2024 Southwest New Jersey Nectarine U-Pick Farms and Orchards - PickYourOwn.org

Nectarine U-Pick Orchards in Southwest New Jersey in 2024, by county

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

Not all areas of a state have nectarines 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.

Burlington County

• Strawberry Hill Farm - Apples, nectarines, pears, peaches, plums, pumpkins
  Corner of Waln & Ellisdale Road, Chesterfield, NJ 08620. Phone: 609-298-0823. Open: July, August, September, October. Directions: Please refer to our website. . Click here for a map and directions. Click here for a map to our farm. We are open Our hours are: Everyday 9 am to 5 pm (7 days a week) Peaches and Nectarines- end of July - beginning of September. Apples- mid August to end of October Pick Your Own: Peaches, nectarines,apples, plums and pearsA visitor writes on August 06, 2013: "The owners provide wagons and baskets to carry the fruit around the farm. Great for kids because you don't have to walk far from your car to get to the orchard. Peaches were 90 cents a pound 8/13. Be sure to call or check their facebook page before you go. They close the farm when they are all picked out of ripe fruit."

Gloucester County

• Mood's Farm Market - Pick Your Own: Apples, blackberries, blueberries, pears, raspberries, cherries (sweet, pie), plums, grapes, nectarines, peaches, pumpkins
  901 Bridgeton Pike (Route 77), Mullica Hill, NJ . Phone: (856) 478-2500. Open: June - Thanksgiving, closed Sundays, Summer: 8 am to 8 pm; Fall: 8 am to 5 pm. Directions: Route 77 5 miles S of Mullica Hill on Route 77; 3 miles N of Route 40. We also have a roadside market farm stand with Apples; pumpkins; all vegetables. Our apple varieties are Cortland, Empire, Gala, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious. We also have Apple cider; apple cider donuts; fall hay rides; WIC and Senior FMNP checks accepted. We specialize in pick your own fruit starting with sweet cherries in June and finishing with pumpkins in October. We make apple cider donuts fresh daily \(Mon-Sat\), - truncated. . Click here for a map and directions.
  Mood's Farm Market Facebook page. See this page for Pick your own updatesRoute 77 5 miles S of Mullica Hill on Route 77; 3 miles N of Route 40. We also have a roadside market / farm stand with Apples; pumpkins; all vegetables. Our apple varieties are Cortland, Empire, Gala, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious. We also have Apple cider; apple cider donuts; fall hay rides; WIC and Senior FMNP checks accepted. We specialize in pick your own fruit starting with sweet cherries in June and finishing with pumpkins in October. We make apple cider donuts fresh daily (Mon-Sat), and we press our own apple cider in the fall. Facebook pageWe have apple picking hayrides in September and pumpkin picking hayrides in October. We take pride in selling quality produce, and giving you a fun experience on our farm. A visitor writes on September 05, 2013: "Just wanted to say how great this pick-your-own farm is. We picked delicious peaches and sweet-tart blackberries today (Sept. 5, 2013), at an excellent price. The young ladies at the farm stand were polite and helpful, and the orchards were easily accessible and still laden with fruit. Highly recommended!"
  Comments from a visitor on October 11, 2010: "Just returned from a trip to Mood's to pick my own apples. My 13 year old son and I had a wonderful time, walking through the orchards and picking out just the apples that we needed. It is really nice to be able to pick different varieties that you want, unlike some of the other "big" pick-your-own farms in the area that only allow you to pick one variety of apple. Prices were reasonable, and we also left with a dozen warm apple cider donuts that were delicious! Highly recommend this farm. "
  Comments from a visitor on September 25, 2010: "My daughters and I had a wonderful time picking apples. They were plentiful and the directions we had to follow were very simple for picking, and paying. We will certainly be back."
  Comments from a visitor on July 20, 2009: "What a great experience my three children (9, 7, and 4) and I had today. Moods Farm has a friendly atmosphere. Cute Farm stand that includes veggies, fruits, jams and YUMMY homemade apple cider donuts. We traveled from Maryland for the second year and the donuts, especially if you get them warm are the best. The picking procedure is simple. They weigh your bucket that you bring or you can buy little cardboard buckets for 25 cents. We picked blackberries, blueberries and white peaches that were all delicious and very inexpensive. The blueberries were $1.15 a pound, blackberries were$1.40 and the peaches were 85 cents. I had a ton of fruit all for about $6. They have a great picnic area too. We will be back again soon. Great find and I found it on this website. Thank You. "

