2024 Red Deer area of Alberta, Canada Apple U-Pick Farms and Orchards - PickYourOwn.org

Apple U-Pick Orchards in Red Deer area of Alberta, Canada 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 province or region 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

Red Deer area of Alberta

• Billyco Junction Gardens - Uses natural growing practices, apples, beans, broad beans, carrots, cucumbers, honeyberries, haskaps, onions, peas, pumpkins, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, Saskatoons, potatoes
  40110 - Range Road 260 RR#4, Lacombe, AB T4L 2N4. Phone: 403 782-4263. Email: info@billycojunction.com. Open: Daily from 10 am to 7:30 pm; from May to October. Directions: We are 8 kilometers east of Lacombe, Alberta on Highway 12, and 4.4 kilometers South on Prentiss Road. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Cheque, MasterCard, Visa, Interact. Fax: 403 782-4202Closed TuesdaysWe use natural practices, but are not seeking organic certification
• Pinky's Organics - Uses natural growing practices, not yet certified, apples, haskaps, pears, red raspberries red, Yellow raspberries, Black raspberries, strawberries, asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, pie or tart cherries, sweet corn, pickling cucumbers, slicing cucumbers, garlic, kale, lettuce or salad greens, onions, snap peas (edible pod), snow peas (flat edible pod), hot peppers, sweet peppers, Swiss chard, summer squash, winter squash, Heirloom tomatoes, paste or Roma tomatoes, tomatoes, watermelons, daffodils, lavender, Lillies, sunflowers, tulips, zinnias, flowers, Basil, Mint, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Fresh eggs
  26040 highway 595, Red Deer County, AB t4e0t8. Phone: (403) 347-7148. Email: pinkysflowerfarm@xplore.net. Open: daily 9 am to 5 pm starting in July through to October. Directions: 8KM east of Red Deer on highway 595. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, only.
  Pinky's Organics Facebook page. We use natural practices, but are not yet certified Organic (ADDED: April 17, 2024)
• Prairie Perfect Orchards - No pesticides are used, apples, cherries, haskaps, Other fruit or veg, gift shop, snacks and refreshment stand, restrooms, picnic area
  Rural Road 3, Innisfail, AB T4G 1T8. Phone: 403-227-1301. Email: prairieorchards@gmail.com. Open: UPDATE for 2018, Their website is gone; Does anyone have current information, are they still offering pick your own or are even open? If so, please write me, their last reported hours were Wednesday to Monday, from 11 am to 5 pm; Closed on Tuesdays only. Directions: Take North Overpass through Innisfail and continue to Highway #54. At stop sign cross Highway #54 continue west on Little Red Deer Road - Twp Road 354 to Range Road 15. Watch for U-Pick Cherries and Prairie Perfect Orchards Sign on the right side. OR Take South Overpass at Innisfail west on Highway #54 to Little Red Deer Road - Twp Road #354 continue to Range Road 15. Watch for U-Pick Cherries and Prairie Perfect Orchards on the right side. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Cheque. officially open each year on June 15th; Honeyberries are available for picking mid to late June; Tart Cherries are available for picking first week of August; Apples are available for picking first of September. We do not use pesticides on the cropsWe invite you to stroll through our orchard and enjoy the fresh-off-the-tree fruit, experience the tastes, sights and sounds of country life. Pick fresh Saskatchewan Tart Cherries, Honeyberries, Apples or Rhubarb. Enjoy a guided tour of and it's beautiful landscaping or simply relax with a cup of tea, coffee or cool beverage, a homemade fruit tart and ice cream on our "Garden Patio" or eat your own picnic lunch under the shade trees.
• Red Barn Berries Central Alberta u-Pick - No pesticides are used apples, cherries, currants (red), currants (black), other berries, raspberries (red), rhubarb, Saskatoons, strawberries, Other fruit or veg, Fresh eggs, restrooms, farm animals
  28413 Township Road 392, Red Deer County, AB T4E 1C8. Phone: 403-550-8909. Email: redbarnberries@hotmail.com. Open: Typical season is from mid June through August; in season, Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 7 pm; Saturday and Sunday, from 9 am to 5 pm. Directions: Head west on Highway 11A from Red Deer Turn north on Range Road 10 \(At the Sylvan Star Cheese\) Continue past the railroad tracks a mile to Township Road 392 Turn East on Township 392 and look for the red barn the second entrance on the south side. Strawberries season typically Midlate June - Late August Saskatoons season Typically Midlate July to Late August Raspberries season typically Midlate June - Late August. We do not use pesticides on the . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: We accept all forms of payment - e-transfer, debit, credit and cash. . Phone: 403) 304-0440 Head west on Highway 11A from Red Deer Turn north on Range Road 10 (At the Sylvan Star Cheese) Continue past the railroad tracks a mile to Township Road 392 Turn East on Township 392 and look for the red barn the second entrance on the south side. Strawberries season typically Mid/late June - Late August Saskatoons season Typically Mid/late July to Late August Raspberries season typically Mid/late June - Late August. We do not use pesticides on the crops (UPDATED: May 18, 2023, JBS) (UPDATED: June 08, 2020) (ADDED: September 27, 2019)
• Red Lodge Upick - No pesticides are used, apples, cherries, raspberries (red), Saskatoons, strawberries, U-pick and already picked, restrooms, picnic area
  R.r#1 Site 7 Box 9, Bowden, AB T0M 0K0. Phone: 403-224-2425. Open: Early July until first killing frost - Phone for picking report. Directions: Go 3 km west of Red Lodge Provincial Park \(or 18 km west of Bowden, AB on highway 587\) to range road 31, turn south and go 3 km to the end of the road, turn east and go just 13 of a km to the farm. \(Just follow the signs - its easy!\). . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, only. Picking updates: Click here for picking updatesGo 3 km west of Red Lodge Provincial Park (or 18 km west of Bowden, AB on highway 587) to range road 31, turn south and go 3 km to the end of the road, turn east and go just 1/3 of a km to the farm. (Just follow the signs - its easy!)We do not use pesticides on the cropsVarious game birds on site. We also raise & release Hungarian Partridges.

 

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