2024 Marin and Sonoma counties in California Apple U-Pick Farms and Orchards - PickYourOwn.org

Apple U-Pick Orchards in Marin and Sonoma counties in California in 2024, by county

Below are the U-Pick orchards and farms for apples that we know of in this area.

Not all areas of a state have apples orchards that are open to the public. If you know of any others, please tell us using the add a farm form!

Remember to always check with the farm's own website or Facebook page before you go - or call or email them if they don't have a website or Facebook page. Conditions at the farms and crops can change literally overnight, so if you want to avoid a wasted trip out there - check with the farm directly before you go! If I cannot reach them, I DON'T GO!

PLEASE report closed farms, broken links and incorrect info using the "Report Corrections" form below.

New! As inflation remains high, see this page for reliable (tested) brands of generic canning lids at lower costs, and cost-saving measures for getting fruit and vegetables and home canning.
 If you are having a hard time finding canning lids, I've used these, and they're a great price & ship in 2 days.

New! Road tripping and camping is a great way to have a fun, safe and inexpensive family trip. The national and state parks and monuments are open, and campgrounds usually cost between $10 and $40 per night. September to November is the best camping weather.  See our new website Road Tripping and Camping.com for tips, tricks, guides, checklists and info about parks, monuments and other places to visit.

New! We just went live with our latest website, FunFactoryTours.com - As they name implies, you can find a fun factory tour, including chocolate, automobiles, historical forts and sites, famous buildings, Active Federal facilities even fun geology: like fossils and volcanic areas

Marin County

• Chileno Valley Ranch - Uses natural growing practices, apples, pears, Fresh eggs, farm market, porta-potties, farm animals, weddings and wedding parties
  5105 Chileno Vally Road, Petaluma, CA 94952. Phone: (707) 765-6664. Email: sallylgale@gmail.com. Open: for u-pick on Sundays only, from 9 am to 2 pm, during August, September and sometimes October, Click here for current open hours, days and dates. Directions: To reach Chileno Valley Ranch from the Bay Area, drive north on Highway 101 to Petaluma. Take South Petaluma Boulevard and drive north on Petaluma Boulevard to Western Avenue. Go left on Western Avenue and go 1.8 miles to Chileno Valley Road. Turn left onto Chileno Valley Road and go 3.9 miles to your next right, which is also called Chileno Valley Road. Go right on Chileno Valley Road for 5.1 miles. The house is a grey Victorian on your left with a row of tall Cypress trees behind it. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, AmEx.
  Chileno Valley Ranch Facebook page. Enjoy a day of family apple picking in our orchard with 14 naturally grown varieties. Enjoy a day of family apple picking in our orchard with varieties such as Orin, Pinova, Candy Crisp, and Jonagold. . We offer farm tours so you can see our cows, chickens, and sheep up close. We sell our frozen, grass-fed ground beef and handmade apple butter during u-pick days, as well as items from our neighbors: olive oil, cheese, eggs, and honey. We are also a grass-fed meat ranch. We sell quarters, halves and whole cows, as well as half and whole lambs to families. We also host a small number of farm weddings each year. IPYO N THE FALL, AND HOST A SMALL NUMBER OF FARM WEDDINGS EACH YEAR.(UPDATED: July 01, 2019, JBS)
  Comments from a visitor on October 18, 2009: "We visited (thanks to your site) in Petaluma last week for apple picking - the closest apple picking to the Bay Area - a BEAUTIFUL place with SUPER kind folks who walked us around the farm, kids fed the chickens and sheep, cow and pig - they also sell incredible fresh eggs - it was a lovely day, these people are wonderful."

