OUR HISTORY

Blue Jay Orchards Where Family Traditions Grow -since 1935-

Blue Jay Orchards is a family fun tradition nestled in Bethel, Ct. with over 122 acres to roam, we offer seasonal apple picking, a pumpkin patch, a farm market, and a bakery. Our customer base extends well beyond our NYC. Where people come to enjoy our apple picking , cider and our “Famous Cider Donuts”.

Hospitality and generosity are two of the biggest core values for Blue Jay Orchard farm. It’s our tradition to open up our farm and invite family, friends, and visitors to come “taste and see” the abundance of our harvests. New and old customers alike get to enjoy the special and deeply satisfying experience of tasting the sweetest, flavor-packed fruit picked right off the trees, while getting to know the people who put so much love and care into raising it.

What Keeps a Business Thriving for Three-Quarters of a Century?

Loyal customers, personal service, a great product, and the ability to roll with the punches.
Owned by Mary and Paul Patterson since 1985, now semiretired, the 120-acre orchard is situated on either side of Plumtrees Road Bethel.

Customer loyalty has been apparent from early on. As with any farm operation, hard work can be undermined by Mother Nature. In 1985, the first year the Pattersons took over, and again in 2004, the entire apple crop was devastated by a late May frost.

Community and Traditions

It was the first pick-your-own orchard in Fairfield County and is still the largest here attracting up to 5,000 weekend customers at the peak of the season.
The bakery now turns out the hands-down favorite cider doughnuts and up to 1,100 pies during Thanksgiving week.
Mr. Patterson's dream that Blue Jay Orchards would become a trove of memories for his customers seems to have come true. Many customers came here as a child, and are now bringing their grandchildren.
Coming to Blue Jay Orchards is being a part of Bethel and the area, If you move away, you have to come back to get the apples and baked goods that you grew up on.

OUR HISTORY

Blue Jay Orchards Where Family Traditions Grow -since 1935-

What Keeps a Business Thriving for Three-Quarters of a Century?

Loyal customers, personal service, a great product, and the ability to roll with the punches.
Owned by Mary and Paul Patterson since 1985, now semiretired, the 140-acre orchard is situated on either side of Plumtrees Road Bethel.

Blue Jay Orchards began as a small orchard planted by Robert Josephy on a 50-acre dairy and vegetable farm he purchased in 1934. Over the next half a century, Mr. Josephy gradually added acreage and more apple trees. At that time most of the apples and cider were sold wholesale or from Mr. Josephy’s roadside stand. It was not until the Pattersons bought Blue Jay Orchards that the Pick Your Own aspect of the business originated.
It was the first pick-your-own orchard in Fairfield County and is still the largest here attracting up to 5,000 weekend customers at the peak of the season. The bakery now turns out the hands-down favorite cider doughnuts and up to 1,100 pies during Thanksgiving week.
Mr. Patterson’s dream that Blue Jay Orchards would become a trove of memories for his customers seems to have come true. Many customers came here as a child, and are now bringing their grandchildren.
Coming to Blue Jay Orchards is being a part of Bethel and the area, If you move away, you have to come back to get the apples and baked goods that you grew up on.

THE MAN WHO WAS THE “J” IN BLUE JAY ORCHARDS

Robert Josephy, the founder of Blue Jay Orchards, is shown sorting apples in a Bethel Home News photo from 1966.

Blue Jay Orchards was originated by Robert S. Josephy in 1935.

In New England, this time of year, it has become a time-honored tradition for folks to venture out into the cool, crisp, autumn air and pay a family visit to their local orchard to buy apples, cider, pumpkins, pies, donuts, and perhaps enjoy an old-fashioned hayride. In Bethel, when people think of all those things, one name comes to mind – Blue Jay Orchards. Yet despite the level of familiarity and popularity, the orchard has possessed for so long, many are probably unfamiliar with the man who started it all – Robert Josephy.

Robert Josephy was not a local native. He was born in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York on July 11, 1903, at the summer home of his maternal grandfather. On his paternal side, he was the grandson of a German Jewish immigrant, Hugo Josephy, who came to America in 1861. His parents were Edward and Clarice Spero Josephy, and his father was employed in the poultry and produce business. The Josephy family lived at various locations in New York City and for a time spent summers in Far Rockaway, Long Island. They later moved to Flushing, New York. Robert attended the Hamilton Institute for Boys in New York City for a year and then was enrolled in the New Jersey Military Academy in Freehold, beginning at the age of ten. He attended Flushing High School for a short time but due to his poor performance, his parents once again enrolled him in a military school, this time the Bordentown Military Institute in New Jersey, from which he graduated in 1920.
In 1985, Josephy sold everything but his house, barn, and two acres to the present owner, Paul Patterson. On his eighty-eighth birthday in 1991, Josephy sold his home and moved to Hamden, Connecticut after having lived in Bethel for fifty-seven years. He wrote a farewell letter that was published in both the Danbury News-Times and the Bethel Home News. In the letter he acknowledged that he had often been outspoken and controversial in the political views he expressed over the years. He wrote: “I hope I will be remembered kindly. I know I have irritated some people, but the Bible says, ‘Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you.’ I am not going very far away, but leaving the town that has been good to me for so long is not easy. I shall miss you all.”