Welcome To The Farm

In 2014, after my time serving in the United States Air Force, my wife and I moved to South Carolina to start a new chapter in our lives.

In 2017, we purchased a piece of land at the corner of Sitton Mill and Sitton Shoals, originally intending it to be a hunting property. Little did we know that this land would soon become the heart of our future. The more time we spent there, the more we fell in love with it, eventually deciding to build our home.

Once settled in, our initial hunting aspirations resurfaced. To attract deer, we planted a large orchard with peach, apple, pear, cherry, persimmon, chestnut, and mulberry trees. We also planted blueberries, blackberries, muscadines, and grapes to further draw in the deer and wildlife. What was originally meant to be a simple planting quickly turned into a much larger endeavor than I expected. The learning curve was steep, and managing it became almost a full-time job in itself! What started as a plan to simply plant and leave it soon evolved into a full-on gardening project to attract more wildlife. As my wife will confirm, I never do anything on a small scale.

We then planted a 5-acre garden, which produced an abundance of crops. Our kids and their friends eagerly picked from the orchard and garden, and they even started selling eggs at the end of our driveway. They were thrilled to keep all their earnings. What began as a small venture quickly gained traction, but I wasn’t entirely comfortable with them standing by the roadside. So, together, we built a farm stand—which we later converted into a bridal suite. The stand grew in popularity, and we eventually earned USDA Certification and became an SC Certified farm stand. This experience taught our kids valuable life lessons about hard work and managing their little “empire.” As our customer base expanded, many of our older clients shared stories about the property’s rich history.

After hearing countless stories and diving into research, we discovered that the land had a fascinating past. It once housed a gold mine. People often ask if I’ve found any gold, and I always tell them the same thing: if I had, I wouldn’t be out here fixing my own fences! Later, the farm was owned by the Sitton family, after whom our road is named. The Sittons ran a flour mill on the property, and remnants of it can still be found near Coneross Creek. In its final chapter before we acquired it, the farm was a well-known fish hatchery and restaurant—although the restaurant was bulldozed before we purchased the property.

In 2019, we expanded by acquiring the land across from our main property. Our goal was to transform this once unusable land into pasture. After years of hard work and setbacks, it has now become the perfect location for our venue, featuring a picturesque pasture and pond.

At first, we had a different vision in mind. With my background in agriculture, we ventured into agri-tourism, offering a petting zoo, wagon rides through the farm’s history, and educational lessons about farming. However, unforeseen circumstances forced us to rethink our approach once again.

I’ve always had a dream of creating a wedding venue, and with the love and support of my family, that dream became a reality. McLadke Orchards Venue was born. My vision has always been to provide an affordable place for families to celebrate their dreams, no matter where this journey takes us. This commitment to our community will never change.