The golden days of fall are that much better when you get to crunch into a crisp apple you just picked off a tree…

But not many of us grow enough apples to eat our fill- let alone make apple sauce, jelly, and baked goods we crave come fall. Enter the family trip to the apple orchard, one of many Minnesotans’ beloved traditions.

Organic orchard options are popping up around the metro as people are becoming more aware of how pesticides and herbicides often used in traditionally run orchards can come home on even those hand picked apples and harm our pollinators.

Around the Twin Cities there are now a handful of organic options to fill an ever growing demand for organic produce. Growing organic on a small scale is one thing, but growing a large quantity of fruit trees (monoculture) organically takes a combination of skill, grit and fast action. The movie Biggest Little Farm is a great example of this!

Most of these kinds of farms have CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares for sale plus on site farm stands with other products like honey, broiler hens and lots of veggies to pick  while you pick your apples.

Support the small family farm and pick your apples from an orchard free from any harmful pesticides!

Alternative Roots Farm

Alternative Roots Farm is a certified organic farm and orchard growing over 40 varieties of apples. From Honeycrisp and Haralson, to Golden Russet and Ashmead’s Kernal, we grow new and heirloom favorites – preserving diversity and heritage in South-central Minnesota.

They sell picked apples out of their farm store and do amazing deals with apple shares (like a CSA) and make a LOT of apple sauce! They’ve got a sweet deep winter greenhouse to keep locals in their greens over winter to boot.  Follow their Facebook Page for updates.

Carpenter Nature Center

The Carpenter Nature Center cares for a unique orchard started in the 1940’s. As a nature center they work to be as sustainable an entity as possible, but are not certified Organic. I’ve been to the orchard during their wonderful, down home Apple Festival and it is such a great family time. This year’s event is set for Saturday & Sunday, October 11+12, from 10-5.

Sweetland Orchard

Sweetland Orchard is on the West Side of the cities, in Webster and while not certified organic they manage the orchard through minimal intervention. This family operation grows over 30 varieties developed by the University of Minnesota, heirloom varieties, and cider varieties; and they have a passion for cider! They do frequent pop ups at lots of locations around town. Check their Facebook Page for updates.

Applecrest Orchards

Applecrest Orchards is not a certified organic farm but uses IPM, Integrated Pest Management, and common sense in growing great apples. They’ve got over 1,000 trees growing 20 varieties on the Northeast end of town in Hugo. Their IPM program consists of scouting, pest trapping and utilizing the the Cornell University NEWA offerings. This helps them specifically focus any spraying. “We make sure to mow any flowers prior to spraying so we do not contaminate bee forage. The pesticides we use are targeted to specifically mitigate any loss of beneficial insects”. I will say, walking through the orchards in September there is a myriad of insect life between the rows of fruit laden trees!

They sell at local farmers markets and usually have food trucks at the orchard on weekends during the season! They will also be at the WBL Winter Farmers Market again this year.

If you’re ready for a day trip, check out Sap Suckers in Mora or Hoch Orchard and Gardens in Southeast Minnesota, two established organic orchards. For other orchard locations you can check out the MN Grown website.

Make the Most of your Apples

And in case you’re wondering what to do with all those amazing apples once you get back home, I’ve got a blog post, An Apple A Day, to help you enjoy your apple stash for months to come!

I love learning about new farms and orchards, feel free to pass along any other organic orchards you’ve enjoyed- the more the merrier!

Looking forward to digging in to apple season,

Michelle

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Pick Your Own Blueberry Farms are becoming more popular and for good reason!

PYO Farms bring together the best of summer- getting to spend time in the great outdoors in a beautiful setting, with friends + family, all working towards a tasty end goal; buckets full of blueberries! This is local food bliss. Blueberry Fields of Stillwater brings a sweet mixture of this bliss to their guests each year.

**Updated article 7/10/25**

Summer took over Blueberry Fields of Stillwater in early 2022, and she is just as in love with the farm, connections to the earth, blueberries and customers as the previous owners. 

Blueberry Fields of Stillwater

As Summer explains, “I was looking to make a change and for a place where I could be more in tune with nature, while still being part of the community.  When I saw the Blueberry Fields of Stillwater property, I just knew it was where I needed to be.  The love, care, and hard work that Bev and Mike O’Connor put into the Blueberry Fields was evident; the land just sang to me.  I am so grateful that they were willing to let me carry on what they had started. They have been so helpful and supportive to me in teaching me the craft of blueberry growing hands on here at the Blueberry Fields of Stillwater.”

Same great blueberries, same ORGANIC farming practices, new smiling face. I’m in!

Is it the farm’s rolling hills and pastoral setting? Or the acres of immaculately maintained spacious rows all bursting with blueberries? Maybe it’s all the energy and love that farmers have poured into the land?

If you’ve never picked your own blueberries before no worries, they’re every bit as easy as strawberries and raspberries. You can just roll them between your fingers and the ripe ones will pretty much fall off. You can easily tell the ripe from unripe berries.

