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Lane continues family business

MARIETTA – Like his father before him, Ted Lane learned to tend an orchard on the 60 hilltop acres his grandfather Walter Thomas Lane planted in Warren Township in the 1930s.

“I used to help him spray down the trees. He had an old wooden sprayer. We’d fill that full of water and chemicals and he’d sit me on the tractor to steer while he walked along behind me spraying. I was probably 7- or 8-years old,” Ted, 67, said.

Though the technology has changed, Lane is still spraying and pruning trees six decades later. He and wife Najet, 62, own and operate Lane’s Farm Market & Orchard, a Warren Township institution where residents can get bread and milk on their way home, indulge in homemade apple pie, enjoy an old-fashion glass bottle Coca-Cola and purchase a variety of fruit grown on-site.

The store was started by Ted’s father, Eugene H. Lane, in 1967. Then called Lane’s Fruit Farm, the little store at the fork of Ohio 676 and County Road 126 was an extension of what Eugene had already been doing on his own nearby farm.

“In the early ’50s is when dad started planting his own orchard. We’d take the hay wagons out back, fill them with fruit and basically sold them out of the front yard of the house,” said Ted.

Lane’s started as a small log cabin where Eugene sold apples, peaches, plums, pears and sour cherries, sweet corn and green beans. The store was stocked with minimal grocery items, like bread and milk.

Over the years, Eugene added more rooms, freezers, an apple cider press and an apple grading shed.

Ted took over the day-to-day operations of the business after his father passed away in 1984. But when he and his family went overseas in 1986, the doors to the business were shuttered for seven years.

“We took over in 1993. I started planting more trees, upgrading the building, we put in the heating and air conditioning,” Lane said.

It was a laborious process and Lane managed to save four rows of trees planted by his father.

The store also expanded its offerings under Ted and Najet. The store expanded into more of a full-fledged convenience stop, offering soda, chips, breakfast food, ice and snacks.

Najet, the kitchen guru, began serving heated subs, salads and pizza.

“We discontinued the pizzas. It was very involving. But we still maintain the hot subs and wraps,” she said.

She constantly experiments with fresh apple offerings. While unpasteurized apple cider was a staple under Eugene’s ownership, homemade apple pie and homemade apple chips are newer additions, she said.

While Najet works in the kitchen, managing the orchard is Ted’s passion. He has added blueberries and is planting blackberries for the upcoming season.

Though it is hard work-the Lanes run the orchard and business with minimal outside assistance-running a small local business is satisfying for the pair.

“We genuinely care about our customers. We know them. You can’t get that at Wal-Mart,” said Ted.

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