On a rainy Saturday, Rockin’ Apple Ranch hands busily worked in the pressing room, sorting apples and tossing the fruit down a chute into a machine that grinds the apples into pulp and drones a constant blender-like sound, too loud to talk over.

Outside the pressing room, rows of 1,200 hardy, squat-looking apple trees line the property, the branches weighed down with dozens of apples apiece. Rockin’ Apple Ranch crew members spent the previous day picking several varieties. This harvest — a mix of Summer Rambo, Spygold, Burgundy, Gravenstein and Royal Gala — rolls through the sorting, smashing and pressing process, producing a stream of golden juice.

“It’s been a process of trial and error,” Mary Morrison said of finding the right mix of apples for cider.

The previous batch had been too tart, she said, but this mix is spot-on.

Mary and Mo Morrison purchased the Rockin’ Apple Ranch on North Whidbey two years ago after the former owners, Roy and Joyce Engle, passed away from cancer within six months of each other.

In addition to the farm, the Morrisons purchased a slew of personal effects from the estate sale, including Engle’s apple press of his own design. The state-of-the-art machine is considered to be one of the best in the industry, Mary said.

“It’s the ‘coveted one,’” she said. “Everyone wants that one because there isn’t another one on the market like it.”

Even after the Morrisons purchased the press, interested parties hounded their real estate agent for the machine and some people went so far as to say that Roy had promised to give them the machine when he passed away, but no one could produce proof of any sort of agreement.

“We purchased it, so we consider it ours now,” she said.

Another piece of memorabilia at the estate sale caught Mary’s attention — a small trunk filled with photography gear. It wasn’t the gear that sparked her interest; it was a small photo of Roy and Joyce that prompted her to buy the trunk.

“It was the only photo we had of them,” Mary said. “I bought the whole thing just to get the picture.”

Shortly after she purchased the trunk and placed it in one of the two large refrigerated rooms on the farm, someone came in and lifted the photo.

“It just disappeared,” she said.

Many people were on the farm grounds during the estate sale, she said, including “some people who were going through and were not authorized to be here.”

The real frustration for Mary is that she plans to open a museum of the farm’s history and hoped to include the photograph in the exhibit. She still hopes that whoever took the photo will return it someday.

“It would eventually go into a museum to honor them. And to me, it was very precious.”

The Morrisons also purchased tools, which they use on the ranch. At first Mary was unsure if they should use the tools, since they are part of the historical collection, but she soon understood that she and her husband have a responsibility to use the old tools.

“At first I tried to keep them separate, but now I realize it’s OK. We’re part of the history now,” she said.

In her efforts to open the museum, Mary hopes that anyone with information about the Engles or the farm will share their memories.

“I’d like to know more about the history of the farm,” she said.

During Mary’s first season on the farm she was captivated by the blooming apple trees.

“I took so many pictures, I was enthralled with the blossoms,” she said.

Now after a couple of years on the property, the Morrisons are catching on to the apple farming way of life. Mo is diligently learning about his crop. He’s even complied information in a book about the trees and charted their placement, in addition to labeling each one.

“You can ask him anything about these trees,” Mary said.

The Morrisons bought the farm with the idea of continuing the Rockin’ Apple Ranch tradition, offering fresh pressed cider, apple butter, pies, muffins and other apple-inspired treats for customers. This year they’ve purchased 180 half-gallon and 288 gallon jugs and are busy with the harvest, cider pressing and baking.

Each tree produces 3 to 32 boxes of apples, Mary said. At 25 pounds per box, one productive tree can produce up to 800 pounds of apples each season.

“At the peak of last season, the two refrigerated rooms and the garage were filled with boxes of apples,” she said.

The Morrisons have no problem finding help for their farm. Their second business, Tirasleen Superior House Keeping Service, requires several employees during the summer season when the company is busy with move-out cleaning services. But business slows in the fall and the Morrisons don’t like to lay off workers if they don’t have to. The Rockin’ Apple Ranch allows them to keep these employees busy during Tirasleen’s off-season which, conveniently, is the apple harvest season, Mary said.

“When we take on a crew member, we want them to have a Christmas, too,” she said. “The whole idea is to take care of the people that take care of you.”

By taking care of people and apples, she hopes the Rockin’ Apple Ranch will continue to be a memorable part of North Whidbey life for years to come.