The original driveway, 1948 — looking east from the farm and barns toward what is now Manning Avenue.
Aamodt family photo
Lighting the 2025 Stillwater Christmas tree — the blue spruce Thor planted at the orchard. Chris & Billi Jo, and the whole family who could make it, with Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski in the Santa hat. December 2025.
Four generations.
One orchard.
In 1948, Thor and Lucille Aamodt purchased land along the St. Croix River Valley. Post-war optimism, a young family, and a dream. They planted the first apple trees with their son Tom by their side.
Thor wasn't just any farmer. He was Minnesota's State Entomologist and a University of Minnesota professor of horticulture — when the state's own apple scientist chose this hillside above the St. Croix for his orchard, he knew exactly what he was planting, and why. That knowledge has been handed down the same way the land has: one generation to the next.
In 1974, Thor and Lucille passed the orchard to their son Tom and his wife JoAnn. Tom and JoAnn ran it for the next fourteen seasons, keeping family at the center of everything, until 1988, when their son Chris took over full-time.
Four generations later, the farm has grown to over 50 acres and more than 6,000 trees. Chris Aamodt and his wife Billi Jo now run the operation—continuing what Thor started nearly eight decades ago.
The 2025 Stillwater Christmas tree—a big blue spruce—was originally planted at the orchard by Thor himself. Sharing that tree with the community was a big honor for our family. Aamodt's isn't just an apple farm. It's woven into the identity of this town.
Today, on a big fall Saturday, it feels like the whole county came out to the orchard. They come for the Honeycrisp. They stay for the pie. They come back because it feels like coming home.
What we do — and what we don't
We don't charge admission. We never have. No gate, no parking fee, no ticket to walk under the trees. Bring the grandparents, bring the stroller, come twice in one weekend if the weather's right — it costs nothing to be here. You pay for the apples and the pie, not for the afternoon.
And we've stayed what we've always been: an apple farm. Not a theme park, not a carnival. The orchard is the attraction — the wagon rides, the animals, and the bakery are all here because they belong on a farm, not because they sell tickets. That's a choice, made fresh every year for four generations.
Sustainability
Minimal Spray
Only what's needed for insect protection
Rain-Fed
No artificial irrigation
Local First
Our orchard first, Minnesota growers next
Proud member of the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, the Minnesota Apple Growers Association, and the Minnesota Grown program · Licensed by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture · Third and fourth generations of Minnesota apple growers · More than 6,000 trees on 50+ acres, with 300 newly planted Honeycrisp and Sweet RiverBelle · A rain garden protects the Brown's Creek watershed and the St. Croix River Valley.