 

Nectarine

Nectarine Picking Tips, Recipes and Information

Nectarines typically peak during early summer: In the U.S., that's late June through July in the South, and July and August in the North. In order to produce good local Nectarines, producers depend on ideal spring and early summer weather conditions, and no late frosts. If you want to know which are the best varieties of nectarines for home canning, see this page!

Before you leave to go to the farm:

1. Always call before you go to the farm - Nectarines are affected by weather (both rain and cooler temperature) more than most crops. And when they are in season, a large turnout can pick a field clean before noon, so CALL first!
2. Leave early.  On weekends, then fields may be picked clean by NOON!
3. Most growers furnish picking containers designed for nectarines, but they may charge you for them; be sure to call before you go to see if you need to bring containers.
   If you use your own containers, remember that heaping Nectarines more than 14 inches deep will bruise the fruit on the bottom. Plastic dishpans, metal oven pans with 3 inch tall sides and large pots make good containers.
4. Bring something to drink and a few snacks; you'd be surprised how you can work up a thirst and appetite! And don't forget hats and sunscreen for the sun. Bugs usually aren't a problem, but some deet might be good to bring along if it has been rainy.
5. You might want to ask whether the nectarines are! There are two major types of nectarines: "Freestone" and. "Clingstone". Freestone nectarines and nectarines have flesh that slips easily away from the pit. Clingstones are a REAL pain, because the fruit tenaciously clings to the stone or pit! Most nectarine varieties grown today are freestone and are usually available (depending upon your location) from June through September. Some nectarines are freestone and some are clingstone. Freestone nectarines are available in June and July. Most plum varieties are clingstone. 

When you get home

1. Spread the fruit out on towels or newspapers and separate any mushy or damaged fruit to use immediately.
2. Put a couple of days supply into the fridge, wash and cut the others and freeze them up!
3. Even under ideal conditions nectarines will only keep for a week in a refrigerator, so for best flavor and texture, use them as soon as possible after purchase
4. Now, get ready to make Nectarine jam or canned nectarines - It is VERY easy - especially with our free peach / nectarine recipes. Yes, they are interchangeable!
    - nectarine jam instructions - they're illustrated and easy and our page on
    - how to make home canned nectarines from fresh!
   - Or see here to freeze nectarines instead!
   - make your own home canned nectarine pie filling to use in the winter
5. Here's a great and easy nectarine pie recipe
   or nectarine-blueberry pie  or how about
   - nectarine salsa?
   - Nectarine chutney
   - Spiced nectarines
   - nectarine butter
   - Nectarine honey
   - pickled nectarines
   - nectarine syrup
   - nectarine juice
6. Here are some great and easy nectarine desert recipes, like easy nectarine cobbler.
7. If you want more information about the Giant Peach water tower in Gaffney, SC, click here.

Temporary Storage Tips

• Ripe nectarines have a creamy or golden undertone and "peachy-sweet" fragrance.
• Nectarines should be refrigerated and used within a few days.
• Putting peaches and nectarines in a loosely closed paper bag at room temperature for a day or two can help soften firm fruit - but they won't become sweeter or ripen further - that stopped when they were removed from th etree.
• For best flavor, allow the fruit to ripen fully on the tree.
• Store at 33F to 40F  and high humidity (a vegetable drawer in the fridge).

How to tell if the nectarines are ripe!

• Attached to the tree: Nectarines are best picked when the fruit separates easily from the twigs. If it is hard to pull off the tree, it isn't ripe! Nectarines will not ripen further once removed from the tree (they only "soften")
• Color: Green is definitely unripe, but you can't use red color as an indicator of how ripe a nectarine is. Different peach varieties have differing amounts of red blush in their natural coloring. Pick them when the ground color changes from green to yellow, orange, red (or a combination). The skin of yellow-fleshed varieties ripens to an orange tint, while the skin of white-fleshed varieties changes from greenish- to yellow-white.
• Softness: unless you like your nectarines very firm, pick your nectarines with just a little "give" when gently pressed. Nectarines at this stage are great for eating, freezing, and baking. Nectarines won't ripen very much after picking!
• Odor: It should smell sweet and ripe!

