2024 Monterey and San Benito County area of California Apple U-Pick Farms and Orchards - PickYourOwn.org
Find a pick-your-own farm near you! Then learn to can and freeze! Since 2002! We update continuously; Beware the copycat websites!
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Apple U-Pick Orchards in Monterey and San Benito County area of California 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.
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Monterey County
Serendipity Farms - cherries, blueberries, boysenberries, plums, peaches, figs, apples, nectarines, flowers, restrooms, farm animals 9130 Carmel Valley Rd, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93923. Phone: (831) 726-9432. Email: info@serendipityorganics.com. Open: Call for hours and availabilit or see the Serendipity Farms Facebook page. Directions: Call for directions. Payment: Cash, only. Pesticide Free. Every Saturday throughout the growing season, Serendipity Farms . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, only. Serendipity Farms Facebook page. . opens its gates to home chefs, canners, kids and anyone else (but please no dogs in the field) who wants to grab a kid-sized basket or a 5-gallon bucket and pick fresh, perfectly ripe organic produce right off the vine. We grow different crops in different microclimates, so the location of the U-Pick stand depends on what's ripening. May to October: Strawberries (Chandler, Seascape and Albion)July to October: Raspberries (Heritage variety)August to November: Early Girl, Sungold, and Heirloom Tomatoes (Brandywines, San Marzano, Black Krimm, Cherokee Purple, Marvel Stripe, Banana Legs, Purple Russian, Evergreen, Striped German, Tobolsk, Chocolate Stripe and more) September to November: Heirloom Pumpkins and Winter Squash (at 9130 Carmel Valley Rd and / or Odello Field on Hwy 1 just south of Rio on the West side of Hwy 1.)(ADDED: May 15, 2017, JBS)
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.
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
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:
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!)