Old Stone Orchard owner Warren Wetzel, who has run the orchard just up from Adamsville center for 34 years, has known Pete Dellasanta practically since the day he was born. As Wetzel is approaching retirement, Dellasanta is the only man he can see taking over the farm at 33 Colebrook Road.

And as the busy season approaches, that's what will happen — the two are in the process of an agreement for Dellasanta, 27, to buy the Adamsville farm.

For Wetzel, who first bought the 13.5 acres the farm now occupies in 1973, Old Stone represents a lifetime of hard work. It's grown to nearly 30 acres since that first purchase and apart from the orchard and its outbuildings, he built a home there.

“I started planting these trees in 1982,” Wetzel said of the farm's nearly 1,500 trees — 13 apple varieties in all.The farm opened to the public in 1992 and while business is already busy, Wetzel said it will only get busier as the fall season really kicks in.

“Right now everyone is still going to the beach,” he said, adding that apple and pumpkin picking is always huge in October. “Soon as it gets below 50 degrees in the morning, there will be a lot more people.”

Changing hands

Dellasanta’s parents are close family friends and often brought Pete to the farm as a child, and he began helping out at only seven years old. Though Wetzel is the only full-time worker, he has always employed young helpers  such as Dellasanta, part-time in the busy season. Early on, he said, he could tell Dellasanta had a special talent for farming simply by watching him pick up drops.

“I’ve gotten a lot of young guys in here to pick up drops,” he said. “They only come here once or twice; their mothers make them. But Pete made his mother bring him here.”

For Dellasanta’s part, he describes Wetzel as a great mentor and a friend who taught him everything he knows about farming. He has vivid memories of picking up those drops as a child, and he always wanted to be involved with the farm for the long haul. To this day, he spends as much time as he can on the farm.

“I’m so used to being here all the time. It’s kind of second nature to me."

In addition to this impending purchase, Dellasanta farms elsewhere in Little Compton, growing his own corn on land owned by Little Compton Agricultural Trust. He also owns multiple cows, which are currently kept at a neighboring farm, and grows his own hay. Dellasanta is more than excited to now have a home base for his operation, saying it has always been his dream to own his own farm.

“I love doing it,” Dellasanta said of farming. “Warren really took me under his wing and really let me do a lot of things on my own. Just being able to work outside and figure things out is what I really like to do.”

Changing of the guard

Wetzel said that Dellasanta first discussed potentially buying the farm in 2021, and he always thought it could be a good match given his young employee's work ethic.

“He’s a real dedicated guy. He knows how to prune and how to plant all the fields. He knows pretty much everything and, at my age, I don’t want to do that anymore,” Wetzel said.

One of Wetzel’s main goals is to keep the farm a farm, and Dellasanta made it clear that is also his goal. He said there won't be much of anything different under his ownership, except possibly replanting some more apple trees and potentially adding Christmas trees for the winter season. He also expressed a desire to get more cows in the future.

Once the transfer is complete Wetzel will still be around; he is keeping a parcel of land that he owns right behind the farm where his “retirement home” sits and expects to make regular visits. While he acknowledged that the farm is hard work, he believes that Dellasanta is the perfect man to keep it alive.