Apple U-Pick Orchards in Northern Suburbs of Columbus, Ohio 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.
Crawford County
- Burnham Orchard's - cherries, peaches, blackberries, apples, pumpkins
8019 State Route 113, Berlin Heights, OH 44818. Phone: 419-588-2138. Email: theburnhams@burnhamorchards.com. Open: Weekend Activities 11-5 pm; Pick Your Own Apples 9-5; pick your own peaches are usually at the end of July or beginning if august; Pick your own apples start the last weekend of September, pick your own pumpkins are the same. Click here for a map and directions.
Burnham Orchard's Facebook page. . . In the month of October they have a Fall festival every weekend. Including corn maze and hay rides. Every weekend we do have food vendors, balloon making, farm animals to feed, hayrides, corn maze, apple picking, pumpkin patch, scarecrow making, kids activities, and much more! Currently, the Honeycrisp apple is of great interest because of its superior eating qualities. There has been extensive planting of this variety to be able to bring superior quality fruit to the consumer. Burnham Orchards Facebook page. Another great apple that we just added to our farm is the Evercrisp Apple this is cross of the Honeycrisp and Fuji Apple, it one of our latest apple usually we begin to harvest end of October/ Early November.
Richland County
- Apple Hill Orchards - Uses integrated pest management practices, apples, pumpkins, Cider mill (fresh apple cider made on the premises), U-pick and already picked, farm market, gift shop, porta-potties are available, picnic area you may bring your own food, farm animals, birthday parties, school tours
1175 Lexington-Ontario Road, Mansfield, OH 44903. Phone: 419-884-1500. Email: applehillorhards.info@gmail.com. Open: seven days a week from August through December, 8am to 6 pm Monday-Saturday and 12 pm to 6 pm on Sunday; from January through April the hours are 9am to 5pm, Tuesday through Saturday. Directions: From the north, take I-71 south to Route 30 west. Follow to Route 309 exit. Follow to Lex-Ontario Road, turn Left. We are five miles on the left. From the south, take I-71 north to Street Route 97. To west on 97 to Lex-Ontario Road. Turn Right; we are five miles on Right. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, AmEx, WIC Vouchers.
Apple Hill Orchards Facebook page. . . Click here for our Facebook page. We are a family owned and operated orchard and farm market offering on-site, fresh-pressed cider, observation beehive, pick-your-own fruit in season, PYO pumpkin patch, local honey, bakery, and our own famous apple donuts. Special fall events include hayrides and kids' day in early October. We offer fresh-picked apples and peaches, on-site fresh-pressed apple cider, our own famous apple donuts, jam & jellies, maple syrup, honey and much more! Pick your own fruit is available at both locations. - Springhill Fruit Farm - apples, pumpkins
5646 Ganges-Five Points Rd, Shiloh, OH 44878. Phone: (419) 896-2866. Open: Season- August through November, Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5:30 pm; Saturday from 9am to 4pm, closed on Sunday. Click here for a map and directions.
Springhill Fruit Farm Facebook page. . Open In addition to U-pick apples and pumpkins, they have fresh picked Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums and Nectarines. Family Owned since 1968, home grown delicious fruit. 28 varieties of apples We offer U-pick at various times throughout the Season! All produce is home grown on our 50 acre farm, Very Reasonable prices. They have 30 varieties of Apples, 4 varieties of Pears, 6 varieties of Peaches, 3 varieties of Plums, 2 varieties of Nectarines, Pumpkins, Squash, Processed Cider. Facebook page.
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!
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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