SHELBY COUNTY — From peaches to sweet corn and everything in between, these are a few of the things that you can find hand-picked with love at Harker Family Orchard in Shelby County.
Joe and Debbie Harker first met in Shelby County.
"We met in high school. My last name started with H, and so we sat by each other when we sat by alphabetical order," recalls Debbie Harker.
"English teacher had alphabetical order. Put us side by side," Joe Harker chimed in.
"And then we both decided to go to Purdue, and so we kept going," Debbie finished.
Both Boilermakers earned their master's degrees; Joe in Ag Education, and Debbie in Speech and Audiology. While both had careers outside of farming, ultimately, they chose to keep the family farm going.
"This farm was my dad's farm," Debbie shared. "I grew up right down the road."
The farm looked a lot different back then. For years, the Harkers grew row crops, sweet corn, and raised hogs.
"It’s rough times there in the late 90s, early 2000s," Joe remembered. "A lot of pig farmers went out of business. So to make up for that, that’s when we came up with the orchard. That was in 2009, with our first trees we planted."
The transition from pigs to peaches wasn’t easy, but the Harkers never thought about selling their farm.
"I was raised that you don't fail. You do a job, and you do it right," Joe said.
"We both grew up on a farm. And we knew that we liked having, or wanted to raise our family on a farm. That gave them lots of chores to do and learn how to work and how to have a good ethic," Debbie said.
It takes a lot of chores, completed by lots of hands, to keep up with all the produce at the orchard. Luckily, Debbie and Joe have their children and grandchildren to help, especially during the busy summer produce season.
Each summer, the Harkers are thankful to make it through the spring without their fruit tree flowers freezing.
We visited the Harkers' son, Brian, at the orchard this April, when the budding trees were at risk.
"On this peach tree, we’ve got a nice set of blooms on here," Brian Harker described in April 2025. "These are all at the risk of the frost right now."
"Once we drop below freezing, that’s the concern, is tomorrow morning, they’re calling 26, 27 degrees, and that can take 70, 80, 90 percent of the blooms you see here. They won’t turn into fruit, they’ll just die off," Brian stated.
This year, like any year, the trees bloom when temperatures warm, but a late-season frost could mean a devastating year for the Harkers.
"At the mercy of God and the temperature it brings to either give us a fruit crop, or not," Brian said in April.
Now, back at the same peach tree, time reveals that Mother Nature was kind.
"It turned out okay," Brian shared in present day. "We did lose some blooms, but the good Lord gives us 100 blooms when we only need about 20."
It isn’t just peaches at this family farm.
"The orchard we raise apples, peaches, pears, plums, nectarines, sweet and sour cherries. Sometimes apricots," Joe listed.
"Tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, cabbage, onions, sometimes some other things," Debbie continued listing.
You can't forget the sweet corn, which customers drive from near and far to pick up from the farm stand.
Tyler Harker, Joe and Debbie’s grandson, says he’s seen people travel in from Canada to California.
"Beginning of the week, we had people from Tennessee. They moved up here, had our corn, they brought it back to their family, and now their family says every year, you gotta bring corn back for the family reunion," shared Tyler Harker.
What’s the sweet corn's secret to success?
"Knowing how to raise it," Joe shared. "Most people in the garden don't fertilize it enough. Son handpicks it all."
Brian Harker knows exactly what he’s looking for when handpicking it.
"I go by the feel. You can tell by brown silks, indicate that it’s a ripe ear. However, if it’s not full enough and doesn’t feel right, then I’m not going to pull it yet," Brian described of his picking process.
None of the produce at the farm is picked by machinery.
They do not sell any wholesale produce. They sell anywhere from 30 to 50 dozen ears of corn a day in summer at the farm stand, and can sell between 50 and 100 dozen at each farmers market.
Could the hand-picked sweet corn be the reason the Harkers' were selected to be featured at the state fair?
"We aren’t sure. Other than when they asked us if we would be a featured farmer, she said, ‘What else do you raise besides your great sweet corn?’ So whoever recommended us or nominated us evidently had had our sweet corn," Debbie shared with a smile.
The Harker family will be honored as Featured Farmers at the Indiana State Fair on the final day of the fair, August 17.
