Tellman Hill Farm: Transforming a Historic Whitefield Farm into a Destination Apple Orchard
October 1, 2026
Growing up in upstate New York, Emily was well-connected with local farms and food.
“I grew up in a farming family, and so I've always wanted to come back to farming,” she said. “I didn't have family farmland to come back to.”
She worked on many different farms, including an apple orchard, as she pursued a career as a licensed forester. Still, she kept searching for her own land to farm.
It took her more than a decade to find the right place and during her search, she also found Doug, who was working as a wildlife biologist in Vermont.
“Both Doug and I grew up going to cider mills and apple orchards and really love fall,” she said. “We also saw a need for apples in this particular region.”
The couple felt lucky when they found their 187-acre property in the White Mountains Region of New Hampshire at an affordable price.
The Tellman family previously purchased the land and put a conservation easement on it to limit development, substantially reducing the price, and were looking for new owners to farm it.
“We needed to really scale up our imagination because it was a larger property that held a lot more potential than we thought we were going to find,” Doug said. “We were surprised the nearest pick-your-own orchard is probably more than an hour away from here, so we thought there was an opportunity in the market…”
Their next step was a big gamble.
“As soon as we purchased the property in summer of 2019, we ordered 500 apple trees and said, ‘We don't know exactly where these are going to go, but we'll figure it out in two years by the time they get here,’” Doug said.
Red and green apples were stacked in crates, gluten-free cider donuts were cooking in the kitchen, and the slushy machine was churning frozen cider by the cash register. Kids and other customers set their sights on what was ripe this classic fall day at Tellman Hill Farm in Whitefield, N.H. where 1,100 trees produce more than 50 varieties of apples.
For Tellman Hill Farm owners Emily Meacham and Doug Morin, opening the store and orchard to the public on September 4 was a big milestone along their path to making their Whitefield farm sustainable.
Synopsis:
As the years passed, Doug and Emily tended the trees and planted more saplings at Tellman Hill Farm, contending with challenges like losing apple trees to more frequent summer windstorms and threats from insects and pests.
They follow a set of practices known as Integrated Pest Management to keep their fruit “low spray,” which is also a differentiator from other apple orchards.
“Our apples are considered very low spray,” Emily explained. “We're very scientific about our approaches to what we do, and we do basically, every other thing we can do before we choose to use a spray.”
Throughout the seasons, they had help from UNH Extension, other local farmers, and the White Mountains community.
By last year, the orchard reached a total of 1,100 trees with more than 50 varieties of apples, producing approximately 300 bushels (at 44 pounds per bushel, that’s 13,200 pounds). The crops were almost ready to sell — so it was time for the next phase of growth.
Doug said the “stars aligned” when their plans to build a permanent facility near the pick-your-own orchard matched up with a grant opportunity from the U.S.D.A.
“Farmers are typically referred to as price takers, rather than price makers, so we don't often get to set our own prices — we take what the market is willing to give us,” Doug said. “One of the virtues of having a retail farm stand is having a little more control over setting our own prices and what we can ask from the public.”
Emily and Doug were still taking in the excitement from visitors after working extra long days to open the farm store in time for apple picking in September.
As a yellow school bus pulled up to the building, Emily said she was most excited about Tellman Hill Farm’s gluten-free donuts, made with farm-fresh eggs from chickens at the farm (naturally).
“I have Celiac disease and we chose to make our kitchen dedicated gluten free, so we're able to produce gluten-free donuts,” Emily said. “People come in and read that sign and have an emotional moment about being able to experience a cider donut.”
Doug was looking forward to the many opportunities ahead for their new commercial kitchen and production space — they hope to offer community workshops and rentals to local farm and food businesses making products from produce — even as reminders of the farm’s past chapters were never far away.
Just that morning, older neighbors who once helped hay fields on the land when it was a family-run dairy farm more than 50 years ago stopped by to reminisce.
“Everyone's been super supportive… it's been really heartwarming to see,” Doug said.
We support local small businesses and family farms because of the impact they have on communities. They are a source of jobs and often central gathering places that provide much more than goods and services.
Businesses like Tellman Hill Farm are the heart of their communities. Investing in them brings returns that go far beyond their economic impact.
bushels* (13,200 pounds) of apples produced in 2025
bushels (44,000 pounds) of apples expected to be produced in 2026
bushels (154,000 pounds) of apples expected to be produced by 2030, a 1,000%+ increase over five years
N.H. farmers who have a primary occupation other than farming, like Emily**
land in New Hampshire that is prime agricultural soil (380K acres)***
average acres per farm in N.H.**
*With 100 to 120 apples per bushel, that’s more than 30,000 apples.
**According to the 2024 Census of Agriculture.
*** According to UNH Extension.
Location: Whitefield, N.H., a 10-minute drive from Bethlehem
Owners & farmers: Emily Meacham and Doug Morin
Founded: 2021
Values: “We want to produce products of the highest quality in ways that support the health of our land and community. As a small farm we love that customers can communicate directly with us. We are always happy to talk about our products and practices. We make efforts to stay informed of the most current, evidence-based practices to help us make the best decisions for our land, plants, and animals.”
Visit: The pick-your-own apple orchard at Tellman Hill is open from September through mid-to-late October. Follow the farm on Instagram and Facebook for updates on hours.
Products: pick-your-own apples and already-picked apples; UV-treated, fresh-pressed apple cider in multiple size jugs; hot cider and cider slushies; pumpkins and gourds; food from other local farms, like maple syrup and honey; fresh, farm-raised chicken (reservations open in June annually).
One-of-a-kind offerings: ginger cider slushies (check for availability) and gluten-free cider donuts made with eggs from chickens at the farm.