Tips on How to Pick Nectarines

A nectarine is softer than most fruit, so it is important to pick a nectarine gently, with little pressure. Using the sides of your fingers rather your fingertips helps to avoid bruising.  Grab the nectarine firmly and pull it straight off the branch. DON'T drop the nectarine into the basket, but set it in gently!

Marks on the Nectarines: Bugs (particularly squash bugs and stink bugs) bite fruit during development and this results in some imperfections in the nectarine. This is especially the case with organically raised fruit.  These look like dents in the nectarines if the nectarines were bitten by a bug when they were young. This causes a spot that does not grow properly and makes a wrinkle in the nectarine. There's nothing wrong with these nectarines. They may look funny, but they will taste just as good as blemish-free nectarines, and it's better not to have the pesticides!

How much do you need?

Raw measures:

• About 2 medium nectarines = 1 cup sliced nectarines.
• About 4 medium nectarines = 1 cup pureed nectarine.
• About 3 medium nectarines = 1 pound of nectarines

Process yields (Raw amounts to processed amounts)

• 2 to 21/2 pounds of fresh nectarines yields 1 quart canned
• 1 lb of fresh nectarines typically yields 3 cups of peeled, sliced nectarines or 2 cups or puree.
• It takes about 5 good sizes peaches or nectarines (or about 10 plums) to fill one quart jar of canned nectarines.
• An average of 171/2 pounds of fresh nectarines are needed per canner load of 7 quarts;
• An average of 11 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints.
• 1 bushel = 48 to 50 pounds, yields approximately 18 to 25 quart jars.

And a visitor contributes this: 6-7 nectarines makes about 4 cups puree, so 2-3 nectarines make about 2 cups puree. 1 nectarine equals about 1 cup puree.

Nectarines - Average retail price per pound and per cup equivalent, Most recent data (2020)

Form	Average retail price *3		Preparation yield factor	Size of a cup equivalent	Unit	Average price per cup equivalent
Fresh *1	$1.72	per pound	0.96	0.342	pounds	$0.61
Canned
Packed in juice *2	$2.02	per pound	1	0.540	pounds	$1.09
Packed in syrup or water *3	$1.81	per pound	0.65	0.441	pounds	$1.23
Frozen	$3.39	per pound	1	0.331	pounds	$1.12
Note 1 - The USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR) reports that the inedible pit of a nectarine accounts for 4 percent of the retail weight, implying a preparation yield of 96 percent, when eaten raw.
Note 2 - Consumers are assumed to eat the solid fruit and drink the juice. All contents of the can are edible and count towards an individual's recommended fruit consumption.
Note 3 - The syrup (or water) is discarded prior to consumption. Based on the Food Patterns Equivalents Database (FPED), ERS assumes that 65 percent of the can's gross weight is solid and 35 percent is liquid. The FPED cup equivalent weight for canned fruit is the weight of the solids and not of the liquid medium in which it is packed. The preparation yield factor for canned nectarines in the above table does not account for any further preparation that occurs prior to consumption.
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service calculations from 2020 Circana (formerly Information Resources, Inc. [IRI]) OmniMarket Core Outlets (formerly InfoScan) data; the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR), Legacy Release; and the Food Patterns Equivalents Database (FPED) 2017–18 as well as the FPED's accompanying Methodology and User Guide.

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Nectarine pit tips

It's best to remove nectarine pits before you cook the nectarines. Cherry, nectarine, peach, and apricot pits also contain amygdalin; the latter two, in potentially harmful amounts. Fortunately, nectarine, peach and apricot pits are sufficiently large and hard that few people intentionally swallow or chew them. (The unapproved anti-cancer drug See this page for more information&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/pdq/cam/laetrile">Laetrile is a semisynthetic derivative of amygdalin; a cheaper version of laetrile produced in Mexico came from crushed apricot pits.) See this page for more information.

 

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