The farm has two acres of blueberries now in the seventh year of organic production. There are seven varieties to give us all a wonderful selection and extended picking season. From the first sun-sweetened Polaris berries to the late-season Superior berries, they have it planned out so you get to come and pick at your leisure. You can always check their website or phone line (651-351-0492) for the latest picking updates.

Slow Food Movement

Picking different kinds of berries offers different kinds of experiences. Blueberry picking is not as fast paced as strawberry picking. The berries are smaller, but the bushes bigger, so you can set down a stool and just loose yourself in picking. “Something just happens in these fields when they’ve got a few groups picking, voices can carry and conversations continue over rows. We also get quite a few couples on dates. Everyone slows down a bit while they’re here. That’s our hope, that this is a beautiful place to pick the best blueberries- but also that you leave a little refreshed.”

Building a Pick Your Own Blueberry Farm

Even when they are busiest on weekends during their 4 +week PYO season, there is a feeling of calm. Usually there are three ‘picking’ times on each bush. The first are usually the biggest berries, and mildly sweet. The second round produces delicious sweet berries. The third produces smaller berries but usually the sweetest. Each year is a little different though,  Mother Nature’s way of reminding us she’s still in charge!

Bev, the original blueberry farm owner, took the time to work on the soil. Increasing from 1% organic matter when they started testing in 2005 and increased it to 5% in 2018 (Most MN Soil is around 2% organic matter so this is kind of a big deal!). That organic matter helps maintain moisture, feed the plants and helps the bushes fight infections. I also think it helps these berries burst with a flavor unique to this location.

Local Food Flavor

Isn’t that why we love Pick Your Own Farms? To be able to taste the difference in these locally grown fruits verses the store bought varieties (shipped from as far as Chile in the winter and California/Florida, Maine/Michigan as the summer progresses). And one thing I’ll suggest; pick as much as you can! Blueberries freeze VERY well- just roll in a towel to get any stubborn stems off and freeze on a sheet pan, then pop into a freezer bag.

They smell amazing in the middle of winter, opening a bag of frozen berries in February brings you right back to that sunny day you picked them. I’ve opened bags of organic frozen blueberries from Costco in February and they don’t smell.  At All. I ran out of the berries we picked last summer way back in November. I am not letting that happen again!

What About Growing Your Own?

I love our couple of blueberry bushes (and the few handfuls of tasty berries we harvest from them) growing in our home garden. But they look nothing like the full, glossy leaved, ‘dripping with berries’ bushes at this farm! Blueberry Fields shares links to their favorite growing practice websites right on their website. These folks are truly passionate about blueberries, and want spread the love.

I also have two small Aronia Berry plants, another native Super Food berry. Read more about these berries and their amazing properties HERE. I love that berry bushes are a perennial form of food in my yard.

When you’re looking down over the immaculate rows of bushes at a blueberry farm you can’t help but notice all the netting! This is another reason to leave mass blueberry production to the pros. This labor-intensive practice keeps the birds out, and also why you pick only where they have lifted the netting off.

Blueberries in/on Your Bucket List

Me and my boys visited for the first time in 2017 and knew this was a place we’d be returning to. Sure enough it stays on my boys’ Summer Bucket List too. I can’t wait to get back there with them and pick all morning. Now that I know they’ve got a handwashing station and a ‘berry washing’ station, we can plan to stay a while and enjoy the ‘fruits of our labors’ (ha) under one of their well thought out shaded rest areas, the breezy top of the hill overlooking the fields would be my pick!

Did you know you can search for “Pick Your Own Blueberry Farm” on  the Minnesota Grown website? It shows 31 Blueberry PYO Farms in the state. We’re lucky that one of the very few to be growing with organic practices is also the closest to us! They’re even working on using essential oils in place of pesticides with a grant from the MN Dept. of Agriculture AGRI Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Grant. Just another way these farmers are staying true to their mission of creating a healthy, refreshing experience.

Berry Nutritious

Blueberries are packed full of antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals, are low in calories and have many other health benefits. Nothing quite like picking a nutritious snack right off the bush! They also taste amazing. Especially when you can eat a few sun-warmed berries sitting in the shade overlooking the beautiful fields.

Know before you go:

• There’s a discount for paying with cash or check
• Picking buckets and boxes provided
• Bring water, sunscreen and bug spray
• No pesticides are used so there may be bees in the field

• Kids are welcome, please read their Kid Tips
• Handicap Accessible bathroom on site, uneven ground
• Check their website, Facebook page or call 651-351-0492 for up to date picking info
• Earlier is better, it gets warm out there!

Blueberry Fields of Stillwater- 9450 Mendel Road Stillwater, MN 55082

I can’t wait to get back and pick buckets of blueberries at the Blueberry Farm this summer, and this time I’ll be more prepared. I hope you will be too. If you’re too far from Blueberry Fields of Stillwater to make it out there, I still want you to find a place to pick your own, closer to your home. The Minnesota Grown website can help you find your closest berry patch. Type in “Blueberries” in the product search bar.

Many people’s favorite way to eat them is warm from the sun, or just thawing after coming out of the freezer. I agree with both. I also see a blueberry cobbler in my near future! What will you make with yours?

ps- Don’t forget to pick enough to last the long haul through winter…

Dig Into Blueberry season!
Michelle

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