce a unique and delicious line of home style preserves and fruit butters. Fruit wasn't the only sweet that my father enjoyed! He also worked with a Nestle food specialist to develop a line of caramel and chocolate fudge dessert sauces.

Now my father got his nickname Buddy for a reason. He developed special relationships with his customers, vendors, and fellow food companies. He was a founding member of Kentucky Proud and one of the first members of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT). He also built a relationship with our friends at Buffalo Trace. Buddy started to experiment with bourbon in his recipes and developed a unique line of Bourbon flavored products. These products include a Kentucky Bourbon Marinade, Barbeque sauces, and dessert sauces.

However, my father's real dream was to open a restaurant. In the mid 2000's he opened Applecreek BBQ in Lexington, serving his award winning BBQ Sauce. Unfortunately, my father passed away shortly after retiring from the restaurant in 2009. However, I'm still carrying on the Applecreek Orchards tradition with the specialty foods product line that my dad started. I am joined by my wife, Karen, and long-time friends, Mike and Tammy Leal, as we continue to provide high quality products, prepared and packaged by hand in small batches, ensuring their freshness and flavor.

So try a sample of Applecreek Orchard's fruit butters, preserves, marinade, bbq sauces, salsa, relish, caramel or chocolate fudge dessert sauces, and you will agree that my father's insistence on quality still works!