Sonoma County

• Full House Farm - Bed and Breakfast with apples and pears u-pick operation
  1000 Sexton Road, Sebastopol, CA 95472. Phone: (707) 829-1561. Email: Christine@fullhousefarm.com. Click here for a map and directions. 41Full House Farm 9 am to 5 pm Tuesday to Sunday all year; Organic apple and pear picking is available when in season at $2/lb (price may have changed); Be sure to call us in advance for reservations. Reservations are required. Farm stay, farm/ranch vacationFrom Hwy 101 in Santa Rosa, take Hwy 12 west through Sebastopol. Continue 3 more miles to Sexton Rd on your left. Travel 1 mile to 1000 Sexton and the sign reading.
• Gabriel Farm - Apples, and prepicked produce, gift shop, restrooms, picnic area
  3175 Sullivan Road, Sebastopol, CA 95472. Phone: (707) 829-0617. Email: mcbrideolson@gmail.com. Open: By Appointment - please call or email. Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check.
  Gabriel Farm Facebook page. Fax: (707) 829-9238. Crops are usually available in September, October. We are certified organic for all crops! Our farm store is open to the public; the U-Pick program is reserved for farm members. To learn more about our membership program, please click on our "Farm Visiting" page. During the week and throughout the year we are available to the public by appointment. To make an appointment or book tours you can email Lucy or call the farm at .
• Grandmas Pumpkin Patc - apples, pomegranates, pumpkins, summer squash, U-pick and already picked, Grandmas Pumpkin Patch - apples, pomegranates, pumpkins, summer squash, U-pick and already picked, gift shop, concessions or refreshment stand, restrooms, picnic area, picnic area you may bring your own food, face painting, petting zoo, farm animals, school tours, group reservations, events at your location (call for info)
  17740 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, CA 95448. Phone: 707-431-8058. Email: lastminutejenny@msn.com. Open: daily Monday thru Sunday form 10 am till Dark; September 26th through October 31st. Directions: From Santa Rosa; Highway 101 north to the Lytton Springs Exit. At the exit go right. Go over the railroad tracks and go right. Patch is 2nd house on the left. go down driveway and park in the back to enter patch. From Ukiah; Highway 101 south to the Lytton Springs Exit. At the exit go left. Go over the railroad tracks and go right. Patch is 2nd house on the left. go down driveway and park in the back to enter patch. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard. . Alternate Phone: 707-293-5750 All groups are welcome. Size does not matter, We are handicap accessible. Music on the week ends from 10am till 4pm. Parking and entrance is of course free. (ADDED: September 24, 2015)
• Hale's Apple Farm - apples (limited U-pick), pumpkins
  1526 Gravenstein Hwy North, Sebastopol, CA 95472. Phone: 707-823-4613. Directions: located right on Gravenstein Hwy in Sebastopol as you head out towards Forestville. They also have tomatoes, squash, gourds and apple cider made from the apples on the farm. . Click here for a map and directions. Hale's Apple Farm Phone number:daily, 9 am to 5 pm from late September to October; CALL before coming to confirm the availability of u-pick; when they are very busy they cannot accommodate PYO as they won't have staff to show you out to the apples. Hales Apple Farm has a 40 acre orchard with over 30 different varieties of apples that you can pick
• Olympia Vineyards - Minimizes chemical and pesticide use, apples, figs, grapes, lemons, persimmons,
  314 Reisling Ln, Healdsburg, CA 95448. Phone: 707 473-0581. Email: pgacuna@gmail.com. Directions: email us for directions and latest information. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, only. . Call before you go - I've received no update since 2012 (other websites just copied the information from us) - Sunday to Thursday - September 16 to 20 and Monday to Wednesday Sept 24 to 26 to by appointment only - call or email usWe minimize use of pesticides and other chemicalsCabernet and merlot grapes, some apples are ready this week - some muscat grapes still available- please call first- limited quantities except for Merlot and Cabernet wine grapes.

