Bonnie and Jack Knowlan continue to cultivate family business, Knowlan Family Farm

Dew soaks the shoes of hungry apple pickers, fresh off the wagon on a cool bright morning. They head for the rows of dwarf apple trees, variety after variety, and reach for fruit in various shades of pink and red.

A satisfying plink as the apple comes loose from the branch, followed by a thud as it joins others in the bag, all surrounded by laughter and shouts.

To Bonnie Knowlan, this is a welcome scene, and one she and her husband Jack are building on, year by year.

Just off Highway 34 in western Cape Girardeau County, Knowlan Family Farm's apple orchard has about 2,700 trees right now, and about 1,500 peach and nectarine trees.

Blueberries and pears were planted in 2014, Bonnie Knowlan says, blackberries in 2016, a pumpkin patch, vegetables and other produce, all on about 300 acres.

People are pulled by a tractor headed into the apple orchard at Knowlan Family Farm Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017 in Burfordville.Andrew J. Whitaker

The first blueberry season will be next year.

"We like to have about four years to get maximum fruit," Knowlan says.

There's a farm store, too, which has expanded this year, Knowlan says.

She's used high tunnels to cultivate produce including tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash and melons, she says.

The fresh cider from second-best apples is back. It's made using a cider press in the store, a newer model that is more efficient.

Brittany Griffith, right, holds up Mallory Myers, 5, left, as she picks an apple at Knowlan Family Farm Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017 in Burfordville.Andrew J. Whitaker

"We can get about three gallons out of a bushel of No. 2 apples," Knowlan says.

"What I love about it is, every batch has a little different flavor because it's made using 27 different varieties of apples we grow," she added.

The pumpkin patch will be open throughout October, she says, and apple picking should go on throughout the autumn season.

"It's a good thing for families to do, for kids," Knowlan says. "You see all different kinds of families and people, a lot of young families come out here."

Knowlan says staff members encourage people to sample the apples when they're out picking.

An apple hangs in a tree at Knowlan Family Farm Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017 in Burfordville.Andrew J. Whitaker

Besides, she says, "it's fun for us to see all different people and how much they enjoy it. A lot of kids have never experienced picking apples, being on a farm in a wagon. That was our hope, to have a place families could come and enjoy doing something together as a family. It's really important to us, huge to us, and it's important for us to share that with others, too."

As to how it all came about, well, "God has his plans and we have ours," Knowlan says, laughing, "and they don't always meet."

Knowlan's father and her father-in-law each owned property that joined each other, she says. "When it was passed on to us, Jack and I were not sure what we were going to do with it. We can't sell it. We couldn't buy any more adjoining land. We asked, 'What are we going to do with it?'"

She laughs again.

Knowlan says she and Jack used to have Knoll Crest Orchard toward Burfordville, Missouri, in the 1970s and '80s. It was successful enough, she says, and it was a lot of work, but when they moved on from it, she didn't anticipate moving back toward an agritourism project.

Bonnie Knowlan fills up individual bottles of cider at Knowlan Family Farm Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017 in Burfordville.Andrew J. Whitaker

But, well, it happened.

Knowlan says they're planning on raising Scottish island cattle, expanding their offerings to grass-fed beef by next year.

They're not doing this all themselves. They have one son who works for them full time, and their youngest son plans to come back within the next few years.

"Maybe we'll get most of the family back," Knowlan says.

"It's a big dream and there are a lot of things we want to get done in the future, so we add a little bit at a time," Knowlan says. "We do it in stages. If you don't, you'll go broke or it just won't work, one or the other."

Lilly McQuillen, 1, picks up an apple at Knowlan Family Farm Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017 in Burfordville.Andrew J. Whitaker