Apple U-Pick Orchards in Southeastern Minnesota 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 any state, nor even every 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.
Goodhue County
- Flower Valley Orchard - Apples, pumpkins, winter squash, gourds, ornamental grasses, and prepicked produce, restrooms
29732 Orchard Road, Red Wing, MN 55066. Phone: 651-385-0574. Email: flowervalleyrochards@yahoo.com. Open: Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Directions: Take Highway 61 south of Red Wing to County 21, turn right on 21, travel 1 mile to Orchard Road, follow signs for 1 mile to Orchard. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check. . Open mid August through October Ornamental gourds and ornamental grasses.
Wabasha County
- Apple Ridge Orchard & Vineyard - Apples, pumpkins
47418 240th Avenue, Mazeppa, MN 55956. Phone: 507-843-3033. Open: Daily 9 am to 6 pm. Directions: Located just 15 minutes north of Rochester. Click here for a map and directions.
Apple Ridge Orchard & Vineyard Facebook page. . Seasonal hours Apples galore! (Including famous Apple Ridge Honeycrisp, Haralson, Honeygold, and Sweet Sixteen). Plus, fresh-pressed apple cider, pumpkins, caramel apples, and a festive harvest atmosphere. Favorite family events include pick-your-own apples and you-pick pumpkins with tractor-pulled wagon rides every weekend. Kids Corn Maze. Apple Ridge llamas and barnyard animals love kids. . Apple Ridge Orchard information and map on website. Pick-Your-Own Apples (call ahead), Pick-Your-Own Grapes and Pumpkins, Animal Barnyard (Goats, Sheep, Alpacas). Our famous caramel apples Apple Pies Apple Cider, Jams, Honey, Real Maple Syrup and MORE..
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!
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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
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