 

Apple

Apple Picking Tips, Recipes and Information

Apples ripen from the outside of the tree towards the center, so the apples out the outside of the tree will ripen first.  Once they are picked, they stop ripening. Picking apples directly from a tree is easy. Roll the apple upwards off the branch and give a little twist; don't pull straight away from the tree. If two apples are joined together at the top, both will come away at the same time. Don't shake the trees or branches.  If the apple you are trying to pick drops, (or others on the tree) go ahead and pick it up. They're perfectly fine! But do wash them before you eat them! More info: How to tell when apples are ripe

• Once picked, don't throw the apples into the baskets, place them in gently, or they will bruise and go bad more quickly.
• Don't wash apples until just before using to prevent spoilage.
• For an explanation of why apple slices turn brown and how to stop it, see this page!
• Keep apples cool after picking to increase shelf life.  A cool basement is ideal, but the fruit/vegetable drawer of a refrigerator will work, too.  A refrigerator is fine for small quantities of apples. Boxed apples need to be kept in a cool, dark spot where they won't freeze. Freezing ruptures all of an apple's cells, turning it into one large bruise overnight. The usual solution is to store apples in a root cellar. But root cellars often have potatoes in them: apples and potatoes should never be stored in the same room because, as they age, potatoes release an otherwise ethylene gas, which makes apples spoil faster. If you can keep the gas away from your apples, they will keep just fine. Just don't store them right next to potatoes.
  Prevent contact between apples stored for the winter by wrapping them individually in sheets of newspaper. The easiest way to do this is to unfold a section of newspaper all the way and tear it into quarters. Then stack the wrapped apples. See more here: How to store apples at home
• Apples don't improve or "ripen" after being picked - this is an urban myth - see this page for the truth - with references!

Which apple variety is best?

There are tens of thousands of varieties of apples, developed over centuries. They vary in sugar, acoidity, flavors, storing, crispness and many other attributes. See our guides to apple varieties:

• Summary table of many apple varieties and their characteristics
• Detailed descriptions of each apple variety with detailed characteristics
• Apple varieties, sorted by the order in which they typically ripe
• Apple varieties that don't turn brown when they are cut
• Why are some apples brown or spotted inside when you first cut them open?

Canning apples - fully illustrated, with step-by-step instructions

• How to make applesauce
• How to make apple butter 
• How to make apple jelly
• How to make apple pie filling (canned)
• How to can apples
• Home canned apple juice

New!As inflation remains high, see this page for reliable (tested) brands of generic canning lids at lower costs, and cost-saving measures for getting fruit and vegetables and home canning.
 If you are having a hard time finding canning lids, I've used these, and they're a great price & ship in 2 days.

Recipes, illustrated with step by step instructions

• Apple pie recipe and directions and illustrated! I can say, with, ahem, no bias at all, that this is the best apple pie recipe in the world! (Alright, I did have an apple strudel in Vienna once at that place listed in Fodors that was REALLY good, but that wasn't a pie, was it? And since this was the recipe my grandmother used, it must be great!)
• How to make applesauce for a single meal (not canning it) with NO special equipment
• Apple cobbler
• Apple crunch - best of all! Moist, low sugar and using oats!
• Apple crisp - ever-popular, low sugar and using oats!
• Apple, blackberry, cherry, and/or peach cobbler
• Apple-blackberry, crumble - a English favorite (or favourite)

Using fresh apples and miscellaneous

• How to stop cut apples from browning
• Apple festivals - find one near you!
• Apple facts
• Apple seeds and cyanide

 

Other Local Farm Products (Honey, Horses, Milk, Meat, Eggs, Etc.)
(NOT pick-your-own, unless they are also listed above)

• Farm markets and roadside stands
• Local Honey Finder
• Local Meat, Milk and Eggs
• Venues: Farms, Wineries, Orchards for your event, wedding or party
• Easter egg hunts
• Children"s consignment sales
• Fruit and vegetable festivals
• Winery tours and wine tastings
• Horse rides, stables, lessons, trails
• Maple Syrup farms and sugarworks
• Bed & Breakfasts on Farms, Wineries, Ranches and Orchards
• Pumpkin patches
• Corn mazes
• Zombie Paintball venues
• Christmas Tree Farms & lots
• Environmental resources
• Consumer fraud information
• Wholesale food sources
• Resources for Farmers